Christmas Shopping Styles

Sam and I went Christmas shopping this weekend.  Even though we do most of our shopping online, we still had to venture out into the madness to finish the endeavor.  But we are FINALLY FINISHED!!!! Cue the Hallelujah chorus!

I made a few observations this weekend while we were out shopping.  There are several kinds of shoppers...and some are definitely more courteous than others.  Here are my findings in no particular order of importance or courteousness:

Shopper #1:  The Plow

The Plow seeks to find and conquer.  This person is a shopper on a mission.  They cannot be bothered with looking at all of the shiny trinkets that are in the middle of every aisle at Kohl's.  They walk at about 3.5 mph and usually know the destination of their item and walk directly there, and then to the register to purchase said item.  They are not dilly dalliers. They may run people over in the process, but those people should have moved out of their way! They also may jump ahead of you in line if you are too slow approaching the register.

Shopper #2: The Indecisive Gift Buyer, aka Flip Flopper

This person is always standing in the way of everyone else around them contemplating should they buy the red tie or the green tie...or maybe the blue belt.  They usually have a larger than life shopping cart and probably a stroller with twins.  This person is usually standing right in front of the very item that the Plow is looking for.  They like to look at everything in the store...and contemplate every purchase. They are mesmerized by shiny trinkets.  They are very thoughtful about their gifts and often over think and over analyze what their gift says to the person they are buying it for. Time stands still for the Flip Flopper.  Sometimes they lose a whole day trying to figure out what to buy for Aunt Bertha.

Shopper #3: The Stalker

This person stands in wait for a person to walk down their aisle (usually the Flip Flopper) and when this person starts to look at the doo dads, then they decide that the Flip Flopper is in their way because they now want to look at the doo dads.  And then they proceed to hover, huff and puff, clear their throat, etc etc etc.  Then when the Flip Flopper moves on, the Stalker follows the Flip Flopper to the next item and repeats. I had a stalker almost hit me in the face once while reaching for a doo dad.  You must be very wary of the Stalker.  I think they are one of the more dangerous shoppers.  These are also the people that go crazy when the blue light comes on at Kmart.  They have been known to incite fights and riots. They also do not know how to say "excuse me".  Plows can sometimes be mistaken for Stalkers.

Shopper #4: The Carefree

The Carefree shopper actually enjoys shopping...especially when it is crowded.  They live for Black Friday.  You will usually see the Carefree Shopper with their family and friends...they have their own posse and they come prepared!  Mom, Grandma, and Aunt have Starbucks in hand, the kids have their PS3s and/or a book to keep them busy, and the Dads have stayed at home to watch the game. The Carefree Shopper usually makes a day out of shopping.  They even like to eat lunch in the food court. They are usually laughing and smiling and don't look stressed at all.  The Carefree Shopper can sometimes be mistaken for the Flip Flopper.

These are only a few of my observations.  I think I am mostly a Plow..but I do have Flip Flopper tendencies as well.
Whatever type of shopper you are, be safe out there and I hope you get all of your shopping done before the big day!

Merry Christmas!

Gone too soon...but not forgotten

I know we are supposed to outlive our parents but it is hard when one of them is taken from us when we are young. 23 years ago today my mom left this earth.

My mom had brain cancer and died when I was 13...she was just 39.  She was such a light to everyone around her.  I remember her always being the field trip mom at my school...she was everyone's mom.  She volunteered at another local school and worked with Down's Syndrome kids who she loved. She always encouraged me to not let my hand (birth defect) hold me back from doing anything (monkey bars, gymnastics, dance, etc). She had such a tender heart and sweetness about her. I hope I am like her when I grow up! :)

I'm a little sad today thinking about all of the things she has missed in my life: my high school and college graduations, my first job, the day I got my driver's license, my prom, and my wedding day.  I'm sad that she never met my husband...I know she would have loved him. I think it's important to take a moment to grieve your losses on days such as today.

But I also think it is important to remember the good things too:

-Singing into our hair brushes at the top of our lungs to "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles;

-The time she made us late to school so we could find a specific phone booth that a radio station would be calling so we could win a radio contest (we got sweatshirts)

-The way she would always make me egg salad and let me watch soap operas with her when I was home sick

-The songs she would sing to me every night before I went to sleep (with a glass of warm milk)

I hope and pray that my memories of her don't ever fade.  And I hope that I will see her again one day.

I love you Mom!

Signs I Wish I Could Post in my Office...

There are many things I would like to say or post in my office but probably won't because:

A: I am a big chicken and a people-pleaser
B: I might be fired
C: I want people to like me (please refer to A)

So in order to get this out of my system, I will post it here like a coward.

Here it goes:

I'm sorry...did the middle of my sentence interrupt the beginning of yours?

I'm sorry...your lack of planning does not create an emergency for me!

Roll your own change! And turn your bills so they face the same direction! (#bookkeeper's problems)

I really don't care that you used to work at Bank of America and know how to "do accounting".

In response to:
 a. "well that's not how the old bookkeeper did things" or
 b. "I've never had to do it that way before":
     The old bookkeeper is dead to you...there's a new sheriff in town!
     I'm sorry you never followed the rules before but today is your day for redemption.

I'm sorry, but I don't fudge my audit. (I actually did say this one about a month ago...and then felt bad afterwards).

No, I cannot reimburse you for something that you didn't have approval to buy in the first place!

You do realize the Principal can hear you yelling at me...her office is only 3 doors down...

Thanks for allowing me this cathartic moment of venting!

I really do love my job! :)

Rules for Dating

Before you ask...No I am not trying to get back in the dating scene!  I am happily married to the best husband ever!  I just happen to have a lot of wonderful, single friends who I thought could benefit from this information...or really just get a laugh out of it. :)

When I was in 9th grade we had to take Health as part of our PE class for a quarter.  Coach Coggins was our PE/Health teacher and he was quite a character.  Larger than life, deep bellowing voice, sarcasm out the yin yang, and he wore old-school New Balance everyday.  He used to yell into the Girl's locker room "ROLL CALL" (I'm pretty sure just to scare us). He had a particular hatred for Freshmen.  He called us the scum of the earth.  We were all terrified of him but loved him at the same time.

So we sat down in the auditorium for Health class and read the chalkboard (yes we used chalkboards back then). "Coach Coggin's Rules for Dating".  We all thought to ourselves "this ought to be good". We would never say it out loud of course for fear of...well I'm not quite sure. 

Coach Coggins got up in front of the class and told us that dating would be simple if we followed his three rules:

1.  BE CLEAN

2.  BE ON TIME

3. HAVE A PLAN

Looks simple enough right?  Some brave soul asked, "is that really all there is?"
Coach answered, "Of course not! But if you follow these basic rules, you'll have a good foundation for the other stuff."

These three rules have stuck with me all of these years.  Using these rules, you can pretty much tell how a date is going to go or whether or not you will go on a second date.  If the person who asks you out a date smells...well that is a huge strike against them.  I still remember Coach Coggins screaming "Just take a  shower! "  I think this applies to stinky cologne too though.  Less is more people!

If the person is late, that is a cardinal sin in my book!  Punctuality is very important.  It shows the person you are meeting/picking up that you care about the date enough to be on time.  If you are running late, you probably have a cell phone...please use it!  You are not being mysterious by not communicating, you are being a jerk.

Having a plan is also very important.  If your plan is just to "hang out" then you are so unoriginal and need to take some kind of creative writing course or something to broaden your imagination.  Make the date fun. Do something out of the ordinary. They have websites for this kind of thing if you are that clueless. It doesn't have to be expensive or grand...but it does have to be fun!

My first date with Sam was awesome.  He took me to a DC Talk concert.  I think this was during the Jesus Freak tour.  The show was great and we had so much fun! It took a lot of pressure off not having to talk the entire time and we could just enjoy each others' company. That led to many other dates and then 5 months later we were engaged, and then married 6 months after that. I love that man!

Bottom line:  if the simple things are out of the way (cleanliness, punctuality, and plans), then you can really get to know the person: What do they want to be when they grow up? What kinds of things are they into? What kind of music do they listen too? How do they feel about issues that are near and dear to your heart? Etc. etc. etc...

Thanks Coach Coggins for these 3 simple rules for dating.  Many have benefited from your wisdom.  And many still have nightmares about your class :)

Christmastime!

It's Christmastime!

I am so excited about decorating our tree!  There is something really nice about this tradition; pulling out all of your old ornaments and remembering where each one came from...although in our case, a lot of them came from Big Lots (don't judge).  We try to add a new ornament every year though.

This year I decided to make a lot gifts for friends and co-workers.  And now I am thinking what did I get myself into?  I have 6 more scarves to knit and a blanket to make!  My fingers are constantly sore now!  But I love making stuff for people.  I find myself thinking about the person while I am creating their gift; memories, anecdotes, etc.  I am thankful for my friends and family and this time of year I am especially thankful! 

My mom passed away right before Christmas when I was 13. It was a very difficult time but we were lucky.  Our church family surrounded us with love, cooked for us, gave us presents...that was the year I got the Swatch Phone...it was one of the most amazing gifts! It meant so much to me that our friends went out of their way to include us in their festivities and try to make our holiday a little brighter. I will always remember that Christmas with sadness and joy.

We live in a condo community where we are the spring chickens of the bunch (definition of spring chicken: young-ins, whipper snappers, youths, etc). It's almost a retirement community with the exception of a few and there are many folks that spend Christmas alone.  I hope that this year they will get to visit with their families.  I would love to do a community cover-dish (you know the kind where there's always a bucket of KFC and some kind of jello salad). It would also be fun to carol door to door. Baking is always an option but there are 117 units in my building!  That's a lot of banana bread!  Maybe we can do a winter party when it's too cold for anyone to venture outside.  I'm always thinking on a large scale...but I think I forget about the small things: holding the door for the widow who has her arms full of groceries, bringing Millie (my shih tzu) out with me so she can visit with the neighbors (they love her), being a good listener for those who are lonely...I need to focus on others and not be so focused on myself and my busyness.

I hope that this year I can be a blessing to those who are sad and lonely at Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Theme Song

My sister in law posted on Facebook today:

"Does anyone imagine themselves as powerful as you walk down the freezer aisle and make the lights come on"

Why yes, yes I do!

I responded to her that I also usually hear music when walking down the freezer aisle: something like "Eye of the Tiger" or "The Final Countdown".  I think it must be all of the movies I've watched but I hear music in my head a lot!  I hope I am not the only one!

I think it would be cool if we could take pictures from each year of our lives and set them to music (I know some of you are thinking...isn't that a PowerPoint presentation?).  No, I mean compile pictures and the music that corresponds to that period in your life that means something to you.  It would be a VERY long movie...but it would be epic.

I often feel like there is a continual soundtrack playing in my head and my heart (notice what I did there) and that music helps me to experience a moment in a deeper way.

When I am bo-dozing at work (definition of bo-dozing: like bulldozing, getting er done, etc), I usually turn on some upbeat music.  The Motown Pandora station is my favorite for bo-dozing.  How can you not work quickly and efficiently while listening to "I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations or "ABC" by the Jackson 5? I feel like the music is pulling me along. And sometimes it causes me to chair dance. (definition of chair dancing: dancing without leaving your chair; is best accomplished with a spinning chair).

Now that I have made myself sound like a crazy person who hears music in her head continually, let me leave you with this:

Next time you hit a home run at your baseball game, or score the winning point in Wii-Tennis, or out-dance your friend at Dance Dance Revolution, pay attention to the song playing in your head...this may be your theme song!

What's in a Name?

Some of you may be thinking..."that sure is a weird name for a blog"...
Well I'm a little weird so it fits me don't you think?

I struggled over what to call the blog as I am not good at naming things.  Both of my dogs were already named when I got them. If we ever have kids it will probably take me the entire 9 months to name the child. I named the vacuum Veronica because it's the only name I could think of at the time that starts with a V.
I am pathetic.

So Mumford & Sons is really popular right now and I love their song "I Will Wait".  I kind of borrowed some of their lyrics to name my blog:

     "So I'll be bold
      As well as strong
      And use my head alongside my heart"

I love this part of the song...it speaks to me on so many levels. 

People always talk about following your heart.  Don't think, just do what your heart tells you.  Stop over thinking things. Etc etc etc...

Well I think this is hogwash, baloney, balderdash, bunk, hooey, and ridiculousness!

I like what the Message of the Bible has to say about the heart:
Jeremiah 17: 9-10
“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
    a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
    and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
    I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
    not as they pretend to be.”

I don't know where we got the idea that we are supposed to shut our brains off and just listen to our hearts.  I am not a fan of anti-intellectualism.  But I do recognize that there is a balance between the heart and mind. The mind needs to be renewed from all of the junk that gets in there.  Sometimes I feel like I have an excess of junk, insecurities, negative thoughts, etc. floating around in my mind that I just need to kick out. The mind is not immune from deception. 

So that is a long winded way of telling you that I want to make every effort to search for truth and use my head alongside my heart.  I think if you focus too much on one that you lose important aspects of your stories. God created our minds just like He created our hearts. And both are important in how we experience our world.

Sorry to be Preachy McPreacherson...let me end on a funny note:

I used to tutor high school Algebra. One of my students said "Holy Crap" a lot.  I got annoyed with him one day and said "Crap is not holy!"

He replied with: "Unless it's the Pope's!"

Touche 9th grade boy, Touche!

The Leftovers...

I love to write and have 2 blogs and many journals full of thoughts, hope, dreams, prayers, silliness, and the everyday mundane.  The problem is most of my random thoughts have nothing to do with Happy Hour in Virginia Beach or Made in the USA products (my 2  blogs). 

So this blog is for the leftovers in my brain, the surplus, the things that make me go "Hmmmm".  Writing is therapeutic for me.  I feel like I get to know myself better and allow others to know me better through my ramblings ...poor vocabulary, grammar, and all!

So if you are reading this, I hope that my randomness will bring smiles, laughter, questions, and a little glimpse into the silliness that is my life.  I'm so thankful and blessed!