Again - the Post Office

And yet again, another trip to the Post Office. This trip was kinda cute though. As always, it was about 4:45 when I got there along with about 23 of my closest friends. We were all standing in line waiting patiently. After I got up to the counter, a little old lady came up to the counter to the clerk next to me. Now remember, it was about 5 until 5 o'clock and the place is crowded. Well, this little thing wanted to see all the stamps the guy had. She was tired of plain old stamps - she wanted some "pretty stamps". I have to hand it to the clerk - he was just very good to her. He got out all the varieties of stamps and laid them on the counter for her to look at. She was very quiet as she looked them over, trying to make a decision. After all, she needed 10 of them. She was not about to make a mistake.

I had three big boxes to run through, which took a little bit of time. As I was leaving, she was still standing there "browsing". The clerk was very kind to her - but I'm not too sure how the people standing in line were feeling about her.

It's all about customer service, isn't it? I hope she found what she was looking for. No disrespect intended - but doesn't it make you wonder why she waited until 5 o'clock to go to the Post Office?

Memorial Day Weekend

This is the last day of the three day weekend - It's Memorial Day. It seems that each year, Memorial Day means more to me. I guess I just am realizing that this is a very serious holiday, as well as it being a very honoring holiday. When the United States is in the middle of a war (and when aren't we.....) it takes on another dimension all its own.

In D.C., there is a thing that takes place over the weekend called Roaring Thunder. Motorcyclists from all over the nation converge in downtown D.C. and pay honor to their fallen countrymen. It's a very huge thing - and even out here away from the city, there are motorcycles everywhere. I wouldn't want to venture down there. There are way too many people and the crowds would be overwhelming I think. If you were a biker though, I'm sure there would be no better place to be.

I wanted to go for a picnic today. Jay got a driving route all mapped out and we got a picnic lunch packed. We headed out around 10 this morning and set off to find the perfect picnic spot. About three and a half hours later, we returned back home and ate our picnic lunch on the deck. There just weren't any picnic spots. We found one area with one picnic bench - but it was taken. In the battelfields, there were no picnic areas and when we did find some spots, it was on private property.

I admit that I was a little disappointed - but the drive was wonderful and once again - seeing battlefields was just incredible. You could just almost see Civil War Hero's sticking their head up over a ridge.......

Graduation Day

This past weekend Josh graduated from Beloit Vocational Technical School in Diesel Mechanics. This was definitely Josh's place to be in life right now - and by the look on his face, he was a happy camper!



It was just exciting to see him graduate - remembering that not all that many years ago we were praying for his life. He looked so handsome in his cap and gown!



Smiles were everywhere - it was fun to celebrate with him!



Here's Josh with his girlfriend Chelsea.




We had a BBQ Saturday evening at Jason and Chelsie's house complete with cake and homemade ice creme. I kinda wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the cake BEFORE we cut into it - but you can see that it was a semi cake - a perfect theme for Josh!

It was a good two years for him and now he is out "in the world" ready for his first full time job. Congratulations Josh - we are very proud of you!

Lavender pillows and cowboy hats

This is my lavender pillow. Not only is it lavender in color, but it is filled with actual lavender and it of course smells like lavender. It is just the right size to lay your cheek on at night and smell that wonderful aroma. Lavender is supposed to be wonderful for making you feel relaxed so that you can fall asleep. I love how it smells and it is so comfortable!

Having several pillows to sleep on seems to run in our family. You can just ask Chelsie about that. I happen to have a regular pillow on the bottom. On top of that to the right is my smaller buckwheat pillow and to the left of that is my lavender pillow. It's the way I like it. It feels good AND it smells good.

Two nights ago, I woke up at 1:30 am and my earring was stuck in one of the "nubbs" of my lavender pillow. It was just stuck. I tried prying it out but it wouldn't budge. I tried removing my earring but no. I laid there for a little bit and thought maybe if I just went back to sleep, everything would work out in the morning. That wasn't true. I couldn't fall back asleep until I got the earring loose.

So, I had to wake up Jay. He of course didn't mind. I told him my earring was stuck in the lavender pillow. I asked him if he would grab his little scissors that were on his bedside table and snip the thread that was holding me captive. Of course the light had to come on 'cause nobody wants you coming at them with scissors in the dark. Quickly, the thread was cut and my earring was free from the lavender pillow.

So - you're wondering what this has to do with cowboy hats. I'm getting to that.

Jay really doesn't care for my lavender pillow. He, like most males, doesn't like foo-fooey things and I have to admit, the lavender pillow not only looks foo-fooey, but it smells foo-fooey. He makes sure that it doesn't get close to his pillow - that's why its on the LEFT side of my pillow. When I came home from my little adventure in the hospital, my lavender pillow was on the floor. Apparently, nobody knows how it got there. Uh huh.

When Jay was a little boy, he had a cowboy hat. He absolutely loved that cowboy hat and had had it around for many years. It ended up looking kinda ratty, but he still wore it. One day he came home from school and he couldn't find his cowboy hat. He looked and looked, but couldn't ever find it. He asked his mom if she knew where his cowboy hat was and she said she didn't know. She hadn't seen it.

Now - if you're a mother, you know good and well that his mother knew where the cowboy hat was. As a grownup, Jay now knows what happened to his cowboy hat and to tell the truth, he is having a little trouble letting go of that issue! :)

Back to my lavender pillow.

I'm thinking I might take it with me when I fly to Kansas tomorrow. Jay has promised me that he will "look after" the lavender pillow for me. But I know how he's thinking now and I'm afraid that it is going to end up in that little corner in the sky where cowboy hats, old t-shirts and worn out softball mits go.

Yes, I believe I'll just pack it away in my suitcase for safe keeping.......

Another Post Office Story

Honestly - if I ever lack for something to blog, all I have to do is go to the post office. Seriously.

I usually arrive at the post office around 4:45 and they close at 5:00. You can imagine what the lines look like. I almost always have several large envelopes to mail so I get "the look" from the people behind me. You know "the look". It says "Oh my gosh, she can't be serious. Why doesn't she stand at the back of the line so that we can get through! Why did she have to wait until 4:45 to come to the post office when she's going to take so long???"

So - I finally get up to the clerk and he is going through my packages. There is a line of about 8 people behind me - with two other clerks working.

In walks a woman and comes right up to the counter with a couple of envelopes she wants to mail by registered mail. She butts in and asks the clerk to "please just stamp this envelope so that I can go on". The clerk looked at her and then stamped the envelope and let her go on. Eyebrows were raised in the line behind me.

About one minute later, a cute little blonde came through the door and promptly went up to a clerk (without waiting in line) and asked that she stamp her envelope for registered mail. This clerk looked at her and said "What about the line?" The blonde just giggled. SERIOUSLY. The clerk said again "What about that line?" The blonde just stood there so the clerk stamped her enveloped and she danced out of there.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Finally one of the women standing in line said "I guess if you're a cute little thing you can get away with stuff like that!" The clerk said "Why didn't you people in line stand up for yourselves?" Everyone laughed! (It could have gone either way) He said "I thought by telling her about the line she would get the hint" and the same lady in line said "I guess when you're cute and used to getting your way it doesn't matter." The banter continued and everyone laughed it off - but I'm pretty sure that clerk isn't going to let anybody else butt into line again.

It was just another day in the post office.

A little OCD at our house

At our house, we have jars to put change in. Jay is very good at remembering to empty his pockets directly into the jars on a daily basis. I, on the other hand, don't do it very often and so I end up with a pile of change to get into the correct jars. You see - one jar is for pennies and the other jar is for all other change. These jars didn't used to be labeled - but apparently I got some of the silver change into the penny jar. How do I know? Because the next day when I got home from work, the jars were labeled. I've got nothing to say except apparently it matters more to some people than others. :)

Something every household shouldn't be without

One evening when I came home from Worship Team practice, Jay bolted out of the den and without holding back one bit of excitement, announced to me that he was bidding on something on EBAY and there were only a few minutes left. So far, he had the bid. I asked him what he was bidding on and he proudly told me that it was a geiger counter.

I wasn't exactly sure what to say. The fact is, I hadn't ever considered owning a geiger counter. Perhaps its more appealing to a health physicist who specializes in radiation protection. Perhaps - but honestly, it was kind of fun to think about.

As luck would have it, someone outbidded him by $1 at the last minute. But on the flip side, the seller sent him an e-mail telling him that he had another one (in working condition) that he would sell. The rest, as they say, is history. We now proudly own a geiger counter - a bright yellow geiger counter.



Isn't it fun? See the Civil Defense insignia on the side of it?



Now honestly, there isn't much to use it for around the house (though I'm sure you'd be surprised to find out what things actually are a little bit radioactive - but I won't go into that) but Jay sure will use it for some of his training sessions.

Bottom line? We might be the only apartment in this entire complex who has a geiger counter.

My Saturday

This blog post isn't anything special to anybody else but me - but it was just one of those nice Saturdays! Jay was in Maryland all day for a class (that wasn't the nice part) so I was by myself. It had been a long week and I was ready for a day of relaxation. So to start it off, I slept in until 9 o'clock. It felt fabulous!

After I showered and dressed, I headed out to the nursery and browsed for plants for the deck. I was not in a hurry at all and found some really fun things! I brought them home and placed them out on the deck with a promise that I would put everybody in their place Sunday afternoon.

I then headed to Fair Oaks and to Payless Shoe Store where I promptly found the cutest pair of shoes for $7. I was so pleased. To celebrate, I went to a nearby Starbucks and ordered a coffee - found a cozy chair - and read for about an hour. Absolute Heaven!

After I went back home to freshen up, I headed over to my friend Shoshada's house for a tea and jewelry party. She is a fanatic about tea parties and it was just so much fun! She has a huge assortment of tea cups, not to mention several tea pots and fun varieties of teas. She had made cucumber sandwiches and had fruit and little sweet things too. mmmmmmmmmmm We looked at the jewelry for sale and just had a nice afternoon of conversation.

By the time I got home around 5 o'clock, Jay was just pulling in.

We had dinner, watched Charlie Wilson's War (a really good movie) and I'm now writing a blog.

Honestly - just a very relaxing day I must say. Hope your weekend is as relaxing as mine!