I CAAAN'T Stop!!!

I've had a rough week, folks...

Our friend Karl often shares a little story about his daughter (his ONLY daughter...) and how her mysterious, perplexing and uniquely feminine ways often leave him confused...

about how in the past, if she were upset about something ...

I mean, REALLY upset about something, she would begin to cry....

and after the crying had continued for quite some time, she would announce through her tears that "I CAAAN'T STOP C-R-Y-I-N-G!!!!!!!"

This story has always made me smile... It's even made me chuckle over the dramatic flair of it all...

That is... until a few of days ago...

I had to face the moment that every pet owner signs up for, the day they bring that little ball of fluffy cuteness home to share their lives with...

The one that you don't think about in the midst of your excitement...

The one that no one warns you about when you open your home and your heart to a creature that becomes your kid... your baby... your pet...

One of my friends likened we moms relationship with our pets to that of being the parent of a perpetual toddler as they are so very dependent on us for everything and love us unconditionally... they stay that way their entire lives
(Plus - BONUS... never turn into stubborn know-it-all teenagers...)

They are happy just to be with us and hate it when we leave them...

This past week, I had to say goodbye to the one who has protected me, sat by my bed when I was sick, and loved me without condition for the last twelve years...

Our dog Marco went to heaven after battling diabetes as well as blindness for the past year and a half.

It was his time to go and I knew that...
I also anticipated that I would be sad and feel the loss...
I mean, he had, after all, been a HUGE part of our family for the last twelve years...

What I didn't see coming, however was the absolute devastation that I have encountered over the days since...

I went through an entire jumbo pack of Puffs Plus in 2 days...
(we're talking hundreds of tissues)

I felt absolutely gutted...

I suddenly have a new understand for my friends daughters plight...
Because "I CAAAN'T STOP C-R-Y-Y-Y-I-N-G!!!!"

You'll be glad to know that each day I'm doing a little bit better
(I've only teared up 5 times today and didn't once wail)

But he did leave an huge empty spot in out hearts that we are all feeling...




Farewell Marco-Boy!!
I know you'll be waiting for me at my front door in heaven...

But in the meantime, try to stay out of trouble!

Help for L.O.S.E.R.'s... Like Me!!!

My name is Jackie, and I'm a Messy.

Although I've never dropped in to an AA meeting, I imagine that if I were to attend a support group that catered to my particular issues, the "LOwer Standards in Every Room" crowd, (or L.O.S.E.R.'s) this would have to be my introduction...

It's not that I try to be a disorganized cluster of a woman....

It just comes naturally to me!!

Through the years I have worked on this hole or flaw in myself, and have actually made great strides improving in this department...

Yet there are days when I find myself completely paralyzed as I look around my disorganized house and not only, do I not know where to even start to rid myself of the piles that I have accumulated, I also worry that if I unload the things that I haven't used for a long time, I may need them at some point in the future and be upset with myself for getting rid of them!!! (see illustration of my theory above)

The REALLY weird thing is that I have two sisters do not have this problem...

My one sister is VERY organized and can find some kind of balance with the "stuff" that she has and though she has stuff, it's very arranged and tidy...

The other sister has more of a minimalist approach and doesn't hold on to ANYTHING....

Personally speaking, I think the balanced sister is the lucky one, and the we two opposite ends of the spectrum are the ones that need to find that middle ground...

Anyhoo...

I have been inspired recently by a friend of mine who is a Professional Organizer...

Yes Virginia, there is such an occupation!!

Check out the blog on her site... I LOVED it!!!
She addresses things that L.O.S.E.R.'s like me need to hear!!

Thanks Kate!! Where have you been my whole life??!!

Her Blog has prompted me to think that maybe, if I tackle things one at a time... you know, baby steps, I too can get organized and perhaps jump straight to step 12 which states:

"Having had a awakening as the result of these steps, I tried to carry this message to other addicts Messies or L.O.S.E.R.'s, and to practice these principles in all our affairs"

Amen!

Now I'm off to spend 20 minutes with my spices...

It's a Bird! It's a Plane!! It's Marge!!!

My BFF thinks she's Super Girl...
You know, the one who ISO a NGBF?
(she still hasn't found one)

Over the holidays she was trying to show her 16 year old son how to change a tire by way of walking him through the procedure...

Everything was going just fine until the jack began to slip and anticipating the ramifications of that, she did what any super hero would do...

She quite simply slipped her hand under the wheel well to catch the car before it fell...

Ordinary girls would never even attempt such a feat...

But due to her super-human powers, this was a piece of cake...

She simply eased the car to the ground so that no one got hurt...

Oh wait!!!

NO... Actually it went down more like this...

She simply grabbed the car with the INTENT of avoiding injuries, but instead, for some reason, her powers were being blocked by something
(she may have forgotten to put on her super suit that morning)
and she found herself pinned... by the hand.... between the wheel well and the tire....

Panic ensued, but soon cleared the way for quick thinking, and her hand was freed shortly after....bruised and battered, but not broken, thank God!

Some might hear this story and think to themselves that they would never do something like that....

But that's the thing about "stupid human tricks"...

We all do them...

Ever grab a cookie sheet with your bare hands ten seconds after you, yourself, just removed it from the 350 degree oven rack?!

Stupid Human Trick!!!

How about turning the keys in the ignition, only to find that you had already started it...(and then it makes that embarrassing noise that causes people to look to see which moron tried to start their already running car!!!)

Stupid Human Trick!!!

So before you judge ol' Super Girl... just remember that you, too, might get caught doing something without your super-suit on!

AXE and You Shall Receive...

Is it just me??!!

Has anyone else noticed that half of the world doesn't ask for help anymore??

They axe for help...

For heavens sake people!!!!

Just look at the word before uttering it!!!

Ask...

A-S-K...

There's nothing violent about it...

You cannot chop firewood with an ask...
You can with an axe however...

Once a lady told me that if I needed to know something I should just axe her...
I told her right up front that I would never react to needing to know anything by axing a person...

I mean, I'm a peaceful kind of girl...

I make love, not war...
(she was NOT amused)

Today came the final straw...
as I was working, I had to go to a US Government site to gather information...
As I was not familiar with the site, I went to a help section where I was directed to this link...

Within 20 seconds, I heard a gentleman explain to me that this tool would give me quick access to the most "axed" for data series in the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

I kid you not... click and listen...

This needs to stop, I'm sure you'll agree...

I have decided that from now on, everytime someone axes me something,
I will give them one of these posters that I have designed for just such occasions...

Do you think it will catch on??