Seven Quickies

Thank you, Jen, for hosting again!

1. I have discovered a painful truth about myself.  I am a ... complainer!  Yikes!  How did I get myself into this habit of finding the negative about my life??  I think I used to be more positive than this!  I'm going to start playing the Glad Game from now on, to help me focus on what's right, not what's wrong.  Instead of complaining that I'm busy, I'm going to thank God for allowing me to work from home to help our family get out of debt faster.  And that I can work at all!  Instead of being upset that my cough gives me a headache by the end of the day, I'm going to be glad that I'm still able to work and care for the girls; then I'll offer it up for some good cause.  Instead of grouching that I don't have time for myself, I'll be glad that I have two beautiful children to smother in love.  I'll remember this last one especially while they are still small ... -ish.  (By the way, you can watch Pollyanna, in full, here.)
   
   
2. I'm going to call my parish today and see if they would mind if I came and did First Communion portraits of Little Girl amongst the Easter flowers that are about our altar.  They are so pretty, and her dress is drycleaned, and I am not working from now until Monday morning.  (Well, not working the phones.  Natch, I'd like clean clothes for next week!)  I think they'll be amenable to the idea.  
   
   
3. Next week is a happy week!  First, Wednesday is my 39th birthday.  I cannot believe that I'm really 39!  Only recently am I starting to feel my age a bit more.  But it's all good, because having knees that ache me sometimes is better than not being able to use them at all.  And being 39 is better than the alternative, you know.  ;)  (See?  Glad Game!)  Also, just after my birthday, Travel Man and I are going to go to the State Convention for the Knights of Columbus!  Hooray!!  I'm so pumped up!  Thank you - a BIG thank you - to our friends who are keeping the girls for us while we go on our jaunt.  We'll be busy the whole time, but I'll have to see if Travel Man sees time in his schedule to visit with a friend of mine who is in Alexandria - not far from where we're going.  Today is her birthday, too, so I want to call her and wish her a happy day.  
   
   
4. Speaking of being alone...
   
   My parents take their grandkids on "Grandma and Pa Pa Vacations" once a year.  Mom just booked their next one, and Travel Man and I were making plans to go away together for a WHOLE WEEK!  (What shall we do?  I know...probably talk about the girls.)
   
   Here is Plan A:  We use his frequent flier miles that he's stockpiled from being Travel Man and fly to somewhere in the contiguous States.  I picked California because I've never been, I hear San Diego is GORGEOUS, and I want to visit (not live) there.  
   
   Here is Plan B: We look at flights online and discover that, despite the fact that he had enough points to fly us on the "cheap low" days a mere six months ago, Delta has upped the price for tickets using frequent flier miles.  From 25,000 each to 42,000 each.  If we fly, we must (a) buy more miles ($$$$$$$$$$$!!), (b) fly early and leave early (or fly late and leave late), which means (c) get hotel rooms on either side of the trip, (d) rent a car... &c.  Instead of flying, we opt to drive somewhere from Orlando, to which we will also drive in (hopefully) the company car.
   
   Result? Plan B!  Mom and Dad take the kids to Pompano Beach, FL, and Travel Man and I will actually stay in Orlando!  We lived just north of the city for 15 years, but we're determined to do things we haven't done.  That list is surprisingly long.  When you LIVE in a vacation destination, you don't take advantage of all the vacationy things to do there.  So we're compiling a list of Things to Do That Don't Include Theme Parks.
   
   
5. That reminds me of the first time I went back to NJ to visit after I had been living in Florida for a few months.  A friend looked at me and said, "You don't look very tan for living in Florida."  My answer was, "Hey, I live there.  I'm not on vacation.  I have a job, you know.  And school."  
   
   
6. I cannot be specific about this, but I think you might get the idea here (in general).  When I work, I take down (not for personal use, just to log a person's sale!) LOTS of email addresses.  I'm shocked at the professionals who have goofy, petty, or downright bizarre emails.  Some people call to get their education discount (teachers, faculty, staff, and college students get one) - people who are professors - and when I type in their email, I'm just gobsmacked.  (I love that phrase!)  A lot of times, they spell it instead of saying it as words, as if I might not notice what it says or something.  I don't know...maybe they are embarrassed.  In that case, perhaps it would be better to think more carefully when you select an email name or ID on Google or whatever.  Not a lot of people like to change email addresses often, and maybe it's a great joke between you and your friends, but perhaps you might want an email that strangers can use (like shopping, etc.) that isn't so ... odd.  Or offensive to some.  Or so non-professional.  You know?  
   
   Like I said, I won't be specific (that would violate privacy!), but I have seen some very, very strange emails in the last year.  
   
   
7. Let's have something fun, shall we?  Finish the week off with a laugh! This is in honor of The Bard's birthday (which was yesterday).