Category: Slice of Life

Happy First Day of Summer

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Summer is my favorite season. Late spring and early autumn are nice, too, particularly since they bookend summer, but summer rocks.

Here are ten reasons I love summer:

  1. I love “summer” songs–the poolside music of my youth.
  2. Flowers. I love flowers. This year, I have coleus, too.
  3. Patio time. There are few pleasures greater than coming home from work, plopping on the patio with a glass of wine, and absorbing warmth.
  4. No boots. No jackets. No gloves.
  5. Driving. I don’t need to shovel out or brush off. The roads aren’t icy. I can open the sunroof on my car and enjoy the rush of warm air. Crank up radio and sing along.
  6. Summer foods. I love summer salads (if they don’t contain eggs or mayo). Fresh veggies and fruits. Herbs. Grilled meats. Ice cream.
  7. Baseball. Hanging out at the local minor league stadium with TV Stevie on a warm summer night is perfection.
  8. Bare feet/flipflops/sandals. I hate shoes. I  hate socks even more.
  9. Being warm. The heat doesn’t bother me the way it does some people. I am blessed.
  10. Summer casual attire. My workplace has a summer dress code that is more comfortable than the usual professional attire that is required. I think summer attire in general is more casual, even out of the work place.

What are some of your favorite things about summer?

 

Road Trips and Friendships

I love a road trip with the right people. I’m lucky enough to have the right people in my life.

On a recent journey, the driver had picked up several music CDs from the library. One of them was Awesome Mix Volume 1 from the Guardians of the Galaxy  movie. While singing along and chatting, we learned that one of our foursome had never seen the movie. We always watch movies in the evening, and had we known she’d never seen the movie, one of us would have packed it. Someone else had never seen the second movie.

OK. Double feature time.

Out came the cell phones. Two of us were checking availability at the Best Buys, Targets, Barnes & Nobles, and even Red Boxes in the various towns ahead of us. “Target in This Town has the second one.” “Best Buy in That Town has the first one…damn, it’s Blu Ray. Forget it.” “Oh! Maybe we can order it from Amazon and get free shipping.” Except the place we stay is in the woods and doesn’t have a delivery or mailing address.

We eventually tracked down the movie at a Wal-Mart near our final destination. The next day, the Driver made not one, but two trips to get both DVDs.

That night we laughed until our sides ached as we watched the movies back-to-back.

Recalling our on-the-road antics with the Internet still makes me smile. These are the very best kind of friends to have. Kind of like Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

 

Hydration

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The last time I went to the doctor, he told me I was dehydrated. I try very hard to drink water throughout the day, but am not always successful. My solution to that is to keep several insulated containers of cold water at my desk. Doing this has helped.

At home is another story. I was swilling iced tea faster than I could make it and chill it, so I was holding back drinking, so I’d have something cold to drink “later.” I finally decided that was a bogus strategy, since it prevented me from drinking enough fluids.

I went on line and found my favorite iced tea pitcher and purchased it in several additional colors. Then I created a color-coded key and hung it on the fridge.

I like teas from Celestial Seasonings, especially their Cool Brew black teas. I order these by the case directly from Celestial Seasonings, as I cannot find them in stores around here. You don’t need to boil water to make them. I also like their fruit teas, especially the blueberry and acai mango.

So here is what the top shelf of my fridge now looks like:

I never go thirsty.

#UpbeatAuthors: Next Step on the Ladder

I am currently in a strange state of waiting. Or maybe it’s a holding pattern.

I’m facing retirement from my day job within the next five to ten years. Hard to believe the time has come to start thinking about that, but there you have it. Another rung on the ladder of my life. I have taken steps–many–to make this happen comfortably. But I like my day job. I like my co-workers. So I’ll hold out until I’m truly ready to retire.  Or the job is no longer there. That happens, you know. I’ve survived vanishing jobs before. If it should happen again, I’m in better shape. I’m ready for that next rung.

One of my publishers just closed its doors. I had five titles with them. I want to self-publish those books.  Self-publishing is the next rung on my author career ladder. There are steps I need to take to make this happen. More treads to climb. But the outcome will be worth the effort. 

It’s a good feeling to have career plans in place, along with the knowledge that I’m flexible enough to handle whatever comes my way. Too bad the rest of life isn’t as secure.

Pet Peeve

I tend to spend a lot of time on line at the local fast-food franchise’s drive thru. It’s close to my Day Job; it’s easy to grab breakfast on the way in in the morning, and it’s convenient for lunch when I’m in a hurry. Over the years, I’ve observed a lot of different behaviors, and there is one that really irks me.

The line is long. We patiently wait our turn to reach the speaker and place our order. The vehicle in front of us has been on line a long time, too. So why does the driver wait until s/he is at the speaker to find out what everyone else in the vehicle wants to order? Seriously? You couldn’t have had this conversation in the five minutes you were on line before you arrived at the speaker?