Life is too short to get upset when SJ is down

...but I do anyway.

What the hell?? This is the 3rd time in less than a week. Don't they know that I need my Scrapjazz fix???

Oh well - guess I'm going to have to actually SCRAP tonight.

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We had a very busy but fun weekend. 2 block parties on Saturday, and then a Mets game on Sunday. The weather was supposed to be crappy both days. Saturday ended up being pretty nice. Can't say the same for Sunday. Fortunately our seats for the game were on the Mezzanine level, so we didn't get wet. But they only played half a game because of the rain. At least they won!!

Pics from the weekend:

In a fighting mood

I did something stupid at the supermarket today - I left behind an entire bag of produce that I had paid for. The kids were helping me bag, and I was bagging too, while supervising them, and I guess I got distracted and forgot to put one of the bags into the cart. Didn't realize it until a few hours later, when I was making dinner and realized that I was missing some ingredients.

The "old me" would have said, "Oh, well, I'm an idiot, guess I have to buy all new stuff".

But the "new me" went back to the store with my receipt, with the missing items circled, ready to fight if they wouldn't give me my money back.

Funny thing - they didn't ask any questions at all at the customer service desk - just glanced at the receipt and said "OK, just go get all the same stuff that you're missing and bring it back here". Since it was produce, I figured they would have to re-weigh everything, to make sure I didn't get more than before. But they said "just make it close", and when I brought it back up to the service desk, they didn't even look at it - just said "have a good night".

That was nice, but I guess I was in a fighting mood. I was actually kind of disappointed that I didn't have to argue with the guy.

So then I came home and found an argument with DH and another on SJ, but that's another story...I don't want to post anything negative on this blog. Life is too short to dwell on the negative.

Out of character

I just feel the need to mention this. As part of my "new attitude", I'm trying to live a lot more "in the moment". Which means maybe I don't ALWAYS need to take pictures of everything.

Or do I????

Two days in a row, I took the kids out for the afternoon (to the park and the beach) and DIDN'T bring my camera. On purpose. Can you say "out of character"?? I was so proud of myself for deciding to leave it home. Yeah, I'm really taking this "new attitude" thing to heart!!

But you know what??? I was sorry that I didn't bring it. Especially at the beach yesterday - it was so beautiful, and the kids were having SOO much fun - and more than once I found myself saying "damn, I want to take a picture of that."

So guess what - I'm going back to taking the camera everywhere.

Lesson learned - Maybe not everything about my old attitude needs changing. Some things are just "ME" - and that's fine.

It's a big country

My husband is playing "travel agent" again. His favorite thing in the whole world to do is to go on vacation. Any time we have a little extra money (and sometimes even when we don't), he's got some kind of a vacation plan up his sleeve. I used to fight him on this, but I've come around to his way of thinking. You know, my whole new "life is too short" attitude... Plus I think he deserves to indulge his love of travel. Despite my bitching about him on SJ, he really is a good guy. He works hard for his money - hardly ever spends it on himself, and loves doing fun things with his family. So if he wants to spend all his money taking us on vacation, who am I to argue with that???

We've already been on 3 mini-vacations so far this year, and we may take a couple more before the end of the summer. Plus we have two major trips "in the works" right now.

One is a just-the-two-of-us cruise to Hawaii in November, which he booked as a surprise and presented to me on my birthday this past Saturday. (I am still in shock - he even arranged for childcare for the 9 days that we'll be gone!!)

The other has not been 100% decided yet, but it will definitely be a family affair. Since the kids are not going to Hawaii, DH told them that they can choose where we go for the family trip. Right now it's looking like San Antonio, Texas. (and possibly a side trip to Houston) They tried to talk us into California, but we've been there 3 times in the last couple of years. DH told them they should pick someplace they've never been before - after all, as he is fond of saying, "It's a big country - let's see as much of it as we can!!"

(and I'm sure once we get around to getting passports for the kids, that quote is going to change to "It's a big WORLD...")

My Healthy Place

This is where I spent my afternoon yesterday with the kids. My favorite park in my hometown. It was a perfect summer afternoon weather-wise - low 80's, sunny and not too humid. The pics of the park are actually from early spring - I don't have any summer ones. I'll have to remember to bring my camera along the next time I go.

I'm calling this "my healthy place" because I always feel so good when I go there. As you can see in the pics, there is a nice path around a little lake (or pond - whatever you want to call it). I love to walk laps around it - I clocked it once with my pedometer and one lap around it is a little over 1/3 of a mile. So it's kind of like walking around the local high school track, only much prettier!!

So this is exactly what I did yesterday afternoon. At one end of the lake, there is a playground. After doing 2 laps around the lake with the kids, they didn't want to walk any more. So I dropped them off at the playground and continued walking. (I can see the playground even from the far end of the lake) After each lap I checked in with them, "Hi guys - I'm gonna go do another lap". I ended up doing 6 laps total - that's a little over 2 miles. I think we're going to have to do this more often. Any way that I can fit in some exercise without it feeling like a chore is definitely a good thing.

(Especially if I want to look good for our Hawaii cruise in November!! )

Life is also too short to let people talk you into things

So I went to work tonight. Didn't want to, but I did give two weeks' notice, so I have to finish out the two weeks, right? Anyway, when I first got in, the General Manager asked me why I was leaving. I explained again about my husband's work schedule getting more demanding - the excuse I gave on Friday when I gave notice. So the GM tried all kinds of ways to "rearrange" the schedule so I would stay.

I didn't know what to say. Kevin's work schedule is only PART of the reason I quit. But I couldn't very well tell the boss that "life is too short to work at Staples". And he was making me feel so guilty, cause he was so willing to be flexible in order to keep me. (Right now, in the summer, cashiers are a dime a dozen, but I KNOW he was thinking about September. Once all the high school and college kids go back to school, I'm the only daytime cashier they've got.) So I told him I'd have to think about it.

And all through my shift, I thought about it.

And at the end of my shift, I told him that I was still going to leave. I kind of feel bad that they won't have anyone in the mornings, but seriously, I can't let that be my problem.

Life is too short to let people talk you into things you don't want to do.

QUICK - Someone call the fire department!!!

There sure are a lot of candles on that cake!! No, there aren't actually 40 of them on there. But I did reach the "Big 4-0" milestone this past weekend.

Feels odd to say that. I am 40 years old.

Several people asked me over the weekend if I "felt any different". Honestly, I think I started feeling different a few months ago. I've been "practicing" by saying "I'm ALMOST 40" for so long, that it didn't come as so much of a shock when I actually got there.

In the last couple of weeks, though, I have made some changes in my attitude. I have decided that LIFE IS TOO SHORT to...

* fight with my husband

* yell at my kids

* wait until my house is clean to have friends over

* NOT have sex

* count calories

and most of all, life is too short to work at Staples.

So I gave my 2 weeks' notice on Friday night, less than 6 hours before I officially turned 40. It felt good. I have hated that job for months now, because I know I can do better. I don't know what "better" is yet, but I know that my silly cashier job at Staples was causing more stress, more fighting, and more damage to my self-esteem than it was worth. So I'm just not going to work there anymore.

So there.

See, I told you I had a new attitude!!!