Me Too, Princess Genevieve!

Which country should you REALLY be living in? The United Kingdom You have pride in yourself and pride in your country. You believe that history and culture is an important factor to the future of your country, and that traditions and values should be upheld. You love your scones and tea, and reading soppy romance novels. The UK is where you should be...

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Birthday

Well, I had a lovely birthday yesterday. Gary brought me a bouquet of flowers in the morning. We then went into the city and picked up his suit for the wedding, did a little shopping and then saw an exhibit I have been wanting to see. We met some friends for dinner at the Melting Pot which was quite yummy.

Gary gave me Lyle Lovett tickets for a July show which I'm really excited about. And my mom sent me a gift certificate for Home Depot so that we can finally get a grill. My friend Gary L. sent me a great book about Creative Philanthropy. Our friends Tom and Janet got me some cute p.j.s. And I got lots of terrific cards.

All in all, it was a very nice birthday. I'm a lucky girl!

Stuff on My Cat

Occasionally, I find out about some truly unique websites. This one really made me laugh. It might be a cat person thing, though. I may have to do something with Toulouse and submit it.

Stuff on My Cat

In Defense of Starbucks

I just realized I only have three days of being 30 left. My birthday is on Thursday. This past year has been so busy that my thirtieth year has gone by in a blur. Yikes!

Now, on to our main topic...

Okay, I already know that it is ridiculous to spend $2.75 on a cup of coffee. But I love it. And I don't have it every day. But somedays I need my tall nonfat, no whipped Mocha. Oh, the shame! To be one of those people who has a foo-foo coffee drink order!

But it's more than that.

I like the environment at Starbucks. They have yummy snacks. They play music I like. And I can sit and read the paper or a book in comfort. Not only that, you can pick up a free bag of coffee grounds for your garden. You can buy some bottled water that helps to get clean drinking water for people in other countries. And did you know the Starbucks founder funded "Akeelah and the Bee" out of his own pocket? They do good work there. Not only that, the people that work there are always friendly. And I've been to lots of locations. And they are so fast to give you free drinks if anything goes wrong. Even if you don't ask for it.

What can I say? I like Starbucks.

Generation Gap

In an effort to meet people and get involved in the community, I joined the local Woman's Club. I attended my second meeting last night where the theme was the history of the Club. The previous meeting I attended was a St. Patrick's Day theme. I am the youngest in the group that I have seen by about 20 years. And I really like it.

For one thing, older women really demonstrate the classic social niceties. Someone ALWAYS comes up to me and introduces herself. I am invited to sit with people and introduced to other members. They make an effort to include you. I have been in the Junior League for several years and have not had that experience. The women there tend to stick together in small groups. No one ever introduces herself or tries to make you feel welcome. It's not on purpose. It's just the way things are.

Growing up an only child, I always spent a lot of time with adults. I practically grew up in my grandparents' church and was always very comfortable around senior citizens. So, it doesn't feel strange to me to be in a group of older women. I enjoy their company. Plus, they have great stories to tell and interesting information about the community. Next month is Scandinavian Night. I'm looking forward to it!

Dilemma

So, I was in the office supply store yesterday and I stood in line behind a woman in a lovely light blue summer dress. It was one layer and made of a very sheer fabric. And her print undies were extremely visible. I wondered if anyone had made her aware of that fact. Should I? Would she be offended? Would she want to know? I think I would want to know. But then, I am the type of person to get a little put out when people point out when the label in my shirt is sticking out. I always think, "Who cares? It's just a shirt label!" So, maybe this woman doesn't care that her underwear is visible. Maybe she is quite comfortable. I couldn't think of a way to help so I just left it alone. What would you have done?

May Showers Bring...

I just returned from Denver where I went for my bridal shower. It was lovely. My friends did a delicious sit-down dinner of salmon and cornish game hens. They dubbed it "muck and cluck." On Sunday night, we went to the Palm for my traditional birhtday lobster. My birthday is technically on the 25th but there isn't a Palm where I live.

I returned home to find a pile of wedding RSVPs. It is so fun to go through them and see who will be able to come. I get so excited at the thought of seeing everyone at the wedding. And, as always, I prowl around the mailbox in the hope of finding a greeting card or two. I don't know why I like cards so much. I just do.

As for the other matter that has been at the forefront of my mind, we have reached a tentative truce. Hopefully, the rebuilding has begun. I hope so because it appears I have developed a stomach ulcer. Gary is pushing me to go to the doctor this week so we will see...

We Have the Technology

Thank you for your thoughts and advice on our family discord. I agree with Genevieve that sometimes these things need to happen. I think people often hold things inside until they explode. And then the explosion is often about something else other the conversation at hand. But it can still be very damaging. One ends up using all the goodwill he/she has built up. Then, you have to start from scratch. It's just really hard. For everyone involved. And I'm so mad that it happened. And I'm working on trying to fix things but at the same, I have to realize that I can't always fix everything. But we're going try. We can rebuild it and make it better. We have the technology. :)

Goal #1---Check!

I have lost five pounds. It doesn't seem like a lot but it was a struggle. And I feel proud of myself. Two months ago, I was at my heaviest and I hadn't exercised in so long I couldn't even remember what it was like to walk without getting tired.

Now, I'm five pounds lighter and I can run a mile.

Progress.

Slowly but surely...

Bellyaches

Well, my mom was here all of last week to do wedding planning. We're getting close. Less than two months. It was a busy week but overall, quite good. We got to do lots of things like taste cake! My favorite part! But, unfortunately, with the wonderful came some bad.

I mentioned before how hard it seems to be to join two families together. No matter how small they are. Everyone brings different life experiences, values and ideas to the table. And sometimes that can cause real friction. Sunday became the Clash of the Titans.

My mother and fiance got into a fight. It's not important why. But terrible things were said. Hurtful things. And it will be very difficult to recover from it. TO even get back to the point where we all were before.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a fear of conflict. Especially between people I care about. It not only makes me want to go and hide under my bed but it also makes me physically ill. To see the people I love most in all the world fighting is almost more than I can bear. And the worst part is that we had had a lovely week. And Sunday ruined it all. Before my mom arrived, I bought a bottle of champagne and I was planning for us to drink it on Sunday to celebrate a fun and productive week. Needless to say, it is still sitting in the fridge.

I guess I'm not sure how we will recover from this. I want more than anything for this wedding to be a happy and joyful time. But it only seems to spark conflict.