As I was headed through the central valley to Vegas last weekend, you could see this huge orange pile from several miles away.

What the hell is it? It’s orange dirt. It’s oranges. It’s dirt covered with an orange cloth. NOPE.

It’s Bugs Bunny’s dream. It’s carrots. Lots and lots o’ carrots. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Quite possibly eleventy six million.

That is certainly something you don’t see every day. I ask you, how can you not stop and take a picture of that?

And what about this sign?



I didn’t realize they had gone out. I am a pen freak. I love pens, pencils, and markers. The kookier the better. Had you asked me, I could have told you that kooky pens are in. After my mother-in-law passed away, we were cleaning out her condo. I found quite possibly more pens than even I had. Two bankers boxes full of them. I shit you not. There were pens from everywhere: the USS Arizona, Space pens (that write upside down and underwater, in case you are ever in a situation that calls for something like that); spirograph pens (remember those?); pens taken from banks, insurance agents and doctors offices; pens that work; pens that don’t work. Why is it so hard to get rid of pens?

Try this sometime. When you pick up a pen that doesn’t work – it’s out of ink – rather than putting it back in the pencil cup for future frustration, try throwing it away. Really. It’s okay. I’m pretty sure they will make more. Red ones, blue ones, purple ones and kooky ones. Because rest assured, as this sign in the window of a truck stop in the Central valley of California points out – kooky pens are in.



And finally, you know how people talk about their “happy place”? They tell you (those “they” people again” you can simply go to your happy place to take a break, or perhaps get away from annoying people. Well, I found it.


I found my happy place. The problem? It’s in Maricopa. I always imagined my happy place to be somewhere on an island, with warm water, awesome sunrises and sunsets, toes buried on the sand.


I guess I should get my imaginator fixed. I didn’t quite picture it like this.

IMPROG: Friend is the word

Welcome to my improg. What’s an improg, you say? 

IMPROV + BLOG = IMPROG

I have a hat full of little slips of paper, sent to me by my counterpart improgger, Susan. We are going to be doing random acts of blogging. Although, I will still be doing other blogging on this same blog. Visit early, and visit often.



FRIEND is the improg word of the day.


What is a friend?

My friends:
• listen well
• can talk to me and say anything
• aren’t embarrassed by me in public ( I can get loud and obnoxious)
• don’t embarrass me in public (too much)
• love my dogs
• make me laugh
• like to go see movies
• aren’t hung up on politics (trust me, my views are probably different than yours)
• will honestly tell me if my jeans make my butt look big (but only if I ask their opinion!)
• likes to laugh
• will listen to me bitch about stupid people, circumstances, and drivers
• like to go out to eat
• send me random emails about nothing and everything in particular
• will let me drive on road trips
• like different things than I do and can discuss it, but doesn’t assume that just because I am not into it, it’s not the end of the world or our friendship
• don’t care that I hate to vacuum (my carpets are disgusting)
• share their dreams with me
• don’t laugh at my dreams
• can be spontaneous when necessary
• like to read (even if our book/magazine tastes are different)
• don’t care that I don’t drink anymore (and don’t make a big deal out of it)
• know I am bossy (I just know what they should be doing)
• like it when I make our vacation plans
• were there for me when I got cancer
• love me unconditionally

The saying that friends are there for a reason, a season or a lifetime says a lot to me, and makes it easier when people come and go through my life.

But my own saying is: 

Friends may come and friends may go, 

but my best friends will be there forever (you know who you are!)

BFF!

Call or email your friends today, and tell them you love them. Just because you can. See? Now I'm trying to boss you around too! 

IMPROG x2 - Time is the word of the day - 2nd posting

Yesterday’s IMPROG word - TIME - really has me thinking. I thought I should tell you what I am thinking about. After all, this is my blog. That means it also is my rules!

Tomorrow is my friend and next-door neighbor, Emily’s birthday. She is going to be 80. She has been on this earth almost twice as long as me. And how long is that exactly?

80 years old
or 8 decades old
or 960 months
or 4,174 weeks
or 29,220 days
or 701,293 hours
or 42,077,598 minutes
or 2,524,655,900 seconds



I know she is happy with her life and the way she has spent her time. She married the love of her life. She has biked the Tour de France route. She has lived in Japan. She has been a nurse. She has 2 children. She has been an airline pilot. She has scuba dived. She has 2 grandchildren. She has biked all over the United States and Europe. She has outlived her husband of 50+ years. She quilts. She takes long walks daily. And she is still learning and trying new things. She is constantly trying new recipes and sharing the results with me. She just got a new computer.

I would say that Emily is spending her time wisely on this earth - all 701,293 hours.

I strive to be that content, and to live my life with few regrets – just like Emily.

So when we think that we need more time in a day, perhaps what we really mean, is that we need more time to do what we really want to do.

So, what are you waiting for? Book that trip. Take up that hobby. Eat at that restaurant. Live, laugh and love a little bit every day. No excuses. No regrets.

Enjoy your time in this world. Emily is. I am.

IMPROG - Time is the word of the day

Welcome to my improg. What’s an improg, you say?

IMPROV + BLOG = IMPROG

I have a hat full of little slips of paper, sent to me by my counterpart improgger, Susan. We are going to be doing random acts of blogging.


TIME is the word I have pulled out of a hat. How apropos.

It seems as if I never have enough of it! Currently is it 8:21 am, PST. I have nothing on my schedule for today until 4:30 pm. Some how I will be rushing around to make the 4:30 appointment, and will ultimately be late. Even though I have been up for almost an hour and a half and that makes it so that, really, I have had 9-1/2 hours to get ready for this appointment.

Obviously, time management is NOT my forte.

Even though I made a New Year’s Resolution to never make a New Year’s Resolution again, each January is a good reality check. My goal (not resolution) is to be better at time management.

Gone are the days of the cutesy little appointment books where you can write 3 things in the daily spot. And then how are you supposed to remember anybody’s birthday if you don’t have it written on THAT page? Separate pages for separate things are idiotic. (Unless, of course, you use something like that and it works for you.) So now I have this huge appointment book. There are 3 days to one 8-1/2 by 11 page. It’s not cute. It doesn’t fit into my purse. But I am making the time to make the time to try to make my time flow better.

I am starting to schedule time to do everything. And that includes writing.

Currently reading “TIME to WRITE” by Kelly L. Stone.

That sums up my goal – having time to write. If you want to help me fulfill my goal, and have fun in the process, send random words to our office administrator – or leave a comment here. Maybe I’ll write about YOUR word next week.

It's now 8:44a.m. 15 minutes closer to that 4:30 appointment. Do you think I will be on time?


RULES:
Rules for us: pull out a piece of paper and blog on whatever is on it.
Rules for you: read it, pass it on.
Want to get in on the action? Send a message to improg@CometRealty.com and our office administrator, Trixie, will get the ideas to us. Sometimes we will be blogging on the same topic, sometimes separate. At any rate, we are both funny and incredibly insightful, and you should put us in your favorites.

ACTIVE - word of the day

Welcome to my improg. What’s an improg, you say?

IMPROV + BLOG = IMPROG

I have a hat full of little slips of paper, sent to me by my counterpart improgger, Susan. We are going to be doing random acts of blogging.

Rules for us: pull out a piece of paper and blog on whatever is on it.
Rules for you: read it, pass it on.
Want to get in on the action? Send a message to improg@CometRealty.com and our office administrator, Trixie, will get the ideas to us. Sometimes we will be blogging on the same topic, sometimes separate. At any rate, we are both funny and incredibly insightful, and you should put us in your favorites.

ACTIVE…is the word of the day.

Hmmm…we could start out by saying how IN-active I am. I try to be more active, but I like to sit in front of the computer. I like to kid myself that is activity. It is, but I don’t think it’s the kind I am supposed to be concentrating on. I went bowling on Saturday, does that count?

After the chemo, and the hormone blockers I am taking – my entire body hurts. It was as if aliens came down, abducted me and returned somebody else’s body to me. I haven’t been to the gym in, well, I can say months, although I did get one of those free memberships and I went twice, so that counts for something. Doesn’t it? Does that make me active? I ran ½ mile a few weeks ago, and nobody was chasing me with a knife. Doesn’t that count for activity?

I’m only 41, and I sometimes feel like I’m 81.

My friend Dave came to visit me and told me I walked like an old lady. What a compliment, eh? He then turned me onto this book called PAIN FREE – A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain, by Pete Egoscue.

This book is incredible. Within a few weeks (yes, weeks) my feet no longer hurt and I can wear high heels again. In fact, some of the pain had subsided within 20 minutes. After a few weeks – my feet are happy (believe me – it is possible). My herniated disc is manageable and doesn’t wake me up at night. I haven’t thought about my sciatica in months.

So, I guess I have no excuse to not be active anymore. This book is awesome. If you are reading this and have any little quirks or hurts or whatever, go get it. You can get it on Amazon – it really is the most amazing thing.

But now I have to be more active. No more excuses. I don’t know whether to kiss this Pete Egoscue, or slap him! Check out his website – and you can be more active with me! http://www.egoscue.com/htdocs/gethelp.asp