what a difference a day makes.......

The odd thing about life is that we are constantly reminded to look for the silver lining or gold brick road in every situation we encounter. Some days are harder than others when it seems that the world (or to some, God) is against you, and those moments are defined by some sort of ethereal bad luck cloud hanging over your head. I've known some people that suffer from bad luck... heck, if they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all. These are people I think of when in the cleansing period of my tantrums. I am programmed to think of some situation worse than my own, which in turn becomes my spiritual benedryl fix. If I didn't have that survival chip implanted at birth (thanks, Mom and Dad!), I'd certainly go mad, for it's the saving grace of my sanity.

There is a cliche about seeing the forest through the trees, and somehow it applies well when one is driven to frustration and anger. We can't see the forest because those big old trees are in the way.... and who knows what's lurking in the shadows there. We forget to step out of the situation and see the picture as a whole, because... after all, we're mad as hell.... and the blinders have gone up. If we can work ourselves past the trees, the goal of the yellow brick road is more attainable. It's not easy with it's demanding schedule, but it is a gain for our karma box when we learn how to count to ten again, or take that deep sigh and forge forward. A simple breath, a simple count, and a straighter head for making the tough decisions. First and foremost: calm down and assess. Then proceed with grace.

The best part of the journey is the friends you make along the way: the heart, the brains, and the courage that walk alongside. Without them the journey is soulless, for it lacks any connection..... and as humans, that is part of our genetic make-up. We may find that solitude can be the garden where we do our best thinking, but with no one ever to share our journey, we become recluse and reckless to our own spirit..... a path of self destruction, if you ask me.

I am fortunate to know many people, and at times they become my heart, brains, and courage along the way.... and we all know how great it can be when someone else takes the helm once in awhile. We may take long breaks from one another, but there is a bonus in that as well. Oh what stories we can tell, and what laughs we have when once connected again...... not to forget the experiences we take away.

That's all life really is.... lessons that grow from the shadows of the trees, and a yellow brick road that leads you to your personal Oz. Tripping over the potholes is a possibility.... heck, it's almost designed that way. However, the friends who skip down the road with you, and pull you back from those thoughtless apple throwing trees make the journey worth the trip. Besides, they have your back when you come up against the nefarious wizards who lurk behind curtains.... or the green faced witches trodden with jealousy. For me, I am thankful that I know some of the most wonderful people who have ever walked the face of the earth..... they have made my journey fruitful in many ways, and still put up with my moments of mad tantrums from time to time. That's a good friend.

Life is back to normal...... I surrendered, took a breathe, and called a friend for help. The computer is now working again, my temper securely back in place. What a difference a day makes..........

ever have one of those days........

when nothing, and I mean NOTHING goes right? Of course you have, haven't we all? Today is that day for me. No matter what I did (and I had plenty of time with spare left over) to catch up all my errands, chores, duties, and other miscellaneous garbage I line up for myself. This was going to be a day of great accomplishments!

Waking early, I breezed through the regular morning ritual of preparing to get stuff done. A quick trip to the post office, a jaunt by the emissions testing center, a stop at the bank, and then I was on my way to the tag office. It was here that my day came to a complete stop.... and it was only 9:00 am. Since when does the tag office decide to change their open hours to start at 11:00? Well, being a government office I suppose they have that right.... but still???????

Ok..... they have that right.... nothing too drastic that I couldn't rework my hours around them, and I proceeded home to type up orders I had received from the Friday before. (Remember, I was tied up on the blog, and pushed all that work aside?) Well..... the adage of Murphy's Law took effect from there on. Anything that can go wrong, WILL..... and it did. Planting my butt in front of the computer, I typed orders..... only to be stopped by this little spooler sub system that invaded my printing abilities. For the next nine hours I fiddled, tweeked, shut down and rebooted a million times, called Geek Squad (no help there), used microsoft system help support (again, no help there, except to tell me that I needed professional help), and finally let off a barrage of words that would have put a longshoreman to shame. You couldn't shut me up.... and I didn't lose my temper..... I found it. Yes, the temper is alive and well folks. It certainly does exist, and I have the hoarse voice to prove it. Of course that didn't do any good, and I still can't print anything, but I did let off enough steam to thoroughly run the temper dry (for the day, at least).

So what does one do when stuck in a hard place? Turn it into a blog story, of course. Someone please save me from myself............

it's about time.......

Well then........ isn't EVERYTHING "about" time? Time enough to get things done; time enough to complete your day by sitting back and sighing relief as you check off the many layers of duties you set up for yourself when the dawn first cracked hours earlier. Yeah, sure. Give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve the Atta-boy reward.... heck, you worked hard enough for it, didn't you. Oh..... if only I could be humble enough to accept it, but this is not the case for me, for I have cheated and stolen moments when I could.

Yes, I have been busy..... but everyone else has too. How they keep up with everyday life AND blogging is still a mystery for me. I folded under the pressures of the day and let blogging slip to the side. (I had to fold somewhere, didn't I?) It had nothing to do with slighting anyone or not caring about the new friends I venture to.....it was all about the short 24 hours the day holds. All until today that is. I pushed the work, renovations, ringing phone, family, favorite shows....... (my life in general), all to the margins and decided that a catch-up was in order. Not blogging throws you off the radar, and gets you dismembered from this special little cyberspace club.... and three months away practically guarantees you a headstone.

So rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.... and a trip to Mars was not where I headed either. However (on that note) I have traveled to Hell ....or at least the perception I was left with from my Catholic childhood. It is truly HOT here in Atlanta, and the constant traveling in and out of buildings (from cold to hot, to cold, to hot (endlessly), day in and day out) has left me with some wonderful migraine headaches and a feeling of clammy worn-outness. By noon, you can literally wipe the floor with the remains of me. Afternoon quickie snoozes and a few naproxins down the throat, and I felt better enough to do my catering duties, but with little to no brain cells left for thinking or putting two coherent words together to write anything here. Sorry, it wasn't anything personal.... just personal to me. And, of course on my good days, I spent time with my other personal demon: renovations. Yes.... renos again (like I don't get enough with the amount of HGTV I watch.... I have to emulate.)

The good news is that we have been busy with caterings as well..... the bad news is that we have been busy with caterings. A double-edged, multi-dimensional quagmire that still pays the bills, and leaves me with little time to play. Well, let me clarify that just a tad. I still get to play (here and there), but not as much as I used to before I actually owned a business. But I have to admit, this is still the best job (and longest employment) I've ever held anywhere. This June marked my 10th anniversary with this venture.... not too shabby considering I've had a myriad of work opportunities that didn't pan out. It has allowed me to renovate not only the house, but the gardens as well. And if I could only get a little rain here (and not that scattered shower stuff the weatherpeople tease me about), I might have time enough at last to sit back and breathe that sigh of relief that eludes my clutches.

Oh, and did I mention how HOT it was here? It's HOT, HOT, HOT! Now I know why they call my city Hotlanta. The dog days of summer have arrived, and we are seriously in trouble. Not only are the water levels low, but watering flowers has become a skill for the sneaky. Currently I could get in serious trouble if caught watering.... but then, it pays to be nice to my neighbors (which I am). They won't turn me in, but the water police that patrol the town will gladly bust me. As an incentive to turn your neighbor in, they have issued a reward system of $100.00 per actual conviction.... and let me tell you, the state is making a killing on this. The average fine is $200.00 (after the first warning), and shut off on the third violation. Good thing my yard sits under a cloud of heavy maple and oak trees..... it makes the sneaking so much easier. I have found another way to get around "the man", and it includes filling up many plastic gallon jugs of water. How do they know I haven't actually purchased bottled water if I get caught, eh? But then, I have a great relationship with the neighbors, so my worries are minimal at best.

So...... back to time, and all the ticking away that was stolen from my day. I hereby again apologize for the absence to your blogs, the absence to my own blog, and the fact that no matter how well I can multi-task, 24 hours gets shorter everyday. Dammit... it's just not fair!

Well, I haven't typed a word in three months, now you can't get me to shut up. I am my own quagmire. At least I can cross blogging off the list today (finally)..... but then I have to get going anyway. All the reading I did today, and the post here, took me away from my JOB, and now I need to catch up there. Can you believe it's almost 9:00, and I am still answering phones, and taking orders for catering? I still have next weeks caterings to write out...... or maybe I'll just let it slide to the side and finish it up after watering in the morning. After all, tomorrow (Saturday) is another 24 hour day. And besides, the Braves are battling the Phillies tonight. It's 4 to 4 in the 6th. Go Braves! It's the only game I've been able to watch this year so far. Gotta love baseball, and one must really make time to watch a game.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!