Perfection

Man, some days are just so awesome...like today. First of all the weather is perfect. Sunny, light breeze and about 70 degrees. My kind of weather.

It was a Starucks and Dunkin' Donuts morning. Yummy!

I finished a really big project at work. Whew...so glad it's done. Fun but had a deadline.

I went and grabbed a veggie wrap at Froots at lunch and ate in my car with the windows open and the Cubs game on because it was so glorious out.

We got our sign up sheets for summer hours at work today. We can work an extra 1/2 hour each day and then only work five hours on Fridays for seven weeks during the summer. Love it!

Driving home I saw ducks in the creek eating whatever it is they eat when they stick their heads down in the water and their butts are sticking up in the air...made me laugh.

Got home and Irv had put some of the lawn furniture out (he was home sick today...wink, wink) and put the tarp up on the deck to keep the sun and rain off of us when we sit outside. Ah.....summer is coming.

It's just one of those days when I feel like shouting from the mountain top...how very, very awesome life is and how very lucky I am to be me!

Ever have one of those days?

(The photo was taken by Matt on a road trip to California a couple of years ago)

The Fear Factor

I listen to people talking, and I can't believe how many people are living in a state of constant fear. Some of them are fearful about economic and job losses. I can understand that, but some people are so fearful, that they have lost site of the fact that they have a job and they have their health and they have their family. They are fearing things that may or may not happen, that they have little control over...and life is passing them by.

Do you live in fear? Do you worry about things you have no control over? Do you avoid trying new things for fear you might fail?

I don't any more. I'm not sure why that is, but I really don't worry too much about anything. I have concern for certain things...like health and my family, but I don't stop living because I fear something bad is going to happen.

Fear can stop you dead in your tracks. It doesn't even have to be something big that you are fearing...it can be something small. I'm not saying we should just run all over the place never thinking things through. We should always think things through before making decisions...I'm talking about thinking things through and always coming up with the same conclusion....no, I can't do that because it will never work...I tried something like that before and failed so I better not try it again...my friend told me I shouldn't do that...the economy is going to get worse...what if I lose my job....I'll never be able to do that...my mom told me no way so I won't do it....I'm sure I'll fail.......and on and on and on.

You know what...if you think you will fail...by golly...you will! If you never try, how will you know?

I'm not afraid to try things and I do not fear failure. Failure only means that I didn't do it right or it truly was not the right thing for me and in my heart I knew that...therefore I didn't put forth the effort required to be a success.

How about you? Do you try a lot of different things? Do you take chances? Do you fear things you can't control?

Are some people just natural worriers? Is that even possible? Can those people that worry their lives away change?

I would love a discussion on this topic. What do you think?

Car Repair Part 2

The guy at the Toyota dealer said, "I'll check and see if there is anything we can do (on the $900 repair cost) and I'll call you tomorrow." The guy didn't call, so Irv called him. Oh, he's off today! Too funny! The guy Irv did get to talk to was a bit snippy and said he really doubted they would do anything, but he would call him back.

It must have been our lucky day and the Goddess of car repairs was looking upon us with favor, because lo and behold, they will do the repair for HALF PRICE! Wow! Now our $900 repair was going to cost $537...that is 1/2 price and includes the $100 for the diagnostic test they ran. What a deal!


Irv had talked to our personal mechanic and he was putting together a quote, so even though Toyota was giving us a "deal" I told Irv to call Bob and see if he had a price for us yet. That was the right thing to do. So Irv called Bob and told him what Toyota was doing it for and Bob laughed. He said, "They aren't giving you any deal! My price is $397!"

Can you believe that? That is the kind of thing that really ticks me off...like paying $5.00 for one Tylenol in the hospital! I am such a patient and understanding person, but I find this kind of stuff pathetic to the point that if I think about it too much, my blood pressure goes up! Just kidding, but man does that make me mad!

So, needless to say, Irv is at the Toyota dealer to get my car. My car will be paying a visit to Bob, the auto mechanic next week! We do still have to pay Toyota the $100 for the diagnostic test whether we have the work done there or not, but oh well...what are you going to do?

Irv wanted to go yell at the manager, but I told him to let it go. It won't do anything but get him more upset. We still have to deal with these when our lease ends in 3 months, so I would rather not make any waves.

Rolling of eyes......

Trying To Smile

Well, Irv took my car in for an oil change this weekend. The guy there said my transmission was leaking. Irv took the car to our mechanic and he said it looked like it and to go to battle with Toyota. We are 2500 miles over our warranty. The car is leased and the lease in done in 3 months. He called Toyota and they said to bring it in...that the transmission would be under the 5 year warranty. Okay, so that was good news.

Toyota called today though and said it isn't the trans that's leaking, it's the power steering and now whatever I need will run $900. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? The guy told Irv he will talk to the boss when he comes in tomorrow and let us now what they can do for us.

What they can do is fix the darn thing for FREE! I am not spending $900 to repair something that shouldn't be breaking at 38,000 miles! UGH! Anyway, I am trying to be calm and wait to see what the guy says tomorrow. Then if it isn't the news we want to hear....Irv will be calling someone else at Toyota.

Then just as I am about to walk out the door at work, the place that I ordered my canopy for the craft show from calls. Sorry, the canopy you want is out of stock and we won't have them in until June! JUNE???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? The show is May 17th. They would be happy to sell me this other one that is actually a better canopy than the one I ordered for less money. Oh, really?? I went home and looked at it online. NOPE...it isn't better. I want the other one.

So, I found it somewhere else and ordered it. It says it's in stock, but I won't have it until the end of April or the beginning of May. That was not my plan. I wanted it early so we could practice setting it up and I could see if my lay out works. I am NOT happy, but I really am trying to be calm. Getting hysterical really won't fix my car or get me my canopy any sooner, so I'll deal with whatever happens.

It was a less than wonderful afternoon. Now I am about to start making the zillion pillows I cut out last night. Here is a sneak peek at some of the other ones I have finished that I probably won't be listing on etsy. I am really lovin' the pillow thing right now!

Breathe.....stay calm.....happy thoughts....smile.....go make some pillows. :)

Second Post....HELP!!

Don't miss today's original post about Matt and the avalanche below, but I need your help. I am having new two-sided business cards done up. I can't for the life of me figure out how to describe my shops. Everything I come up with is super dull and boring. Look at my shops, and then tell me.....what descriptive words would grab your attention on a business card? How can I describe my shops in a handful of words...but not be ho hum boring?

http://www.fourdogday.com
http://www.myothershop.etsy.com

Thanks for your help!

Matt's Avalanche Adventure

Okay, so Matt (my youngest son) is on spring break for 2 weeks. He lives in beautiful Telluride, Colorado. Last week was the first week of spring break, and every day he was calling or texting to tell me where they snowboarded. They were having an awesome time. Then no calls or texts for about 3 days......Hmmmmmm, mommy is thinking...what's up?

So, I texted him Friday night....no response.

I texted him Saturday and just texted, "Hello???"

He texted back, "Hi". I called him a bratty boy and some other things and then a few text messages later, I get this one, "I got to see an avalanche up close and personal a few days ago."

I thought he meant that they were snowboarding and saw an avalanche on another peak. Uh, no...he meant up close and personal....like he was almost in it.

"Would you like to call and tell me about it?" I texted.

"No," was his reply.

WTF Matt....spill it already was my thought!


He did call and explained that they were snowboarding in the back country (that means not at the ski resort, but just off on the mountain somewhere) and he saw the snow give way ahead of him. He was snowboarding with his friend Joe and they had their dogs with them. When Matt saw the avalanche start, his first concern was for the dogs. They just run along with them down the mountain when they snowboard.

Matt quickly snowboarded over to the left into some trees to get away from the path of the slide. His dog Luna quickly followed, but his friend's dog was only about a foot from the avalanche! The dog did come over to him in the trees and Matt watched the avalanche from there.


It wasn't a big one, but a sheet of snow about 6-12 inches deep broke away and slid down the side of the mountain. It wouldn't have been enough to bury Matt, but it could have been a painful trip down the mountain with possible injuries. The dogs would have been a different story. They may not have faired so well.

Joe also told Matt that there was another break in the snow behind him when he was going down. He sure was lucky! Matt and Joe stayed near the trees for a while and then rode down.

The avalanche was actually moving fast enough to continue it's journey across a flat area of ground and then continue down the next section of slope.


I think what frightened Matt the most was that he thought the conditions were safe that day, and they weren't. He triggered an avalanche. When they got down, they reported the slide so it could be posted online. That way other snowboarders would know that the area they were in was not stable.

So, how does mom feel about Matt's adventure? It scares the heck out of me, but a lot of the things that Matt does scare me...I also look at it as a good thing. No one got hurt, but it was frightening enough to keep him off the slopes for a few days reflecting on what happened. I know that experience will always be in the back of his mind whenever he heads for the back country and hopefully it will make him even smarter and safer.

The pictures were taken after the avalanche and the last picture is Joe and Matt's dog, Luna.

Happy Easter!

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, have a wonderful day today. We are headed to the grocery store and then I have to bake some lemon bars and some melt away cookies to take with us to Tresa's in-laws this afternoon.

Have a good one and I'll chat with you tomorrow!