Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?
In sixth grade art class, the assignment was to draw an animal that represented us.
I chose a Chameleon. Whew, that’s deep for a 12 year old right?
I felt like I changed and adapted to the people around me. I didn’t consider it in a bad way, like I wasn’t being myself. It was more that I could be comfortable around different types of people.
Later on, I read a chameleon changes colors as camouflage to hide from predators. That resonated with me too because I do like to blend in the background and be support rather than a star.
I recently had my annual gynecologist appointment and it got me thinking….
I used Planned Parenthood in my early 20s when I had no idea where to go for my reproductive health.
My mother was still taking me and my sisters to our pediatrician in our teens and our last visit there was when we turned 18. I remember him telling my mother, “well, this will be the last time I see them.”After that, or even maybe even before, we probably should have started going to a gynecologist but no one ever initiated it. Not us, not my mother.
There was some risk involved being sexually active with no birth control and I got tired of taking that risk. But where do I go? I was not very good with talking about things I was uncomfortable with, or something that might get shot down or questioned. (I really don’t like to be questioned – if I finally speak up about something, I’ve usually made up my mind and I’m not looking for approval!).
Maybe someone where I work suggested it, maybe I found it on my own. But I found it and they were great. I got my annual checkups and my birth control there and it was affordable. I was glad they were there for me when I needed them.
As of 2022 there are more females than males in the United States. Every month once we hit puberty, we all (generalizing) go through the same thing. But yet, roadblocks are thrown up to prevent many women from getting the basic care they need. I was glad to read that Planned Parenthood has a presence in all 50 states. I think we need it more than ever.
Six weeks from whenever I start a “healthy lifestyle program” it all goes to hell.
2025 is turning out to be no exception. I talked about my plans for a healthy 2025 here.
What happened? Valentines Day happened and I went to Sweet Chocolata’s here in town to buy treats for my family and employees. Of course, I had to buy something for myself and their caramel and chocolate covered pretzel sticks are to die for! That was almost a month ago and I haven’t been able to get back on track. It feels like no matter when I start, six weeks later there is some event or holiday that derails me.
My workouts, of course, continue to be going well. It’s my diet that I can’t get back on track. I start each with with determination, and then slide away.
But, as Truman Capote said, “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor”. Appropriate right?
When I think of a “shopping spree”, my thoughts go immediately to all that I don’t need! I don’t need clothes because my size is difficult to shop for and I get discouraged. I don’t need electronic equipment because I have more than I need. My brain no longer works on a “want basis”.
Things for my home! That’s it! I would buy a nice coffee bar, the sectional sofa for the family room that my husband and I have discussed over and over again, and …… hmm, as I look around, I think it would be a quick shopping spree!
I feel content with what I have. I would prefer to take someone else on a shopping spree and let them buy what they want. It would make me happy to do that.
I am curious which also translates to nosy. This is why once I start scrolling, I can’t stop. Facebook to Instagram to Threads. I hate Threads the most. It’s filled with complaining.
I deleted them all so many times off my devices during the election season. Then my fingers (and my brain) would itch to see what was going and I just had to reinstall them. And then delete them again.
They are unhealthy. But….
I have accounts for our business and I try to keep those full of content and comment on followers accounts.
I want positivity in my life. I don’t want negativity in my life.
One of my goals for 2025 was to “read less what other people and write more of what I want to say”.
Heading off to delete those apps off my IPad again….
I don’t know about you, but my Sunday into Monday sleep can be a little rough.
Then after waking up, my mind is on every little thing I have to do from now until Christmas.
I drink my coffee and head out the door to workout and as I walk I say, Dear God, help me to slow down and appreciate the moments and I turned the corner and he says,
I try to be chill but once we turn the corner from Thanksgiving, I feel like a train is rushing down the track. Am I on it? Or is it heading towards me? I haven’t quite decided.
I have hosted our family Christmas Party for 10 or 15 years always the second or third Saturday in December. Throw in a work party we host on the first Saturday and a trip to New York to shop in whatever week doesn’t contain a party at the end and there’s December, done and dusted.
Gift-giving has slowed down, which is a good thing. My husband and I shop for ourselves in New York, and our son and daughter-in-law usually receive something large during the year. Now it’s gifts for our great niece and nephew and something for the grab bag at the party.
This year’s election has f*cked it up a bit as some people don’t want to be around other people and it’s enough that I try to make everyone feel welcome regularly to now have to worry about who’s ignoring whom and what will they mutter under their breath.
I will be sure I do my daily meditation, get enough sleep and exercise, select my menu, and buy a big bottle of wine for myself and hide it away!
What technology would you be better off without, why?
I have a love/hate relationship with social media.
Social media refers to “the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks”. Maybe that’s what it was intended for, maybe some sites are still for that intended use, but for me, it’s an absolute time waster!
I’ve spent so much time doom scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Will I miss something if I don’t swipe up one more time? I don’t know! Let’s find out!
On the flip side, I use it for our remodeling business by posting projects we’ve completed to entice people to call us! I try to post often enough so we show up in feeds and cross post on a variety of sites. I’m hoping people keep scrolling until they come across my posts.
I’ve deleted Facebook from my phone and IPad for the tenth time in a couple of months so if I want to check our business account, I access it from my computer and quickly switch accounts. I’m hanging on to Instagram because of family chat and if I have to set a timer I will!
What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?
I left a full-time with benefits job to start up a remodeling company with my husband.
12 year prior I had moved cross country to live with my soon-to-be husband, so I know about making a big leap of faith. But now we’re talking about income, and we have a mortgage and a son to provide for!
For him, he was not happy with the new home builder he was working for, and as an “independent contractor” (really, just a carpenter that back then a company could get away with not putting them on payroll), the builder could make his own rules for paying for their work.
For me, our son was turning 9 and would be heading into 4th grade in September. I had had the week between Christmas and New Year off and Oh Boy, I had a taste of time off, just being home and I wanted more of that!
We got him licensed and insured, he worked on and off for the home builder and, we advertised in the local weekly newspaper that got delivered to homes.
I left my job in early June and we worked out of our unfinished basement. I took care of business and set up appointments during the day for him to go on after his work day. I also picked up a part-time job at our son’s school in the library! I worked from 9 to 1, worked the school schedule, and was in our office in the afternoon. It was a dream setup!
Over the 25 years, we built a garage at our home with office space above where we worked for 12 years, and in 2018, we bought a unit in a business complex for our office. We went from my husband working alone to present day, he’s retired, I’m semi-retired, our son runs the business, we have a great person in the office, and we have 5 employees out in the field.
It was a tough decision, but I had faith that we would succeed. There were a lot of hills and valleys over those years, but we did what we set out to do.
I shared a picture from a trip to Paris I took in 2008 here and today, I’m sharing another!
Saint Denis, Paris France
Poor Saint Denis! He was the first bishop of Paris back in the 3rd century when Paris was still ruled by the Romans. At that time, Romans were not the Christians we know of today and they weren’t very happy with the number of conversions to Christianity that Denis was accomplishing.
So they took him to the Montmartre area of Paris and beheaded him. It was said that immediately after he was killed, he picked up his head and walked six kilometers north before he finally died.
This statue is in the Place Suzanne Buisson, a lovely park in Montmartre. We came upon the statue as we were heading down the winding streets of Montmatre after visiting Sacre Couer.
We would see Saint Denis again above a door of Notre Dame and again inside the cathedral.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 