Are you ready for some football?!

Yes. It's actually that time of year already. Hard to believe.

• School is back in session for the kids.
• School is also back in session for the grown ups (those of us who are in college).
• Daylight savings time looms nearer.
• Work resumes for those who work seasonally (as in for schools).
• The USMC Birthday Ball is on the horizon. Dresses and shoes to buy...
• Shorts and tanks are getting packed up in lieu of the layered look.
• And, yes... it's football season.

Things have been a little bit quieter on the forum for the past week or so, but I think this stands to reason as we get into this season. Hopefully it's a temporary dip and when we all get some down time we'll be as active as ever.

Meanwhile I will keep working on details-- when I'm not at my son's football games or my husband's work events or doing my school work or at the office or.........

Grabby McSnatchy

So, I've been trying to do a little bit of research about online forums and resources for Marine spouses and girlfriends.  The idea is for me to be somewhat well informed so that I can pass on any good leads to the ladies on our forum.

My philosophy is:  To each her own.  What works for one person might not for another.  What one person lives by might bore the life out of the next person.  So on our site I have posted (and will post more) links to other sites and good forums.

But I find it interesting how grabby some places are with their users.  I get that they don't want blatant spamming or advertising for other forums (and I never do this!).  But some of the little rules and nuances I have come across are very rigid and seem to be geared towards keeping their guests inhouse.

Am I just ignorant or naive?  I mean.... I understand why a for-profit business wouldn't want to redirect its customers the competition.  But how good is a support forum or resource center if it doesn't actually offer ALL MEANS of support and a wide array of resources?

This is just a musing about the situation.  Complaining is a waste of energy.  But I have resigned myself to stay true to the goal of offering up whatever goodies I find to others who may be interested.  If that leaves me talking to myself but results in happy members, I'm good.

Pardon me while I implode.

For crying out loud! I am so discombobulated. Seriously.
I feel like I am behind on everything, forgetting stuff and missing the obvious at every turn lately. I guess 4 weeks of road trip with the family should explain it, but I want my brain back!

I had to go in and accept/decline/delete/approve about 50 Facebook messages/apps/gifts, etc. yesterday.

I have 4,987 emails in my "personal" email inbox.

I have 2,618 emails in my Salted Luck and usmcwives.com email inboxes.

I have about 33 calls to make.

I haven't made any jewelry in over a month.

My dog needs to go to the vet and my daughter needs a routine check up (and shots!) with the pediatrician.

I am supposed to be making some calls and possibly doing some paperwork to prepare for some contract work I am going to do for my last employer. But at least that one is out of my hands: waiting for a return phone call.

But despite all of this and my brain being overloaded and disorganized: I am, as ever, a very happy woman. My husband is a beautiful specimen of a man who just showed his family the greatest time in the history of vacations. He's working on our fence out back and he's taking me to see my beloved WILLIE NELSON on Friday night! My son is an evil genius. My daughter is cuter (and, too, more evil) by the day. The usmcwives forum is growing exponentially by the week. I'm registered for classes now and school starts at the end of next month, which I am very excited about. And it looks like I'm getting another work-from-home opportunity very soon.

Life is good.

What day is it, again??

The last impromptu cocktails.

I'm a bit sad today. Partly because it's gloomy and rainy outside and partly because of my neighbors getting ready to move.

We met Jill, Barry and their 4 boys right after we moved into our house a year ago. They live right next to us and they are great fun. We've spent a lot of time together, much of it unplanned and on the spur of the moment. This is easily done when you're next door neighbors. And they are only moving a couple of miles from here, so we'll still visit frequently. But last night was probably the last time we will run into each other outside and end up having cocktails and playing cards until 1:00 a.m. (on a Tuesday!). So that's kinda sad.

I guess I should focus on how nice it is to have friends like them in the first place, though. The kind who will help with your home improvement projects and laugh at your jokes. The kind who will ask you for favors knowing that you'll ask them for a favor of your own at some point. The kind who will go to a Sinead O'Connor concert with you and take your son to baseball games when they have tickets. The good kind.

"Easy Opening."

So I just bought a mouse to use with my laptop. I'm getting better with the built in mouse but sometimes it's still a challenge. Anyway, it's working just fine, but as I was blowtorching my way into the plastic container it came in, I noticed something appauling.

A little red sticker in the top right corner that says "Easy Opening. Just bend corner."

Seriously.... what?! Umm, no. There is NO corner bending. There is NO easy opening. I'm glad the false advertising wasn't what prompted me to buy the product, otherwise I would feel horribly violated. I'm just horrified at the statement. And, for argument's sake, perhaps someone somewhere COULD easy-open-by-bending-corner. Let's say that this is within the realm of possibility. I still label it as false advertising because if a relatively average individual such as myself can't do it, then it probably shouldn't be stated as fact on the packaging.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on "furniture assembled in 3 easy steps." Lol.

The "Joy" of grandmas.

I wrote this yesterday on the road and am just now getting it posted..... Lol.

So we went on a road trip today to visit with my husband’s grandmother (who, incidentally, is named Joy).  This was the first time that the kids and I had met her. 

She was absolutely delightful.  It was well worth the 8 hours round trip for the only 4 we got to spend visiting.  I look forward to doing it again soon.

Incidentally, today marks the 64th anniversary of D-Day.  If I had been thinking about it, I might have asked Grandma Joy what, if anything, she could recall from that time.  I’m sure my own grandmother, her senior at the ripe age of 95, would have something to add.  Unfortunately I am drafting this blog on the road and my cell battery is dead so I can’t even call to ask. 

Speaking of being on the road with a dead cell battery and no WiFi connection in sight, I can’t even check my email or get on the forum to see if I’ve missed anything exciting.  This will never do.  We are going on a 3 week vacation soon which will include about 4,000 miles of road navigation.  I simply MUST find some sort of internet access solution before we head out.  I could die from the withdrawals.



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Pantsuit blues.

So, it's looking like Hillary is out and Obama is in.

I'm not excited about anything pertaining to this year's election. And I don't wish to get too political right now (I guess it's the mood I'm in). My plan is to pencil in Vince Vaughn as my choice. Do you think that will fly?? I mean, consider this: We need good diplomatic relations. Wouldn't it go a long way if our head of state were to skip over all the preliminaries and just tell those we have tenuous relationships with "You're so money, baby. You're so money right now!" Mama always said you catch more flies with honey....  And shame on you if you haven't seen "Swingers" and don't know what I'm referring to.

I'm all in love with life this morning because (1) people are actually TALKING on the forum and (2) it's Thursday, which for our summer schedule here is our Friday.  Woot!   =)

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I love it when you call me big poppa.

Have you seen the movie "Hardball?" Circa 2001, starring Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane among others. Not likely to be voted best movie ever, although it wasn't half bad and was based on a true story.

I laughed out loud at one scene, in particular. Try as I might, I couldn't find a specific clip of it to link here, but that's beside the point. This movie is about a gambler and his stint as the coach of an inner city kids' baseball team. In the movie, the pitcher always has on headphones and always listens to one song in particular. He wears the headphones while pitching, too, and is a real talent. One team, in hopes of upsetting his pitching skill, insists that the headphone use during play is against protocol so the pitcher is left tuneless. This has the desired effect of rattling him. Later in the movie (after having been replaced with another pitcher) the young man in question is called upon again to pitch. He, of course, panics because he can't pitch without his song. So, as is predictable at this point, the rest of the team and the coach sing the song for him as he pitches. It just happens to be Notorious B.I.G.'s famous song. And regardless of whether we encourage children to listen to this music or incorporate it into daily life, watching those kids waving their arms and signing "I love it when you call me big poppa..... throw your hands in the air...." absolutely cracked me up. Worth watching if only for that part!

I'm off to try to take care of some business now. It looks gloomy outside here so that isn't helping my motivation. But I need some supplies for Salted Luck and I have some phone calls to make. Feels more like a Monday than a Tuesday!

Confessions of a woman with a crooked life.

I've been so content lately I'm almost waiting for something bad to happen!

Random Monday thoughts:

• Our friend and neighbor, Barry, is putting in our back splash. The one part of the kitchen that has remained undone for the past many months. It looks beautimus and he's almost done. Too bad we discovered that our cabinets were hung slightly off kilter and there is a half inch discrepancy between the ends (on just one wall, anyway). This will require some optical illusion adjustments with the tile work but Barry is a master. :)

• We have been working to put a Pergo like flooring down on the first floor. We're not done yet but it's gorgeous. I love it. And my husband has been working his fingers to the bone.

• I'm annoyed the my PC is out of commission again because I really wanted to work on my temporary tattoos and window clings today. The printer is hooked up to MY computer, of course, so (being that I'm too lazy to switch it to the old man's side) that means I can't do it until my PC is fixed. Don't get me started on THAT topic.

• My daughter has been ridiculously cute lately. And I discovered this morning that she's gotten two new teeth on the top... I don't even know when that happened!!

• My son has been very much trying our patience. I'm sure it's a phase but I'm ready for it to END. In the meantime I'm considering Buddhism. It worked for Tina Turner?!

• Usmcwives is coming along just fine and dandy. This is pleasing me TREMENDOUSLY as I've been so timid and nervous about it.

• I haven't had time to design any new jewelry in DAYS. I'm having withdrawals. Maybe I'll have time for some this afternoon.

• Today is going great so far for a Monday! :)

Birth.

So, the past few days have seen the birth of two things which are really still in infancy but about which I am excited. Like a dork. Seriously.

First is the usmcwives.com forum. I'm fumbling around like a lunatic trying to spruce it up, but I think it looks pretty good so far, given my experience level. I've reached out to some of my online contacts to review it and I can see that many have. I've gotten a lot of survey replies in the past couple of days. I'm stoked!

Second is the associated usmcwives.com blog. From a practical standpoint, the site doesn't need a blog. After all, I have my own personal blog and the forum itself should suffice for any chit chat. BUT..... being an imaginative soul, I'm thinking I might at some point be able to use the blog in a worthwhile manner. It can be set up so that members can have their own pages and/or input posts. I'm thinking since I don't yet know how to enable NICE profile pages on the bulletin board, this slightly more dummy-proof blog application might be an easier way to achieve the same result. At least for the time being?

And now to move off topic as is my custom: After spending all weekend helping my husband lay flooring on the first level of our house (which isn't completed yet but is BEAUTIFUL!) I was able to sneak off with my partner in crime, Jill, and take in the new Sex and the City movie this afternoon. It was pretty good. It would have been hard to live up to my expectations because I was soooo excited..... But I thought they did a solid job on it. I loved Carrie and Charlotte's latest developments in particular. I won't go into detail in case you haven't seen it. Oh, and I was also ashamed of myself not to have known beforehand that Jennifer Hudson had a supporting role. Outstanding. I've become a fan.

Freedom to enjoy the Smiths.

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend and that the meaning of the holiday wasn't lost. For the third consecutive year we went to our local horse racetrack with my husband's ROTC color guard to participate in their Memorial Day ceremony. This is always a pleasure as they give us the VIP treatment (valet parking, free food and drinks in the clubhouse, etc). But as has been the case each time, the 82 year old WWII veteran who runs the ceremony brought me to tears with his short poem in tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. I managed to hold it together for that, but when they played Taps I lost it. I don't think I'll ever be able to get through that song again in my life without breaking down. Several years ago I attended a funeral service for my friend's husband who was killed in action near the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was the single most somber experience of my life to date, compounded by the fact that she gave the eulogy herself. The follow up of that with Taps and the 21 Gun Salute will echo in my memory forever. So, yes, I lost it when they played Taps yesterday. My son grabbed my arm and said, "It's OK, Mom. It's OK." I couldn't find the words to tell him that, in fact, it's not really OK. The average American doesn't seem to even understand that Veterans Day honors all veterans but Memorial Day honors our fallen heroes. Nonetheless, to paraphrase that colorful, seasoned 82 year old veteran, we shouldn't focus on the sadness of their deaths but we should rejoice and be thankful that they lived. And there is no better time than RIGHT NOW to thank our veterans for their dedicated service to our country-- no matter who you are or what your political beliefs may be.

On a brighter note and in celebration of our wonderful freedom of choice:

One of my very favorite celebrity couples is Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. How can you not just adore both of them?

I've been a fan of Will's since all the way back in the DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince days. Oh, yes. He's jazzy, jazzy...his name is Jeff..... Talk about a sidekick who fell out of the limelight. But I digress.

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was fine, although nowhere near his best work. We all loved the Men In Black movies and Independence Day, I Robot and all of those blockbusters. I personally enjoyed Enemy of the State a lot (possibly because it was the brief return of the Cosby Show's Lisa Bonet and also had Regina King, Gene Hackman, John Voight, Barry Pepper, Scott Caan, Jason Lee, Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Kennedy and Tom Sizemore among others!!). But this past weekend we sat down and took in I Am Legend. I thought perhaps he would never surpass the genius he showed in the film The Pursuit of Happiness which co-starred his son, Jaden. To date, that was one of the most compelling performances I have ever seen. For heaven sake.... I lost it during the infamous bathroom scene. But along comes "I Am Legend." He flew mostly solo for this film. He interacted with himself, his dog, lab rats and mannequins. The movie freaked me out and if you've seen it, you understand why. But his performance was, in a word, breathtaking. He deserves any available recognition.

Jada Pinkett Smith is also one of my absolute favorite people to watch onscreen. I loved her as the snarky little sidekick in A Low Down Dirty Shame and she's been a treasure in dozens of other films. The best of the best, though, and one of my all-time favorite films was Kingdom Come. For the love of all that is holy, if you haven't seen this movie you simply MUST get it and watch it NOW. The cast includes too many to mention. Cedric The Entertainer, Whoopi Goldberg, L.L. Cool J., Toni Braxton, Anthony Anderson and Loretta Devine are just a few. But Jada's portrayal of Charisse Slocumb was one of the funniest performances of her career. I find myself right this moment being aggravated by the fact that I don't have this on DVD. I need to rectify that.... Incidentally, I also really loved the track "Try Me" from this movie's soundtrack. It's fantastic.

At any rate, between these two, their body of work is astounding. We need good entertainment as much as we need anything these days, and I submit that this family has done WAY more than their fair share to contribute. I'm completely OK with them being gazillionaires as a result. And I root for their success unconditionally.

Salted Luck.

My adult A.D.D. has been on overdrive for the past week or so. I can't seem to prioritize all the stuff I am trying to do. I hate it when that happens. I'm getting a lot done, I'm just not doing it as efficiently as possible which means that I'm probably wasting time somewhere in the mix.

Anyway, a girl with a small but thriving accessory business really needs her own brand and web site, huh? I have, at least, accomplished that much. I'm calling the boutique "Salted Luck" and I have my own site set up now. All of my wares are still listed on Etsy until such time as I decide to obtain merchant services on my site (down the road). But making the web site will be fun for me. It's still under construction and I had a lot of help from GoDaddy's premade templates, but I will tweak it extensively over time.

One reason I'm struggling with time management is that I'm working on the web site AND making a crapload of awesome new stuff. I found a couple of great resources here locally for unique, funky and pretty supplies. Grabbed up a boat load last week and have already made about 2 dozen new items. This is my best work yet. I'm loving it. Unfortunately I haven't even had time to take all of the photographs and get the new stuff online. That is always the most time consuming part of the process. I'm hoping to get at least some of them up today.

This week also had its distractions. Thursday night, for instance, after he had been the guest speaker at a function we were attending, the Army's Chief of Staff and his entourage ended up at the same bar with us. My better half challenged the General to a round of billiards and what do you know.... there were 6 balls left on the table when my beloved claimed victory. He's unsure what rank he might be come Monday morning, but feels it was well worth it in the end!

Oh, and I also got my FIRST PARKING TICKET that night. Bugger.

I'm off to enjoy my long weekend of laboring on my beloved boutique items. Not only do a million pictures need to be taken and uploaded.... but I have 3 new products to make (temporary tattoos, window clings and magnetic mail-holder pouches for the fridge or filing cabinet) and Lord only knows when I'll find the time!

For my GIRLS.

I'm a huge fan of Maya Angelou. You might recognize this poem from the movie "Poetic Justice." For reasons I won't elaborate on, it crossed my mind last night. There's something captivating about it. Speaking for myself, I feel inspired when reading it, even if I'm sitting hunched over my keyboard, unshowered, wearing a t-shirt and sweats. In all of our forms.... we are WOMAN.

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.