All To Ourselves

Today is going to be a fun day. My great niece will be staying at my siste'rs house while her parents have a one night vacation. I remember doing this myself 31 years ago. At the time, I thought I was getting the better end of the deal. A night away without the responsibilities of my newborn. Little did I know that my mother-in-law felt that she was the one getting the better end. That is why she agreed so quickly. Today our cute little baby belongs to us. We can play with her, dress her up and kiss her all day. We will feel like we are 10 years old again and just received a new baby doll for our birthday. Of course we will do everything that the baby's mom said to do and not deviate from her schedule. Even though my sister and I are both mothers, today we will play "mommy".

OK or Correct

Every week when I check out at the supermarket, the credit card machine asks if the total is OK. I press yes and then silently say "no, it is not OK. It is correct". It is not OK to pay $4.99 for milk or $2.39 for bread. I want to go back to the days when a bagel was 6 cents. I remember when I could get 2 slices of pizza and a small coke for 25 cents. Yes, you read it correctly. Each slice was a dime and the soda was a nickel. I would give up some of the comforts of modern life to bring back old fashioned prices. Even though you had a smaller paycheck, the ratio of commodities to paycheck was better. The only ray of hope in our lives are the dollar stores. But even there, you have to be careful. If you do not calculate the quantities by the dollars, you could be paying double for some things. I think the word finances needs to be updated. There is nothing fine about it.

A Reprieve

The heat wave has broken. At least for a day. The past week has been the kind of heat that is oppressive. Someone compared it to sticking your head in a pizza oven and breathing in. You know it is hot when you have no energy to go to the pool and cool off. Asian people have the right idea. They carry umbrellas in the heat. It serves a dual purpose. First to hide from the sun's rays and then to hide from the sun's heat. For the first time in a week I can walk outside and feel comfortable. The rain storms from yesterday cleared the path for the cool air. People are funny. In the winter we pray for heat and in the summer we pray for cold. I realized that I am a Autumn/Spring type of person. I never did like extremes.

Two Hearts

God created man with two hearts. One is physical and the other is spiritual. There is one thing that they have in common. They both feel pain. The physical pain comes from circumstances beyond our immediate control. Most of the time medication can remedy it. The spiritual pain comes from circumstances that are usually brought upon by others. The pain of the loss of a loved one. The pain of lost love. The pain of the loss of a friendship. Those pains can only be healed by time.

One Year

Time flies. It is an old saying but a true one. One year ago my younger son was married. Where did the year go? It is as if I blinked my eyes and 365 days passed. I think that the good years fly by but the bad years drag. I am lucky, then. This year has been a good one. The house we all worked so hard on is almost done. There was a new addition to the family. By the end of the year there will be another. We have all managed to remain healthy. I have no complaints. I only have thanks.

Barely Visible

Last night I was watching television and a commercial came on that did not make sense. It was for an Indian company that lends you money. When they started to say, "Yes, the money is expensive", I knew the viewing audience was in trouble. I tried to read the small print and could not make a word out. That is what all disclaimers do. The provide the information but in such a small font that no human eye can read it, in the allotted time frame. Isn't there a standard of how small that information can be before it is rendered useless. The phone information is large, the price is large so we know there is a bigger font available. Why bother listing it at all. Just say, "There is a catch to this, so buyer beware". When I finally freeze framed the disclaimer, I calculated that the $1000 loan would accrue $89,000 in fees. Yes, the money is expensive.

Who Is Responsible?

I have heard of two cases of missing items in the past week. One was supposed to be delivered by FedEx and the other by USPS. Both said they arrived but it is anyone's guess where they arrived. Is this incompetence or just plain carelessness? I never understood why the post office asks if you want to insure an item. Basically they are saying that they do not have enough trust in themselves to guarantee they will get your item there, so they suggest you pay a small fee in case they screw up. What other business does that? I have never paid insurance on pizza delivery and they always arrive at my house. I have never paid insurance on an oil delivery and they have no problem finding their way. I am quite sure that my address does not change itself when it sees the mail truck. So here is the burning question....where in the world are my oil filter and Roxy the rocking horse? Have they joined forces and galloped off into the sunset?