Friday Frustrations

For the most part, I'm pretty happy-go-lucky. But I am not immune to frustration. This week there have been a few.

1. I was at Kroger's and couldn't find something. First let me say, I don't like Kroger. The employees are so rude! I was on the canned vegetable aisle. There was a "stock" man very near me. I asked where the canned potatoes were. He said, "right in front of you." Well, they weren't quite. He didn't bother to move or show me. No problem, I found them, but not the type I was looking for. He had a huge load that he was shelving, so I thought he might have what I was looking for. He made no effort to help me. Publix employees are told that they have to take a customer to the exact location of what they want. That can be kind of annoying too. Okay, I know that's a little thing, but the Kroger guy is so frustrating.

2. Remember how I was bragging about finally getting some success with our security company? If you don't, you can read about that here. Well, they've completely ghosted me! First I emailed everyone I ever dealt with to get the ball rolling. Having heard nothing from anyone, I called the "guy" who made the decision that we could get our $2500 upgrade for $200 since we are 35 year customers and they have totally jerked us around for over a year. I think he was some sort of district manager. HE NEVER CALLED ME BACK! Butch hit the nail on the head. They are NOT going to give us $2500 worth of equipment and work when our service is only $25.00 a month. We are not worth it to them. The name of the company is Vector---we had ADS but they were just bought by this new company. So darn frustrating. 

3. And now, this is BIG! I had a hair appointment on Tuesday. As I pulled into the parking lot, I realized that Tara (my girl) hadn't texted me the day before to confirm. She always does that. So, I checked my calendar to make sure I had the right day. I went inside and a couple gals were talking but stopped to greet me. They asked who I was to see. When I said, "Tara", they looked at each other. Then one of them said, "Oh, she doesn't work here anymore." What??? You have got to be kidding me! They didn't expound with any sort of explanation, so I decided not to ask. Luckily, one of them had a client who was very late, so she said she would take me. 

Hairdressers (are they still called that?)--wait, maybe it's hairstylist! They are like doctors and dentists. You need a good one and hate to have to make a change. Now, I'm not even saying Tara was a good one. I liked how she did my hair, but she could be pretty unreliable--often calling me at the last minute to cancel. The worst was when I met a friend for lunch and parked at the salon to get a nice walk in. I got the call while I was having lunch! Then I had to walk all the way over to pick up my car when she cancelled. Bummer. I wasn't happy.

Wendy is the new one and seems very nice. She tried to find my formula amongst the records, but couldn't. So she pulled out this huge board that had all kinds of color sample bits of hair. That was overwhelming. I didn't know what to pick, so I let her do it. She said we would tweak it until she learned what I wanted. I actually like how she cut my hair better than Tara. 

She gave me more bangs, which I like. My hair is very fine and tends to fall in my face. Now, the part that usually falls in my face is actually part of my bangs. 

Butch said that he thought it was a little too dark. I don't think so. The color will fade in about a week or two anyway. 

The only problem with Wendy--actually, it's not her problem, it's mine--she's very expensive. Not any more expensive than most other hairdressers, but about 10 years ago when my favorite retired, I didn't want to pay the going, exorbitant rates. Now I have to. It's either that or go gray and I'm not doing that! It's just not for me.

4. This weekend just about the whole family will be in town for several "events." We planned to have Elizabeth's graduation party at the pool with a barbecue. Now, it's going to storm. Dang it. It never fails! This is majorly frustrating. 

5. As you know, I like to do things in fives. But, I couldn't come up with a fifth frustrating thing. It's so frustrating!

Five Things Thursday

What I Buy Wednesday

Okay, this is a first. I don't think I've ever done a post about buying produce. Of course, I buy it every week. It's not exciting so there has never really been a reason to mention it until now. 

Did you know that you can buy a half head of cabbage? Here's the story:

Yesterday, I was at Publix. I needed some cabbage for my grandpa's soup called, what else, "Grandpa's Soup." It's the only thing he cooked. And it is delish!

This is the only picture I have of Grandpa and Grandma Preli--together. I just got it recently and already don't remember how I got it or who gave it to me. Grandpa's soup is sort of like minestrone but better!

Anyway, when I went to get the cabbage, there were 3 heads--the size of bowling balls. My thought was, "Holy cow! What the heck am I going to do with all that cabbage?" I said out loud, "Wow, that's a big head of cabbage." 

The produce man heard me. I love Publix because ALL the employees are so nice. Sometimes annoyingly so. Like if I ask where something is, they drop what they are doing to walk me to the aisle and shelf. Really, I don't need that kind of attention. I just need the aisle number. Most likely I can find it from there. 

When the produce man heard me, he said, "Would you like for me to cut it in half?" I said, "Really? I didn't even know you could do that." He did.

The head was so big that he couldn't cut it evenly in half. So he held up both pieces and asked which one I wanted. I chose the smaller one which is about a third of the whole. It's still more than I really need. I'll think of something else to do with the leftovers besides coleslaw. I do like it sautéed, so that's probably what I'll do.

Talking of the grocery store reminds me of something that happened last week. I was at Kroger. I used the self-checkout. As soon as I exited the store, the shopping cart wheels locked up. I was looking at them to see what I ran over. I couldn't budge it. The self-checkout attendant walked over with a hand-held device and "unlocked" the cart. What? I've never seen or heard of such a thing. Connie said it happened to her one time. I don't know if all grocery stores have this. 

I get that groceries have really gone up in price. I guess the next thing is going to be those electronic tags so if you try to exit the store with a loaf of bread, it will beep. That will be the day! Groceries are almost worth more than gold! That 1/3 head of cabbage was two bucks! And don't get me started about the cost of chicken!

Me on Monday

I have a new name for myself.

Considering how I loved the queen, I think this is perfect for me!

This year at Camp Aunt Barb, I taught the kids how to needlepoint. The two oldest, Elizabeth and Travis finished theirs while they were here.

I turned them into Christmas ornaments. I think they are going to love them!

I have one more thing to report. I was asked to be a guest on The Scrap Girls podcast. We discussed travel layouts. It was a lot of fun! I can talk about scrapbooking "until the cows come home." I don't know where that came from because I don't think I've ever used it before. We had such a good time that they want me back!! 

Something for Sunday

Let me introduce you to my "little" friend--even though she's nearly a foot taller than me. I've had Analise on my blog before, but it's been awhile.

She is the granddaughter of my bff, Connie. 

Recently, Connie was telling me how Analise has cleaned out all of her closets. A girl after my own heart! Look at what a great job she did.

Not only does everything look so much better, there's lots more room now. It all looks fabulous!

But, I can't help but wonder if there's something more going on here. It's one thing to clean out a closet or two, but when you clean out every one--there must be a reason. I think there might be something Connie's not telling me! We'll see....

Analise, I think you are on your way to a lucrative business---if you want it! There's something so much fun about making order out of chaos. Keep up the good work!

Friday Funnies

Five Things Thursday

1. Has anyone ever had a pineapple sandwich? Apparently, it’s a Southern thing. I  have a lot of Southern friends, but no one has ever talked about eating pineapple sandwiches. Tomato sandwiches—yes. That was foreign to me too. But I have to admit, I do like tomato sandwiches.

2. I would love to see a bird like this!

3. This is so true!

I'm beginning to think that since most kids go to college these days, there aren't enough kids entering trade schools. There are "help wanted" signs everywhere! Where the heck are all the workers? And what about the teenagers? There are signs at just about every fast food place, movie theater, and grocery store. Connie's grandson is working two jobs and pulling in some serious dough! Okay, that was a pun related to his pizza job!!

4. How beautiful is this?

I don't necessarily want all that stuff growing on my house (but I do like my English ivy which I thought was lost after our big freeze--luckily, it's growing back). But I would LOVE for my yard and garden to look like this!

5. 100 years ago every­one owned a horse and only the rich had cars. Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses. Ain't that the truth! 

Tuesday Thoughts About...

...balance. 

It's a fact that when you get older, your balance isn't the greatest. The funny thing is you don't even notice it's happening until all of a sudden, the simplest things can throw you off. 

How many times have I stumbled in my life? Probably thousands. It was never really a problem. But now, a stumble--like uneven pavement, or a little hole in the grass, has me tumbling! I cannot right myself to prevent it. Even walking or standing, I can be a little off balance. 

I'm pretty sure it also has something to do with the fact that I had my "halluxes" (medical term for "big" toes) fused several years ago because of calcium build-up. They were so painful, that I couldn't walk AND, more importantly, I had to settle for ugly shoes. You know the ones that were comfortable but not stylish. I guess my words are coming back to haunt me. I remember telling the girls that you had to sacrifice comfort for style!

Anyway, when I was getting ready to have my surgery, no one mentioned that my balance would be impaired once my halluxes became "hallux rigidus" (medical term for when the big toe possesses no motion). It wasn't until talking to my friend, Susan (she's my nurse friend, but also my personal medical expert) that she said--not being able to move your big toe would definitely affect your balance. 

A few other things I can no longer do:

I cannot skip anymore. That could have more to do with my inability to jump rather than balance. My jumping days are definitely over. Well, unless someone threw a snake on me. I'm pretty sure jumping would be more of a reflex--which, of course, would cause me to fall down. 

I cannot pass a sobriety test. You know, putting one foot in front of the other in a straight line. That's definitely balance.

I cannot put my underwear on without holding on to something or sitting down.

I cannot pull my pants up in a single motion. Especially after taking a shower. Forget it. Even doing the "pants dance" is nearly impossible. Ladies, surely you know what I mean! How they stick to your legs all the way up!!

Anyway, I've heard that yoga is good for balance. My problem with that is the times they offer it at the Y---are too late for me. I cannot start my day that late! I need something very early in the morning--like 7 a.m. at the latest. Then I can go home, shower and be ready for the day by 9 a.m. The earliest classes I've seen are more like 10 a.m. Much too late for this early bird.

So what's a girl to do? The only thing I can think of is to keep walking and pounding that pavement so my bones stay strong. That way, when the inevitable fall happens, I don't break anything. Fingers crossed. Not sure that helps. I guess I better go knock on wood! 

Monday Mystery

Well, I have several mysteries for you today. 

1. When we got to the beach, I discovered that someone had used my toothbrush!! I have quite a few things that I just leave there. How do I know someone used it? It was loose in the drawer, out of its holder. I'm thinking it must have been a kid, because most adults wouldn't want to use someone else's toothbrush. So, what did I do? I just washed it with soap and water--I didn't have another. Oh well.

2. When we got home, the pantry door was hanging open. That lead me to believe that Mindy was here. As soon as she walks through the door she goes into the pantry for a snack. She leaves the door open all the time! Since she didn't do it, I guess it could have been Margarita. But that seems unusual for her. Who else could it have been?

3. Butch found this on the side of the pond:

It's a chicken bone---a wing if I know my bones! But here's the thing: we NEVER cook or grill chicken with bones. I suppose an animal could have visited the pond for a drink and left the bone behind. We do have critters that visit. Still, it's odd. 

4. And lastly, someone put two water bottles in the freezer. 

One of them popped the top and water is now frozen to the bottom of the freezer. Who knows?--we surely don't!

Sometimes I wonder if we have a ghost or something that plays when we are gone!! Some mysteries are never solved!

Five Things Thursday

Actually, this is Butch!

What's in a Name?

You might recall that for my 70th birthday, the girls gave me a subscription to "Storyworth." Each week, I get a prompt to write about. A couple weeks ago, I got the question: How did your parents pick your name?

I thought I would share that story here:

I have no idea why my parents picked "Barbara" for my name. I do know that it was a popular name in the 1950's. My dad called me "Babs"--which was fine at the time, but I'm glad that didn't stick! He used to hug me and whisper in my ear--"You know, Babs, there's something extra special about your first-born!" Little did I know that he said something similar to each of us kids! But I'm sure happy to have that memory of him.

Everybody called me Barbara when I was little--which I actually like better than Barb. The only people who still called me that as an adult were Aunt Marie and my cousins, Chrissy and sometimes, Judy. I have to admit, I like it each time I hear it! 

When we were little, my sisters and brothers couldn't say my name properly. It came out as "Bawbaw" which is sort of endearing. Then it was "Bawb" until they were old enough to pronounce it. As cute as it might have been then, I'm really glad that didn't stick!!

Now-a-days, the only time I say "Barbara" is if I'm introducing myself to someone or if I'm signing my name.  I don't like the way Barb Eads sounds or looks.

Me on Monday and Monday Mystery

Whew! 

I'm still recovering from Camp Aunt Barb! I'm always amazed at the chaos and mess.

The pool never looks like this:

So many toys and junk laying around. The side I'm taking the picture from is loaded with towels everywhere and the table piled with all kinds of stuff! I guess it just means the kids were having a good time.

This picture was the evening on the first day.

This is the second day. 

By the third day, you couldn't even see the floor at all. I was too lazy to go downstairs to grab my phone for the picture. These kids--even though they are now 11, 11, 8 & 7--travel with a HUGE assortment of stuffed animals. They aren't called that--squish-something. Reminded me of Puffalumps. 

Oh, and the two 11 yr. olds had their own fans! I'm not talking a small personal fan--they were much bigger than that. They had texted me in advance if I had an extension cord. I thought it was for their devices--phones and pads. I said "NO" to the fans. I thought it was ridiculous! I told them that I was not having cords dangling all over. Instead, they put the ceiling fan on high and turned the fan I have pointed at the treadmill around to blow directly on them. They weren't hot--I offered to lower the thermostat--it had more to do with noise. I don't get it, but then Nathan couldn't sleep with the noise. 

This picture cracked me up--notice the three different deodorants. 

Now on to the mystery. We had a little snafu--well, I'm not sure Butch would say that! One of the kids--no one would admit to it--even though we said they weren't in trouble. We just wanted to know how the did it. The stopper for the sink was stuck down. Turns out it's the type that you just press to stop it up and then press again to pop it back open. Except---it wouldn't pop back open. Butch had to remove the pipe under the sink to pop it up from beneath the drain. That's mystery #1--who did it.

Mystery #2: Why does someone need not set the stopper. Jeanne and I were discussing that we don't think we've ever had need to use the stopper!

Mystery #3: What happened to the hand towel?

And the biggest mystery of all--#4: If you look closely in the upper right corner, you'll see a lotion bottle. Well, there was a matching soap dispenser. After everyone was gone, Butch asked me where it was. I didn't realize that it was missing. I'm not sure who put the grapefruit hand soap there--that was under the kitchen sink. They were all gone before we could ask them. Butch's theory is that someone liked the smell of the soap and decided to take it home!! It's a mystery for sure!

Friday Frustrations and Friday Funnies

Starting with the frustrating part--it's all about concerts. It's hard to get decent tickets and the prices are out-of-this-world! Think Taylor Swift and you can imagine my frustration. Let's suffice it to say, we didn't get those tickets. 

But, Mindy did get us tickets for Shania Twain. The concert was at our new soccer stadium. I had never been there before, but Mindy had. She warned us of some of the logistic problems there. Parking is a nightmare. The stadium people somehow didn't plan properly for that. They only have 3,000 parking spaces for 17,000 people. Too bad they didn't consult with Butch!! Back in the day, he was the expert on parking for stadiums across the United States (okay, bragging a little).

Anyway, we'll start from there. The plan was we would meet at Stephanie's at 3:30 p.m. to go to dinner. Which we did--and had a nice one at Emery's Wood Fired in the 12 South area. The plan was that Nicky was going to take us and drop us off at the concert. Then we would get a Lyft home. But after hearing horror stories about how hard it is to get one after any venue, we decided to chance it and drive. My thought was we could get close and walk. It ended up taking us an hour and fifteen minutes to slowly make our way through the traffic. I did not have high hopes that we would find parking where I wanted to, but we did. We were able to park on someone's lawn for $30.00--just a couple blocks away. That was not new to us as we've done that for years when going to the flea market or other events at the fairgrounds. 

We got to the concert with 15 minutes to spare. Then it was the bathroom line and concessions line. We missed the first part of the opening act--Breland. Next up was Kelsey Ballerini. We noticed right away that the acoustics were awful. You couldn't understand the words. Most of the time, I couldn't even recognize the song until about halfway through. 

When Shania came out, she sang her first song. Then the stage went dark. I knew that she was having a costume change. She only had one, but still, there was dead space between each song. Also, it was annoying that she kept messing with her blonde wig and earpiece. It seemed like she wasn't comfortable with either. She didn't really interact with the audience or say much between songs. It was just odd. 

Then at one point, she brought a family of 7 people on stage. We had no idea what was going on. She hugged each one and talked to them, but we couldn't understand what was said. Then she hugged them all again as they exited the stage. At that point, it was so obvious that she had lost the momentum of the crowd. I looked around and then pointed out to the girls--everyone in the entire stadium was sitting down. I have never seen that. 

It wasn't long before I asked the girls if they wanted to leave. We were all ready. Plus, leaving before the concert ended meant that we could avoid some of the traffic. We weren't the only ones who left early. There were many, many people leaving. We have never left a concert early--it was that bad!

I'm not saying it was all her. It just wasn't a great experience. And for what you pay for tickets, you expect to have a good time. I did have a great time with my girls. We won't be going back there again, that's for sure. Once was enough.

Now of to some "funny" stuff!

Five Things Thursday

1. I had this exact dollhouse when I was a kid. I recognize that colorful sun porch.

And, as I recall, all the furniture disappeared. That's what happens when you have 

6 younger brothers and sisters who don't respect your stuff!!

2. So true! 

Friends are like purses…

They’re handy to have around

You can never have too many

You don’t want to lose them

And you can’t live without them!

Hmmm, maybe that's why I have so many purses. I'm thinking I should assign a friend's name to each one.

3. I love pork steaks. When we moved to Nashville 38 years ago, no one here had ever heard of them.

Last year, I discovered that Sprouts carries them. I need to get over there and pick some up.

4. Oh lordy!

I've never seen male carhops. Kinda' creepy.

5. Love this.