Transparent Heart

I went to see Little Women the musical last night and I'm sure that most people do this, but during the really emotional parts I began to think about things that I'm personally emotional about. I had a realization, an epiphany of sorts.

There's this guy that I've had a thing for off and on for a while (5 yrs). Thing is that I haven't ever quite understood fully WHY I am attracted to him. Don't get me wrong, he's attractive, but he isn't really my type. I see some great qualities in him, great qualities, but I also see some that just don't jive with where I'm at. Anyway, last night I realized that for whatever reason, when I look at him I see his heart. The other things don't matter. I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. I've always believed that God puts people in our paths for a reason. Usually to teach us something important about ourselves or so that we may teach them something. With this guy I'm not sure what that is (not that I think we are ever sure) but I AM sure that when I look at him I see his heart.

Maybe the lesson is to find out if he sees mine. I'm pretty guarded with it. Wait, who am I kidding? I have a 10 foot brick wall up around mine. So maybe it's nothing more than realizing that it's okay to share mine again - even if it might end up broken?

Hee Hee

Okay, I've determined that although my "top" is a 34 HH, XL tank tops/camisoles from Old Navy are still too big. I have one on today and the straps keep falling down my arms off of my shoulders. It stinks to have tig bitties. :)

Busy, busy weekend - aren't they all, though??

Okay, I guess I'm old now 'cause I didn't do a thing for St. Patty's Day. Or maybe I'm just boring. :) So Friday night I went home from work and did nothing really. That's always nice to do. ( I needed to stay home after spending a mint at J. Jill on Thursday night - I LOVE that store). Anyway, Saturday I got up and did some laundry and did the dishes and chores like that around the house. At 12:30pm I left for the groom school. I'm desperately trying to figure a way out of Corporate America and I think that grooming may be a good fit. I really love animals and I understand you can make some pretty great money in grooming. Being able to manage your time as you see fit is also a plus. So, groom school orientation was interesting. It's dirty business, I guess. Dog fur ALL OVER THE PLACE. Must be hard to keep things clean. Have to remember that when making my decision.

I was done at the groom school at about 1:30 and ran by the grocery store on my way home to pick up some much needed kitty food. They were very excited to see me when I returned. (They usually eat at about 7:00am so 1:30pm is really late for them!!)

So, back to my probably-not-so-interesting story. I had an appointment at 3pm for a facial. I've only ever had one facial and that one was done by a friend (an esthetician friend at a salon we both were working at) and it was nice but not particularly of the most professional nature. We were cutting up and playing around and she was giving me a hard time about some of my skin imperfections. So I didn't really know what to expect from a facial.

I had stopped into this salon when just passing by one day because I needed some waxing done. The owner was there alone and, fortunately, available to do the waxing. She was nice, the salon was super nice, and the work she did was great (I do have a lot of experience with waxing). So afterward when she suggested a facial with a hand massage and upper body massage for $65, it didn't take much for me to agree. It sounded fun. Knowing that I planned to go for an orientation at the groom school that day, and not knowing how long it would take, I made the facial appointment at 3pm. Okay, so Friday night I get a call from the salon and it was the owner confirming my appointment and asking if I could come in at 2:30 instead of 3 because she had a cancellation. I reminded her that I had made the appointment later because I had an earlier commitment and wasn't sure I would make it by 2:30 but I would give it my best effort and would be no later than 3pm. WELL, I got there at 2:20 and waited and at about 2:45 she, the owner, came out with the client she was servicing and took me back into the room where she proceeded to ask me what service I was there for. WHAT?? When I told her a facial, she asked if I meant a regular one or a "European" one. WHAT?? I asked her the difference and she explained that the European one included the hand and upper body massage. So I explained to her that I was expecting the European based on the way she had described the appointment and the facial. She tells me that she's not sure that she has enough time because she has another client coming in in 45 minutes and couldn't we do a regular facial for $45 and do the European next time?? I reluctantly agreed but explain to me how she was going to do any facial if she began at 3pm - my scheduled appointment time- and had booked someone else at 3:30pm???????

She said she'd be right back and went out front to settle up with that first client. She didn't come back for another 20 minutes!!! At about 5 after 3pm she comes in and I say "should we maybe reschedule this appointment?" and she says "no, I just called my next client and told her I'd be late." WHAT??? It was like she was implying that I was making her late. This is not the end of it either, while doing the facial she left the room twice. The first time for about 10 minutes and the second for about 20 minutes. The second time I think she had put a mask on my face so it may have been that it needed to stay on that long, but don't you think she should have told me that she was leaving the room and maybe why she was leaving the room and just maybe how long she'd be gone??? The last time she left I wondered if maybe she was done and I should get up and take the cotton ball thingys off of my eyes and rinse my face myself and leave. The next client had shown up anyway and she was out front chatting with her. I could hear them. But, no, she came back. Took the cotton ball thingys off of my eyes, rinsed my face and asked if I had enjoyed the facial. All I could manage was a "sure" (with very little enthusiasm). When I left the room I went up front to find her debating with that next client now about the fact that the client thought she was getting a service other than what the owner thought she was getting and did the client have the time to get the service that she had really wanted. Apparently the client thought that it would take much less time than it would actually take and she hadn't scheduled that much time into her day. WHATEVER!!! I can't begin to tell you how fed up I was at this point. I worked in the salon business for years - still do some of that work at home - and I have never experienced anything like that! People in the salon industry are a different breed, that's for sure, and I know that this lady is working by herself and trying to make a living in a tough industry, but this was crazy!!! I hope she isn't expecting me to make that appointment for the European facial. :)

I know you're tired of reading but I'm not done - we're just at Saturday at about 4pm. :) No, really not much more other than that I volunteered for a gallery show that benefited a golden retriever rescue organization that I help out with on occasion. It was nice. About 300 folks showed up at $25 each or more so I think that the group made some good money. Good stuff.

Sunday was a sleepy day. Sleep, read, clean. Sound like fun?

Thanks for listening to me ramble!! I love this blog thing. Kinda like a diary with potential feedback. :)

Las Vegas

Las Vegas was a little piece of heaven to me this past weekend. I needed some time away and I got just enough. I went to Vegas for work. I won't go into any boring details, but the company I work for does work at the NASCAR races and I volunteered to go. It meant that I worked the weekend, but then I stayed Monday and flew out Tuesday. The weekend work, although it was definitely work, didn't take up too much time. That meant time to play with the co-workers, time to shop, and more significantly, time with my friend Chris who lives in Vegas. She and I worked together at the same company years ago and we've kept in touch. She's a bit older and married so we don't have those things in common but we get along very well and she's a blessing to me. She has always been a rock. She's very giving, very understanding, a great listener, everything a friend should be. Too bad she isn't closer to home. A visit to Las Vegas isn't bad, though.

I didn't know that there were lions at MGM. It makes sense since they have a huge gold lion out front on the corner. Duh, Christi. Anyway, they were great. I happened on them by accident and was about two minutes late to see the baby lions, but they brought in two grown female sisters and they were wonderful to watch. One got this big red ball in her mouth and carried it around like a dog would. She carried it for like ten minutes and then sat down with it in her mouth. Crazy!! I love me some kitties. (and dogs, and bunnies, and snakes, and horses, and elephants, etc.)

I was also excited that I finally got a French Connection shirt there. They have an outlet mall and there's a French Connection store there. I was so excited. I got Chris to take me before the airport on Tuesday and I finally got one of their t-shirts. I know it's silly that I'm 36 now and really wanted a t-shirt but I saw them on TV a long time ago and have wanted one ever since. The one I chose says "Cool as FCUK." I understand that they had one that said "FCUK in Sin City" but I didn't see that one. I'd have liked to get that one. I just think they're funny. Chris ended up getting a hoodie with FCUK in big letters on the front. She's 50 so if she can pull it off I figure I can too. :)

Oh, and we saw "O". How cool was that?? I'd never seen a Cirque Du Soleil production. It was awesome!! I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't see it. They do it in and on the water. It's really cool.

My babies missed me. Good feeling. Missed them too. Glad to be home now. All rested up. Back to the grind.

You Are Apple Green

You are almost super-humanly upbeat. You have a very positive energy that surrounds you.And while you are happy go lucky, you're also charmingly assertive.You get what you want, even if you have to persuade those against you to see things your way.Reflective and thoughtful, you know yourself well - and you know that you want out of life.

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorgreenareyouquiz/">What Color Green Are You?

So my question is ... What the heck do you do when you are blessed with lots of good friends and lots of people that you know care about you, but life isn't quite fulfilled? I read another blog this morning that I could relate to so well and it made me think. This girl wrote primarily about finding love, but I'm needing so much more than that. I work for a great company, but don't love my job. I have a great family, but am always wishing they were a bit more like the Cleavers or the Waltons or something. I live in a nice home and currently have no rent or morgage payments due, but have nasty neighbors and feel the place is too small. My car runs great and I've really had no mechanical problems with it, but I keep thinking I need a new one because I'm tired of the one I've got and it's no longer asthetically pleasing. I feel like a big IDIOT and that I need a major attitude adjustment. But how do you do that? Is this a phase that everyone goes through? Will it end? It seems that it's lasted a very long time. Why is it that I can't just appreciate my life? Is it because I was spoiled when I was younger? My mom raised me on her own so we didn't have much but she gave me everything that she could afford to. Am I just too used to getting what I want?

One of my favorite quotes is "Happiness isn't getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you have." I LOVE that. But how do you get there? The things that I want aren't spectacular things. I'd like a Toyota Rav4 or a Honda CRV, I'd like more time with my friends, I'd like a home that is larger than the two bedroom townhome I'm currently in - that maybe has a garage and a basement(oh, and isn't attached to anyone else's home), I'd like a family that I see more often with no major drama and no health complaints, I'd like some time where I feel rested, I'd like some respect in my work and true recognition for a job well done, and then I'd really also like a special someone to spend some time with. It doesn't seem to me that I'm asking that much, really. Am I?? I'm definately questioning myself. I hate to have pity parties when there are so many folks in this world who have nothing. I'm truly blessed. I just can't seem to find peace with it. What do I do? I guess it's okay to have desires. How could we set goals for ourselves without desires? I think maybe I just need a push. Something to motivate me to achieve all of these things and quit just bitchin' about them. Any ideas?