Inking It- AND I'm not talking about getting tatted up!

Green Ink.

 IT'S Exotic!

Aunt Doris Malloy             &

Chris Kirby

There are some people that dare exotic….they use their ink to convey a message.  Aunt Doris always used green ink when she sent her Christmas cards to our family back in the 1950s…..

&

Chris Kirby always wrote notes and comments to me in the early 2000s in green ink when we worked at CHS.


It's funny how I remember and enjoy their individuality….just because of the color of ink they used.

Thank you both….Erin

If It Sparkles

I'm such a sucker for anything interesting….or shiny….or weird…..or unique.  I am easily distracted.

Really?

I was cleaning my side of the garage when Bill caught me reading an old, old Macon Telegraph.  Clara Eschmann (the food editor) had a story in the Wednesday food section about noodles.  I love a cold noodle salad.  She had written a great article on all the types of noodle salads that the home cook could make.  Okay, I was sitting in the garage in a comfortable chair, listening to NPR, drinking a tumbler of ice cold water….and I had transported myself to Tokyo Alley in Macon where I was vicariously eating Orange Chicken with double noodle salad and no rice.   I know why I kept that article.  Now, I need to put that newspaper some place special so I can use the recipe.

Cleaning and compromising….do I keep the food section?  Yep.

This led me to the memories of Clara.  Clara was a wonderfully creative force who brought Jello Shots to a Telegraph luncheon….she was 80ish and thought the young (anyone under 60) people would enjoy them.  They did.   (I would never tell on her, but she's been dead for 12 years and I admire her spunk.  It is probably not a good idea to bring liquor to work.)

She sparkled.  Clara had, as Mary Richards would put it, spunk.  I love spunk.  Clara saw the good and enjoyed the present.  She passed away in 2002 years but I find myself thinking of the all characters of the Macon Telegraph and the Macon News with increasing frequency.  Many people sparkled and a few of them actually sparked.  But, that's a story for a different blog.

Oh, No. The Toe! (short poem)

Getting out of the swimming pool today, I knocked my middle toe on my right foot funny.  No, I'm not sure how I did it.  I just kind of stubbed my toe really, really hard.

My toe is the purple of lilac bushes in the spring.  

My toe hurts like a son of a gun.  

My toe is swollen like a Hostess Twinkie.  

I think I can say, with complete candor, that I have "toe-li-o."

A Taste of Summer

Yum.  I like summer foods.  Tell me you don't like a fresh tomato from someone's garden.

I got to eat one of the best salads I've ever had…..EVER this past Tuesday!


Linda's Super Salad

Fresh tomatoes--
Red, yellow, heirloom purple….chopped in bite sized chunks

Fresh cucumbers……peeled, chunked

Feta cheese……crumbled over the top

Homemade vinaigrette…..balsamic vinger, olive oil, salt, pepper

Mix with love.  Serve to family and friends.

Add bowl of gazpacho (garnished with Greek yogurt and fresh cilantro) plus fresh corn on the cob with a pat of butter -- this meal is fit for a King (or a Prince….like in "King and Prince!")

YUM!

I Am Going To Hold On

From the lady on the Plane Train speaking in her soothing monotone , "Please hold on as our train leaves the station" to country music crooning to me that  "I Hold On," I've been thinking that this is really profound advice.  It's like the Army's "Few Good Men" or Nike's "Do it", "Hold On" might be my personal theme this summer.

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"Please hold on as our train leaves the station."

Bodies go flying….everytime.

MARTA newcomers are initiated the first time the train pulls out of a concourse stop.  There's always at least one person who falls over.  "I'm cool," they're thinking…."I've got great balance"  Through the air they go!  The Plane Train takes no prisioners.  I then watch the victims carefully, they always hold on tight when the conductor tells them to after their first free fall.

Last week two goofuses tumbled in front of me.  The man squished his own kid and the little girl almost landed in my lap.  As a veteran Plane Train rider, I sit on the bench that says seniors and handicapped.  No way do I want to fall victim to the acceleration whims of the train…I hold on.

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"Hold on" is what most of us do for a living.  I wish I could say that I'm ahead of the game.  I wish I could say I know where I'm going.  (Folks, I 'm lucky if I can tell you where I've been yesterday!) Frankly, I am ready to draw social security and I'm still thinking about my future career(s).  No, I'm not sure what I want to do next.  But, I'll hold on.

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Dierks Bentley sings about his old truck and that "it's the miles that make the man".   We all need to Hold On-- but maybe with just one hand.  The other hand can be used to reach for the stars.  As Dr. Wally Askew always wrote, "Whatdoyouthink?"

Stormy Weather

Life is most definitely a cabaret this time of year in Central Georgia.  Our late afternoon thunderstorms move through the pines and the rain comes in buckets.  I like the rolling thunder….I still don't like the loud crashes though.  I don't like lightening at all….it's not in my make-up.  I wish I could say, "I really enjoy a good thunderstorm."  However, that would be a big lie.

Bill's on the front porch right now-- he loves a thunderstorm.  We talked this afternoon about memories from our childhoods….he thinks of his parents and sisters….sitting on the porch….watching the rains come…warm memories….talking family talk.  His family would watch the rains and enjoy the storms together.

I have a different story.

My universal theme for thunderstorms revolves around one night that I spent at my Grandmother Malloy's home.   It was quite a storm… I was awakened with a splash of Holy Water right in the face.  My Aunt Fannie was running through the house, sprinkling all of us with holy water, and chanting, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us."  I have never been considered slow on the uptake.  I figured out at 5 years old that an retired adult who was trotting around a two story house in the middle of the night administering pseudo Last Rites to all of us probably knew more than I did.  My fear of storms took root that night.

When I went to 4-H over night camp in 7th grade, my mother wrote on my application that I was terrified of thunderstorms.  I was appalled at my short comings but I thought there should be a stronger word than terrified….I needed my own "thunder shirt"-- My plan:  If there was a thunderstorm I would go to the lodge.  Someone would have had to come and get me.  Thankfully, I did not have to resort to Plan B.

I have vivid memories of going on a girl scout camp out….ANOTHER Big Thunderstorm!  The leader said, "Don't touch the tent, it will make it leak."  She didn't have to worry about me touching the tent….I was flat to the ground like a piece of sod.  I can't recall crying, but I do think my skill in math can be directly related to saying the multiplication facts over and over in my head waiting for the storms to be over.  (Look, as a professional, I know it's a little bit on the spectrum but it works!)

So, the moral of this cautionary tale is:

We all bring different things to the table.  Our experiences make us who we are-- for better for worse-- we are the sum of our experiences.  Bill, he'll be watching the clouds and thinking good thoughts.  Me?    Pawley and I will be sitting together on the sofa and I'll be quietly reciting multiplication facts in my big dog's ear.

Figuring Out My Life

Oh, don't get excited.

I'm not sure about my life just like you're not sure about your life.

But, I am sure of one thing.  I'm a "get'er done'er."

Huh?  Listen, I'm truly figuring out what I do for a living.  I get things done.

I might not be the one doing them, but I know how get a task completed.

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This year has been busy.

I've spent a majority of time listening to people and helping individuals….and getting things done.  But, there's lots more to do.  LOTS!

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Missing the "Cat Wrangler" has been a fact of my life right now….

Priorities…..

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I have numerous personal projects which have been put on hold-- a wall of family photos, Mike's memory garden, and my "lids and container" symposium have all been moved to the back burner until I finish this  TOD.

There was an old Central t-shirt that proclaimed, "Winners make commitments; Losers make excuses."

I needed to tell all of you that the Cat Wrangler is still thinking about her blog!  I made a commitment.

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Meow!

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So, I'm at this fancy meeting on the 17 floor of the Twin Towers.  Mature, "I grew up in a small town Erin", was more  intrigued  looking out the window than listening to the questions.  At the end of the meeting, I asked one the Department of Education folks how they got any work done with that great panoramic view of the ATL.  "I don't really look at it much," the person said.

Hmmmmm, that might tell us all we need to know.

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Summer is here.  It's time to enjoy every minute.  Read some great books.  Cook some really good food.  Swim, splash, and float!  Look at the clouds.  Smell the flowers.  Take care of yourself.  Be kind.  Expect the best out of others.  Expect the best out of yourself!

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LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!