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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Pass It On Wednesday

I read this on my friend Heather's blog. Please keep Brandy and her man in your thoughts and prayers.
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My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He's a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He's the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He's the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He's a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He's made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He's listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He's recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He's the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I'm overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren't sure what's happening. He'll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what's going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as 'brandy's hot awesome dude'). If you don't pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven't seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I'm throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn't a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It's just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven't already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

Monday, December 28, 2009

General Frustration

"They" say write what you know, and there are no two subjects I know better than whining and handbags.

I admit I have a handbag problem. It started in 1998 when I fell in love with the black nylon Kate Spade Sam bag. Everything was perfect in my mind - the size, the color, the shape. Everything, that is, but the price tag. If I recall correctly, it was an astronomical $199. Way out of my price range when I was making in the avenue of $25k a year back then.

Deciding I couldn't afford it, I went on a quest to find a replacement. I bought every cheap bag in the area - going from Payless to Parade of Shoes and from TJ Maxx to Target. Nothing satisfied me. One of my colleagues, bemused by my obsession, commented to me that if I just bit the bullet and bought the original bag I probably would have saved money.

So I saved and worked overtime, and finally walked into Neiman Marcus and bought the bag, and I even had enough left over to buy the matching wallet. Thus the obsession began.

I found the much lusted after Sam bag wasn't all I imagined it to be. No pocket for my cell phone. The hard edges slammed into my arm when I walked. But it was then I developed a taste for nice bags and matching wallets.

I guess it's better than meth, but probably more expensive.

Despite my collection, no bag and wallet combo is more important to me than the one I am using at any one time. My life is generally contained in those vessels. My checkbook, my check card, lipstick, lip balm, compact, drivers license, iPod, Blackberry & cell phone. Seriously, the list could go on and on.

Imagine my general disbelief when I went to figure out how much cash I had on Sunday morning to find my wallet missing. I ran out to my car to see if it had fallen out and under one of the seats. I checked my bedroom to see if I had slipped it in a pants pocket. I even checked the dog toys and dog beds to see if my klepto beagle had stolen it. No dice.

Sunday was spent making calls cancelling cards and going to the police station to report the wallet missing. I spent a good hour and a half retracing my steps from Saturday in a futile attempt to locate it.

So, two months after The Great Checking Account Debacle of 09, I am now awaiting the delivery of yet another check card, and looking forward to another round of updating payment information. Not to mention an exciting trip to the DMV to get a new license.

I guess there is some good news in all of this - I get to go wallet (and therefore handbag shopping) again the future.

Let the hunt begin.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

12 Days of Retail Christmas (or Why I Drink)

12 Irritable Shoppers

11 Screaming Children

10 Out of Stock Items

9 Burned Out Cashiers

8 Defective Gift Cards

7 Days of Extended Hours

6 Clueless Male Shoppers

5 Maxed Out Credit Cards

4 Trashed Departments

3 Broken Registers

2 Last Minute Shoppers

And a Hangover on Christmas Day

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Dear Santa

Dear Santa

I know it's been a while...something like, what, 27 years? Well, I've decided to believe in you again. I'm also welcoming the Tooth Fairy back into the fold in light of my recent dental work, so if you can let her know, I'd appreciate it.

You should know that I have been a very good girl this year. Well, not exactly very good, but definitely good. OK, good enough? Right, well, I haven't killed anyone this year, ok?

So...this is kind of awkward since I've sent quite some time denying your existence (my bad), but since there's only a few more days until Christmas, I need to get on the stick to let you know what I want.

- Another 5k in my salary. I hope you take into account that I could be greedy here and ask for another zero (the 35 year old equivalent of asking for a pony), so please, you're Santa after all. Nothing's impossible for you. And if you want to add another zero to my salary, I completely understand if you want to mess around with the first number.

- A boyfriend. Let me clarify - a quality boyfriend who doesn't live with his parents (ahem), has a good job, clean medical history and can provide 3 years audited financial statements along with a complete medical workup. Kids OK as long as the ex-wife isn't a nightmare

- An Hermes Kelly bag. Again, being reasonable here, but if you want to upgrade the a Birkin, I'll take that too. I know we're in a recession, so if resources are limited for you as well Santa, just as Posh Spice to give up one. She has like...a million.

- Gisele Bundchen's body. I know she just had a baby and I'd be willing to do the work to lose the baby weight. But let's face it Santa, especially if you see when I'm sleeping and know when I'm awake, Gisele looks better on her worst day than I do on my best.

Since I am a grownup, I guess I should ask for some stuff to help other people out.

- An end to this recession and sustained job growth. Please Santa let everyone have a job that wants one (or needs one)

- An end to the hostility in the world. Please bring our soldiers safely home

- An end to poverty and hunger in the world. That does sound a little beauty contestant, doesn't it?

- Heath care for everybody

- Oh, some toys for my dogs; a bottle of scotch for my dad and a Kindle for my mom. I'm sure you'll be hearing from the rest of the family and my friends real soon so I won't duplicate their requests.

Well, that's it. I hope it's not too much. You might have a problem with stuffing the boyfriend down the chimney, so I can leave a key under the mat for you. I'll leave the milk and cookies out for you.

Love,

Beth

P.S. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Lamentation

Oh my poor neglected blog...familiar refrain, no?

For the two of you still reading (and yes mom, I know one of them is you), I guess I owe you an explanation.

But heck, that's no fun, is it?

Let me fill you in on what's been happening here at Chez Beth since we last chatted.

Still working two jobs. I left an unnamed big box home improvement store (think orange - sooo not a good color for me) for a low-cost retail chain. Liking this place more, a better fit than home improvement and video games. Absolutely better wine-infused stores to tell in my off hours. Let's just say that I am amazed at how slovenly people can be. Oh, I don't want this blouse...where to put it? Oh, the floor is quite convenient.

Holidays are around the corner, and for once I'm not planning a Dec 23/Dec 24 shopping extravaganza, although that is more due to the fact that I am paid once a month at my full time job and have to strike while the iron is hot. But hey, I'm done!

Still struggling with the depression - hard to stay positive when you're working your tail off and still at loose ends, but striving to stay positive. I have a great family and great friends, who I'm pretty sure would be happy with a hug if that was all I could offer at the holidays.

Anyhow, 3 more days of work before a 2 week vacation over the holidays. Hoping to come back rejuvenated and refreshed with inspiration for more blogs.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa...