Pondering

I have been pondering the path that we take in our lives.
Mine is at something of a cross roads and whenever I am faced with a big decision, I can't help but look at the path behind me to see what lessons have been taught that can be used in the future.
There comes a point when  you reach a fork in the road.
You need to decided which path to follow
you're never sure which path is right.
The one that looks easiest may have something lurking around that first bend
And the one that may have obstacles in the beginning may be smooth sailing once you get past the point that you can't see.
The path is uncertain and there are bound to be obstacles..
What I continually find amazing is that the people who are on the side of the path, regardless of which one you chose are the same.
They are there, cheering you on, pushing you harder, walking with you when you need it, sometimes even carrying you.
Those people, the ones who will support you no matter what you decide, they are your life line at times when it's scary...they are the ones who will be with you when that path is clear...and the ones who will reach out their hands to you when you meet the really tough challenges.
There are some people who you see only once on the path...they walk with you for a while and then fade into the background.
There are those that you haven't met yet, who are waiting for you at the next bend to help you on a leg of your adventure that you don't even know exists yet.
Then there are the people who are always right there, regardless of who else is...the people who can be front and center sometimes and other times they fade into the background, but they are still there, ready to jump forward if you stumble.
There are big things and small things along the path, some meant to challenge you and others tucked away just waiting to be noticed.
There are times on the journey that you stop and ponder what you might have missed, whether those little things that you barely noticed were more significant than you realized.
The fork in the road.
It's a scary place to be.
To not know which way is the "right way".
To trust in yourself to make that first step in the right direction.
To know with all certainty that you are going the right way.
I have almost come to the fork in the road.
The people that I love and care about most, my parents, my siblings, my friends and most importantly my hubby, they are all around me.
They are trying to help me decide the right path.
While the decision doesn't have to be made today or tomorrow...it will be made in the near future.
The first step is the scariest.
The most unsure.
What I know for sure is that no matter which path I chose, no matter which direction I go, there are people who will always be cheering me on, helping me, walking with me, and lending a hand when it's necessary, whether I know it or not.
One is a road less traveled, promises a big adventure.
The other, while not as adventurous , holds uncertainty as well.
I find myself wondering whether the two intersect again somewhere in the future or whether they go in opposite directions.
I won't know until I make the first step.

Wishing you all love and peace tonight on whatever path you are on.  Know that I am standing on the side lines, walking beside you or giving you a hand to get up if you've stumbled and I am awfully glad that our paths have intersected.
Hugs and love!

end of month

It's the end of another month.
Which means that work is insane.
I am listening to a little voice at the other end of the phone...
it's bed time and she just had ice cream.
My best friend's daughter..
She is just too cute..
She is convinced that I live in Florida with a pool (because that's the last place I saw her).
She wants to come to my hotel and stay with me instead of me coming to see her at the end of next month.
She is convinced that nothing we can do will be as much fun as we had at my house.
She cracks me up.
My trip is only 29 days away and I can't wait...
There are several friends out in blogworld that are going through some tough times right now...
For Skippy and Teresa- I am sending extra special love and hugs out to both of you tonight.
I wish there was more than virtual hugs and words that I can offer..but know that I mean them sincerely and from the bottom of my heart...if I could take it all away...I totally would.
To all of you I am sending calming thoughts, deep breaths and a moment or two of peace to steal away from the craziness of life.
Until next time!

Thursday's List

Today was a pretty good...
put out fires as needed...
Decided to work from home tomorrow since I was leaving at noon anyway.
It will be nice to not have to drive into the office.
Debating on what we are doing this weekend..
our presence has been requested up north...
We will see...I would like to just stay home and hang out.
Hubby is cutting down massive overgrowth outside while trying to save the blackberry bushes that are intertwined in the mess.
I made grilled pizza for the first time this season and managed to not burn the crust...which is always good.
I am feeling settled...which is good.
Trying to see the positives again, instead of getting mucked up in the negativity...
It's nice to be out of the fray.
I hope that you all are having a good week...
I love the vlogs today from some of my favorite peeps!! So very wonderful to your corners of the world!!

sending special thoughts out to one of us who is going through some heavy stuff right now...you know who you are and I hope you know how very special you are to me and many others...
Hugs and lots of love to everyone!!  I hope that you have magical moments this weekend!

Today's Smiles

I had a great day today...well great moments in my day anyway..
It's amazing how one email from a person who you have tried your best to help can make your day when they say thank you...even if things don't work out quite the way you wanted them to.
It's amazing how you can put your head down and look up and it's two hours later and you didn't even realize that much time had passed..
It's amazing how a situation that made you angry can be made better just by someone owning what happened and saying they are sorry...
It's amazing when you can say - no worries- and actually mean it without it festering.
It's amazing how you can do one thing that you do every single day and have someone tell you that you taught them something.
It's amazing how you can ask for help and someone can so unselfishly give it...no questions asked
It's amazing how one package containing something very simple can remind you of home and transport you back to that place that once served you a million cups of coffee and cookies and provided the backdrop for some of the most important conversations with friends.
It's amazing how the look or hug or kiss from one person can make you realize that life is pretty awesome.
there are days, hours, minutes that I don't know which end is up and I am frustrated and upset and one person, one email, one phone call makes me forget all about the craziness and make me realize that is a moment that you will remember...not all the rest of it.
Hugs and love to you all tonight.  I am sending positive thoughts and positive energy to each of you tonight...

Yet another year

I will admit I have been melancholy about my birthday this year.
Thirty four.
Not old
But not young either
So many things that should have been accomplished by now.
One year closer to too old
I look at the paths of my friends lives and can't help comparing.
Can't help thinking of all of the plans I had for my life.
All of the plans we had together
A family, a house full of kids
Running around for play dates, scouts, family vacations
The family dinners, soccer games, movie nights.
That all changed ten years ago with one word.
One scary word that rocked my entire world.
Countless tests, blood draws, chemo.
Losing my hair, getting sick, almost losing everything.
I reflected today,
On where I have come from
On that day...and the many that followed.
I realized that although I am worried about being another year older, about not having everything we thought we would at this point in our lives,
That the important thing is that we have our lives.
We have each other.
We have the opportunities to make memories,
To celebrate one more year passing.
To dream about what we want,
to talk about the future.
To celebrate with friends,
To appreciate their gestures.
And when I reflect on all of that,
I realize that one more year,
even if it closer to old,
is a gift.
The best one that I could get.
All the rest of it will be whatever it is meant to be,
But at least I can experience it.
So I tried to shake off the melancholy and concentrate on what is really important.
The laughter shared at lunch time with my coworkers as we sat in the glorious sun and shared a meal.
The video of my niece and nephews singing me happy birthday,
The messages on facebook from friends and family.
The flowers and balloons at my desk from people I care about.
The wonderful meal that I shared with my husband tonight.
And falling asleep in his arms, knowing that although the future isn't ever a guaranty, that I am able to plan for it, dream it and live every single day to the fullest.

Hugs and love to you all tonight.  Sending a wish to all of you for peace, love and lots of smiles!

New Refrigerator...

Is not in our house.
When I called on Friday I was told that it was still in the showroom and that there was no way it would be delivered that day.
I admit, I was extremely angry on the phone with the person.
I cancelled the order.
I did get a comment on this blog from their social media team late Friday afternoon.
I emailed them this week.
A woman gave me a call from their "executive offices" to follow up on my unsolicited email.
She read from a script that consisted of "I understand your frustration" and " I apologize for your inconvenience".
She offered me a percentage off, with the caveat that if it was on sale in the store it would be in combination with that sale price to total the amount off that she was offering.
The thing is...I bought the fridge at a greater discount than what they were offering to me.
So, I could have paid more for the fridge that I didn't get in the first place.
She did offer me a gift card for my inconvenience.
Here's the thing....
Never once when I called the store was I offered a manager
Never once did the employee attempt to make it better.
I told them I wanted to cancel the order and I was told okay.
And then I was asked as he was going through his computer screen why I was cancelling the order.
Now many of you know, I work in sales.
This is what I do every day.
What I do is not perfect...nor do I claim that it is.
The difference is that if I screw something up I don't blame it on someone else (like the delivery people).
I try to find out what I can do to fix it for the customer.
If I get a customer that is really irritated, not only do I fix it for them, but I offer to let them speak to my manager to soothe ruffled feathers.
And I recognize that we, as a company, or me personally screwed something up and try to fix it for the customer.
If I was offered a manager last Friday, maybe something could have been done.
If I was offered something that would make restitution, not only for the inconvenience of not receiving the refrigerator but also for my time that was wasted waiting for a delivery, maybe they could have saved me as a customer.
As I said to the woman on the phone, bottom line is that as a consumer I have a choice where I will make my next purchase, whether it be bath towels or a major appliance purchase.
I will exercise my choice as a consumer to make those purchases somewhere else.
For now, we have an older refrigerator that is getting us through until I can find someone who will have the product that I want and get it to me within my time frame- or at least when they promise to get it there.
Whether a company shows me that my time and money is not something they are interested in, I will refuse to spend either in their retail establishments.

In other news, I hope that you are all doing well.  Hubby and I went out on Sunday to the movies- we went and saw Mirror Mirror...cute movie.  I got my birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse because we are both working all day tomorrow and won't want to go out when we get home.  It was nice to spend time, just the two of us, together.  I realized last week how much I miss him during the week...and how exhausted we both are when we get home at night.

I hope that you are all doing well....that you are finding reasons to smile every day!! Hugs and lots of love..

Vacation in Pictures

View from the balcony

blue lagoon

M and my brother (aren't they cute)

Sunset

Mom and Dad

Mom and I

Blue Ocean

Another sunset

Hubby and I 

Dessert tequila?  no such thing

Last day

Final Drink

My favorite bartender...he kept us all happy!!

  

My brother and M headed home

Amazing trip...sorry no pics of the kids at my sister's request....hugs and love to you all..hope you are having an amazing weekend!!

Thursday's Smiles

Well, it has taken me about two days longer than I had planned to come back with a trip report...and my pictures are on a camera somewhere in luggage that I have yet to locate in my house (read: am to lazy to go upstairs and get right now).
Our trip was AMAZING.
Seriously amazing.
We did nothing...
Hung out at the pool
Hung out at the beach
Hung out at the bar.
I spent time with my niece and nephews
Spent time with my brother and his partner.
Hung out with my hubby.
I did work every morning for a few hours before everyone got up...
but I was overlooking the ocean while I was doing so.
I could get work done before everyone else woke up.
We ate delicious food.
Had great drinks..
My brother's boyfriend M and I spent a lot of time together...
We were the late owls while my brother and hubby would go to bed early.
I will tell you that my biggest smile of the week was the conversation with M about how he loved my brother and for him- he was it.
My brother is happy for the first time in a long time...
They have the same quirky sense of humor and they orbited around each other all week..
you know those people who are in love who seem to move in directly relation to each other...that's the way they were.
It makes me tear up when I think about it...because I have hoped for so long that he would find someone who made him happy.
Someone who he could share his life with...and I think that this is it for him too.
I loved spending time with my family last week..and it was a relaxing, low key kind of week.
I am going to find my camera...and I will post pictures.
I hope that you are all doing well...I have missed you all and am catching up...slowly but surely..
hugs and lots of love to you all..
Oh and I promise a story about the fact that we still don't have a new refrigerator.

Home

We got home very early on Sunday morning...
Still catching up.
I just wanted to say hi and let you all know that we made it back safely.
I promise a proper post soon!!
Hugs and lots of love...I missed you all.

Good Morning!!

Just wanted to jump on really quickly to say good morning and let you all know that we made safely.
I hope that you are all well...
Hugs and love to each of you...

Blue Margarita!!

View from the balcony