Sunshine & Iced Tea

The clinking of ice in a glass as I sit in the sun reading a book. Cold and refreshing, the sun is baking my skin, it feels heavenly, and I am tanning quickly.

It is exactly where I want to be. THIS is vacation. 

My work conference in Orlando was fabulous. The resort was lovely and I was most impressed with their landscaping and their food of the highest quality. It was an exceptional event and I was breathless with anticipation when they called my name as the top salesperson of the year in front of 350 colleagues across the country.

Scouting out my competition with the other names that were nominated, I was most surprised they were men. 

My plaque is large and I will put it in my beautiful new office in my new home. 

With the conference over now vacation can truly begin. The ocean, the sand, fabulous shabby chic quaint shops, and lots of fun purchases for my new home, it’s relaxing and enjoyable being at my mom & dad’s.

The sun baking my skin, the clink of ice in a delicious glass of ice tea, now this is vacation. 

The Circle

Oh Em Gee!! I am binge-watching The Circle on Netflix and LOVING it!!

This Netflix reality show is a "Catfish" competition where contestants move into an apartment complex, into their own apartments, but never meet face-to-face. They communicate through profiles created on an app.

They can be themselves, or whomever they choose. The contestant who survives the contest is the winner and takes home $100,000. 

At first I thought this would be a ridiculous show. It. Is. Hysterical! 

The contests they play, the profiles they've created, and the different mind games they are playing to figure out who is real or not makes a super funny 45 minute episode. I am blowing through these episodes like wild fire.

Hands down my favorite contestants are:  Seaburn/Rebecca, his take being his girlfriend is super funny to watch. What a likable and funny guy! Joey, is such a guy from New York, but he is so real and honest and he calls it like he sees it. You cannot not like him! Chris, entertaining all day! Shubham, who cannot like Shubham?! He is the little brother to everyone. 

Not crazy about the girls, but Mercedeze through everyone a curveball.

The sun is shining and I need to get out and run around for a bit, but I can't wait for the sun to go down, because it's time to binge watch!

This is a show I would LOVE to be on! I'm not sure if I would go on and be myself or have an alter ego for the mental stimulation of outsmarting and out-thinking the others. 

Until tonight, Netflix...  

"A Surprise For Me?!"

Since Sofia was little, in person, over the phone, or over Facetime, I've told her how much I love her and I have a surprise for her when I see her.

Add her little lifetime of this and I've created a very enthusiastic 2 year old who greets everyone at the door with, "A SURPRISE FOR ME?!"

Woe is the day I came from work and walked in their door without a wonderful treat. She didn't hold back her confusion when I said, "here are some french fries!" Like me, her expressions can be read easily. 

I was pulling down her road from a long day at work and had time to either go home and change or run through a drive-thru to grab something to eat as I was babysitting that evening, when it hit me, I had no surprise. 

French fries are not considered a surprise and not pleased was seen all over her expression, but throughout the evening they became okay. 

Fortunately, there is a gas station on the way to their house that has ring pops. Four times the price as ones in the store, but worth the price if an emergency stop is needed.

Aunt Brookie, is always prepared with a bag of suckers. When Facetimed with a sucker in her mouth the other day, I knew Aunt Brookie was there. 

Sofia loves to shop. When she's with her daddy, she gets excited and says, "surprise for mommy?" Happy once the surprise is chosen, now she can segue into the real ask, "surprise for me?!"

Stickers, suckers, fun cookies, ice cream bars, and candy can be considered a surprise and this Ganny (my ever transitioning name) has created the sweetest, little surprise monster. 

Instant

What tastes better..

Ramen noodles or a pot of homemade soup?

A frozen dinner or a good cut of meat fresh off a grill?

Powdered eggs or an omelet in the skillet with fresh veggies and meat?

You get the idea. 

I am a Catfish, The Bachelor, and Love is Blind junkie. It is shocking and entertaining how people desperately want an instant connection and instant love. Then everyone is baffled when the instant relationship doesn't work out. There was no foundation in the first place. 

Online dating is instant. People go online to meet someone, see a photo they like and take an attraction and force it into an instant connection and relationship. Sorting through the smoke and mirrors has to be exhausting and trying to make that mess work, even worse. *For the record, I don't online date. 

Everyone wants something right now. Immediate attention. An immediate connection. Instantaneous, fast food and fast love. 

Instant relationships are the same quality as instant food. It's not the real thing, it's a sad imitation. It may be immediate, but it doesn't truly satisfy. 

I had someone this week go from one day not being in my life, to the next calling and texting constantly, sharing too much information [to establish a quick relationship], to wanting to slide into a comfy relationship. RED FLAG ALERT! No thanks. I severed that shockingly quick. 

Hey, train wreck, this isn't your station. Keep moving.  

There is no room for drama when you have peace, happiness, and tranquility. 

I like the real thing. Homemade dinners and true love.  

Shabby Chic French Country

I've always like to decorate and my new home is THE perfect palette for inspiration. 

The drum roll please... my new home decor is going to be shabby chic french country.  

While this is not my photo, I do have a beautiful claw foot tub and for one who loves bath bombs, this is pretty close to heaven. 

The home inspection went very well, confirming the home is in excellent shape. It also gave me hours to look at all the details as well as meet the owners. In my appreciation of the love they poured in their home, the wife and I bonded. 

She is leaving me several things that go with the home and I appreciate that. She can't wait to see what I do with it and has an open invitation to stop by once I move in and make it my own.

Next to me, Mariah is the most excited, she has lots of plans with the fabulous details of this home: birthday parties for the kids, family gatherings, holidays, and my just coming home to finding her soaking in my tub or swimming in the pool. We laugh, but we both know it's true!

Yes, my new home has a pool. A pool and a real tiny house that houses all the pool toys she is letting me have. The tiny house matches the home and will be a perfect playhouse for the kids when they are little and quite honestly, I could run electricity to it and transition it to a hang out when the kids are teens or a separate house for guests to stay in. 

Loving projects, I will be pouring myself into this forever home. 

With everything already perfect, brand new everything, and beautiful wooden floors, all I will do is simply paint walls as the backdrop for shabby chic french country. 

Well, my Dad and I. 

"So much!"

My heart burst with happiness when after a Facetime call with my daughter and grandbabies, I get a text where Sofia says, "I love her so much!" Unprompted and pure, it meant everything. 

I know she loves me and I know she's crazy about me, too. That sweet baby, I am in love with every dynamic of her personality. 

It's been a really good week.

Today is my home inspection. I can't wait to get back in my new house and look at everything through the eyes of it's mine. I want to see and notice all the little details. 

This is the first year in decades I haven't been able to claim dependents on my taxes and my first year I haven't been able to claim a home. In my fear of getting slapped with what I may owe, a quick prayer, "God, be my accountant" and my own CPA came back with a lovely return. Thank you, Jesus!

A phone call last night came through on my phone with a number I didn't recognize. For the record, I never, ever, ever pick up calls where I don't recognize the number. Leave a message first, then maybe I will return it. I answer the phone...

"Hi honey, it's Russ, ..." Throughout the decades, over 30 years to be exact, he has reached out to me. The years disappear and we slide into catching up. His voice, his talkative nature, nothing changes. 

He confessed to me that he always regretted his decision in choosing one girl over me, who ended up getting pregnant, while we were both dating in our youth. He married her to do the right thing, but it didn't work out. He wanted to let me know saying I was always smart and beautiful and educated, he always wished he chose me. I laughed and shared I appreciate his confession all these years later.

I was so crazy about him. Our dating on and off lasted years. He was always totally honest with me and I appreciated that aspect of our relationship. He knew I was crazy about him and as much as he liked me he was in a wild phase in life and partying hard with no interest in slowing down. We had these conversations our lifestyles didn't match and we both knew it then and made decisions based on that. There were never hard feelings, we knew we were just on two different paths.

When he moved away to Florida and came back years later, he threw me in a tailspin all over again. Through the years I was in a relationship every time he reached out.

I'm not interested in him. He's a friend who makes me laugh and I enjoy his company. It's pretty neat decades later to look at this from an older and wiser perspective. It's also pretty awesome to hear past flames confessions. 

Training my replacement with events this week which will greatly free up my life, a new home pending, and a beach vacation around the corner, life is very good. 

Happy Valentine's Day to Me

Happy Valentine's Day to me, happy Valentine's Day to me, happy Valentine's Day My Perfect, Perfect Valentine, happy Valentine's Day to me! <3 

I am in contract on a house, I made my offer on Valentine's Day!! HOORAY! 

I really, really wanted to keep it a secret, but it's too exciting. I've had migraines and headaches every day and I'm not sleeping well thanks to PTSD from the condo falling through three days before I got the keys resulting in my losing my apartment as well last summer.

While I know that was a blessing in disguise, I'm super gun-shy even though negotiations are done and home inspection is this week. Quite honestly, I won't feel relieved until I'm moved in. Then, I will breathe.

I knew what I was looking for and wanted in a home and I've been looking like it's my job. From fabulous online photo filters, to the reality of the homes being horribly dated, I even gave consideration to condos again, which I knew I didn't want. Touring several homes, Jaime (my dear friend and realtor) and I brainstormed how I could do renovations to make it what I want. Her, my voice of reason, would say, "This isn't what you want..." 

In my frustration, I decided to stop looking. Clearly there was a wall that I was not going to penetrate and I'm familiar when God closes a door. So, I quit looking.

One day I asked God, "You pick out a house for me. Please remember the bells & whistles of all the things I want." I wondered what He would pick knowing me so well.

A couple days later, I was in bed and hopped online. There it was. A house I recognized driving down a road to look at another house. The house had captured my attention before it was even up for sale. Online it read something like, "Listed [with the next days date]." It hadn't even hit for sale when I found it. 

As a seasoned house hunter, I made the tour happen day one of it being listed and I was already the 2nd person to tour it. 

When I pulled up, the home was far prettier than the photos. When I stepped inside and introduced myself to the other realtor, I hugged her and three steps into the house, I said I was going to be making an offer.

It was so beautiful and perfect. The photos didn't do it justice and I was thrilled. 

Every room, everywhere I looked there were details I really, really loved. So many details that I never imagined in my vision of what my next home would look like and I knew God remembered. 

I can't share all the fabulous detail surprises until my family sees the home, but it could absolutely be my forever home. 

It's funny, I had a vision of what I wanted in a home and this home is very different from that vision; yet, it is absolutely, perfectly me. 

Completely gutted and remodeled in SO many details that reflect me, I smile to myself and wonder if the sellers realize perhaps what they created was for me all along, they just didn't know it.