Reveille

The possibilities are endless when you have to choose a wake up sound that will prompt you to leave the comfort of bed and home to begin another work week. You can choose the standard droning beep that will pulse till you hit either the snooze or end button and guarantees you a headache if it goes on for too long, not always a good idea. You can choose the soft music of a particular radio station but what if it is in fact too soft and doesn't quite do the trick? Soft music can and invariably will send you right back to dreamland where you are again at the mercy of Mr. Sandman. If you have over-indulged on the weekend, your wake up needs to be a combination of peppy and forceful and finding this dynamic duo may prove challenging as most sounds offered by the clock radio and/or cell phone are one dimensional. I think that the perfect solution is a small military band heavy in the bugle section; a rousing rendition of 'First Call' followed by the ever persuasive 'Reveille' is ideal. The only problem may be in the logistics area as you will have to find away to get them into your bedroom!

Best Plan For A Hot Muggy Sunday

When the kids were small these days would be spent totally outdoors; early mornings at the neighbourhood park playgrounds or swimming if public pools were open, (usually NOT) so the next best thing would be those plastic blow-up things, the eyesores of urban backyards everywhere but oh so lovely to ward off the heat. After the cool off it would be back to the park and if the day was truly the stuff of summer, an evening backyard meal or barbecue (only charcoal) at the de rigeur picnic table. Only after dinner would we give ourselves permission to reenter the cooled haven of our home having fulfilled our parenting resposibilities. Bathed children trotted willingly off to bed and adults collapsed in the cool too tired for any movement that required more energy than a channel change by remote control. The kids are now grown and gone. They are adults with no children of their own but still reluctant to spend any daytime hours on a hot day at home, so if you want to see them you too must be outside but thankfully not in the same way. Early morning at the local patisserie extends to walks along the main thoroughfare with coffee in hand but only on the shady side of the street. Then it's off to the oh so air-conditioned supermarket for a lengthy shop followed by a visit to the local mall equally as cool. Several hours later you are home, unloading your wares in the cooled stone dwelling where the A/C need not be at full tilt. Another coffee, (iced) feet up on the ottoman and a brilliant game of Scrabble. So fine a day that no one missed the plastic pool or barbecue!

Poison Pen Letters Part Deux

It seems clear that thick skin is a prerequisite (or should be) at certain workplaces. When life from 9am. till 5pm. seems to be a neverending series of tit for tat, you will need to make a decision regarding whether or not you will bend beneath the constant storm of critisism or opt to stand tall and face the tornado as it gathers steam and rages straight at you. Choose the second option and refuse to do anything but look your particular storm right in the eye and stare it down. As long as you know what is right, no evil powered force can get the better of you. Do not ever rise to any lousy bait; so if it's the ususal menu, filet mignon or spam there is no contest at all. The King of spam had better look for another kingdom to poison, because there is no throne for him in your realm.

Birthday Dinners

Three friends whose birthdays are in February, March and April determine that the best month for a combined celebration is the merry month of May and so we dined. We got caught up on our lives and it was as if we'd never been out of touch although the reality is that we seldom speak or have sightings of each other. What makes us able to fall so easily back into step again? I haven't a clue but I do think it best not to look this particular gifthorse in the mouth.
Memories of a time in your past shared with people you love and admire can certainly go a long way towards allowing these random and rare reunions to always be meaningful and nothing to turn one's nose up at. We all change and with 'old' friends, even if the changes are not perfect, we can still enjoy each others company safe in the knowledge that we are totally free to be the newest versions of ourselves intertwined with who we were way back when.

Keeping Cool At Work

Your workplace is not air conditioned yet despite the 32 degree heat alert, you are expected to be productive and function as if the sweat was not in fact pouring out of many pores. My mom always says that if you think cool you will be able to stave off the heat but sometimes when faced with extreme humidity and high temps, this is not an option no matter how many hot air blowing fans you have at your disposal. I think that if your boss cannot be counted on to supply an indoor office swimming pool or an outdoor old fashioned hose where you can refresh and renew, he should not bat an eye when you decide that you need to chuck your professional work attire in favour of your swim trunks and a towel...(for those niggling sweat drops!!)Dressing for the job takes on a whole new meaning when you are forced into sweating at your job.

When Too Much Family Stuff Is Too Much

How do you handle coming home to a volatile family scene in which you have absolutely no part and to which you should not even bear witness? You arrive on the scene, take note that all obvious roads to your safe haven are blocked off and then you set about finding a viable non-intrusive way up and out. As soon as you realize you are not at all in the mix..fight..you find that pressing yourself into the wall as you slink past the participants works! The fact that you need to SLINK up 3 winding flights of stairs cannot deter you from taking on your mission; so slink you do, passing other non-combatant family members who have come out of the woodwork to watch. The higher you climb, the more warriers you pass, the closer you get to reaching your destination. As you round the final bend you risk a glance back and see that no one has even noticed you.
Collect your slinking prize, you are safely home!

Checkmate!

You take your young grandson to the local park one balmy evening and happen to meet a charming chess teacher who is there with his two sons. The conversation flows and you are gratified to learn that he teaches little ones as well as older children so you find yourself contemplating enrolling your wee man and even considering taking lessons yourself. You are not convinced that the 'charm' is just that, because part of you suspects it to be tied to a sales pitch, but you realize that this doesn't much matter. You loved the words you exchanged with him and you have decided to try for more, sales pitch be damned...CHECKMATE!