So serious on a monday..... I hate the feeling when you have been baited and switched. It happens at work, it happens at home - it happens all the time. You think something is one thing but turns out at the last minute or in hindsight WHOOA it is so not what you thought/were promised/were comfortable with. Unfortuantely it has been happening a lot lately and I am just not sure what to do about it. I am not the type to be overly vocal and wag my finger in front of you saying "Oh no you didhn't" - no, I generally take a more gingerly approach as in the well worn passive aggressive "one-two punch" way of dealing with it. Not the most mindful option. But what is in the middle? What are some of the ways you handle situations when they turn out not to be what they seem? Work? Home? Relationships? Friendships?

2013 - the year of me! There, you saw it on the internet so it must be true. I sense many of you feel the same way as myself which is "Buh Bye 2012. I hope the door DID in fact hit it on the way out." So MY resolustions for 2013? 1) Blog more than once a year proclaiming what my resolutions (ie: blog more) are 2) Drink Champagne every day 3) Continue on my diet plan and land a commercial with my success story. 4) Travel more than 20 miles from home. Real travel. You know where you have to pack a large size suitcase. And borrowing my nieces Hello Kitty 20 inch carryon? Not an option. 5) Be a better friend. I will be your Robin to your Batman, Ernie to your Bert, Rin tin tin to your Lassie, Rachel to your Monica, Mike to your Ike...you get the picture. 6) TRY to get organized. (Stop laughing) 7) Continue the journey to find my nitch/my bliss 8) Be a better employee - oops already failed by blogging at work. 9) Invent something! Come on people SOMEONE is rich from Pet Rocks, Pillow Pets, Pajama jeans.....the bar is not that high 10)Read.More. Cereal boxes, back of DVD cases, Us Magazine, directions of any kind, ingredients, shopping lists, wikipedia - DO NOT COUNT! Happy New Year PBS Disclaimer: based on my past years (40 something) resolution track record* no reolutions is the best resolution for me. *2002:the year I gave up french fries and was caught eating them at 12:03am.

You know how some days you just get to the point where you almost can feel yourself lifting out of your uncomfortable cubical chair, heading out of your four dove grey pushpin cubical walls and walking out the door while raising a two handed middle finger salute? Maybe it isn't a good sign have had about 15 of those in a row now.

I am so going to be one of those crabby, snippy old ladies with knee highs rolling down my plump calf aren't I?

I woke up this morning wishing for summers of years gone by. My mother was a teacher who had summers off and would come up with the most amazing (in my small child brain) things to do.

1. Go on an "adventure" grown up translation: took a drive and got lost

2. Peanut Hunt grown up translation; keep the damn kids busy for a few hours looking for peanuts hidden in a yard.

3. Go to the beach. grown up translation: go to a little out of the way beach without lifeguards and if you come back one kid short, eh, who is the wiser?

4. Go looking for rocks in little streams on our "adventures" in the country. Grown up translation: gardening supplies on a budget

5. Quiet warm summer mornings reading on the front porch, just Mom and I Grown up translation: teach kid to be a voracious reader and you got yourself a whole lot of quiet time. score.

Note non of these items involve going to a popular fun adventure park or in any way spending money. Because back then on a teachers salary it just wasn't in the budget (especially when your youngest daughter took up equestrian pursuits which whipped though the family budget not to mention a whole lot of time. I swear one summer Mom somehow paid the horse to throw me off so I would break my wrist freeing up her schedule for 3 months of lounging in the back yard with her books and coppertone/babyoil). Most of our summer days were simply playing with the neighborhood kids and hours in the pool until we all looked tanned and shriveled (kinda like Aunt Edith from Boca Raton). Oddly enough I could not tell you one meal that we had back then other then "helpyselfy" nights and the family pizza night that was actually not pizza but a few bags of eggrolls from Lee Chu's, the ONLY local Chinese restaurant back then. I can not even tell you how good those were. Nothing like what is on a menu today.

I bet Mom misses those summers too.

I just had a thought...what if God had copywrited his name.
Imagine evverytime you hear "Oh my God"
kah ching.

Why yes. Yes I did spend a portion of my day searching UK cottage properties to purchase when I stumble upon my lotto winnings/mysterious relative inheritance, or have an unusually wicked manic "up" period.
So yes all you people on House Hunters looking for your "vacation" home in Cosa Rica and Nicaragua (hello. BUGS! Drug Cartels!) be damned. I will be having my morning coffee in a lovely garden of a detached cottage described as:

Chapel Cottage is a unique and impressive detached character house, combining classic ecclesiastical architecture with the comforts of a modern home. The cottage offers good accommodation with a great deal of charm and character.
Porch, Vaulted Dining Hall, Sitting Room, Utility Room, Ground Floor Cloaks/Shower Room, Kitchen/Breakfast Room, Three 1st Floor Bedrooms, Bathroom. Mature Gardens, Detached Double Garage, Detached Timber Store/Stable Block.
or
cottage set in a peaceful location commanding superb views of the Taw Valley.
Living Room, Sitting Room, Dining Room, Kitchen/Breakfast Room. Utility Room, Study/Bedroom 4, 3 Bedrooms, Bathroom, Shower Room. Double Garage. Store. Beautiful, landscaped gardens of c. 1 acre

Wanna visit?

Did you ever sit in front of your computer ready to write anything and everything yet it is like you have stage fright? Sometimes this happens to me. In fact it most often happens after I read something or someone's blog and I want to comment on it. I want to offer up my opinion. I want to say "yes yes yes that is how I felt too" or "oh no, way off the mark try again sweetie" - that is when I can least express myself.
Other times I want to strive to be funny and witty yet I am in a grumbalina mood and it comes out bitter like a plump lemon. Other times when I want to be serious I can't help but heckling myself and giggling at the snarky comments I am hurling at me.
Does this all mean I was not meant to put any thoughts on paper (nee web)? Honestly I don't know. I think it just means I am trying to bridge a gap I have from my brain to my fingertips. Perhaps I will succeed someday. My sliding door life has me poised and ready to become infinately good.