How the Past Can Come Back to Haunt You or Bless You as the Case May Be...

Carriage Cleaners was my 2nd job. My 1st job was the Miami Bake Shoppe on 5 mile and Merriman. I sold bread...and cookies...and pies...and all manner of delicious baked goodness. The cash register reminded me of a Fisher Price model I had as a kid. I had to do the math in my head and hated the humiliation of it. It always took me forever, I always got flustered, I was always usually wrong...ugh!! But that wasn't the worst part of that job...it was the onions. Chopping bags and bags of stinky, sweet yellow onions that made my eyes water and swell to red balls of fire...all for the onion rolls, which were disgusting anyway. Blah! They left it for "the night girl", and giggled at me as they left the shoppe, knowing how much I hated it and how bad I was going to reak the next day at school. I'd sit on my hands in 4th hour cuz I knew that Caroline Klein could smell them and was the only girl rude enough to call me out on it. But ANYWAY...I digress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 2nd job was Carriage Cleaners at 6 mile and Newburgh. I was the evening counter girl. I'd come in at 3 or so and sort and bag the clothes and place them on the cool conveyor belt. It was mellow. I was rarely busy. After I got done bagging the orders I'd just chill at the counter and do my homework. Run the cash register when customers came in to pick up their clothes, tag clothes when orders came in, empty the cash register, turn off the lights, and lock the doors when 7 pm rolled around. Pretty sweet gig. There were moments though, oh yes indeedy!!

Like the times when customers were unhappy with their press jobs...oh the fury!! Or other moments when that darn stain didn't come out...oh the horror!! A couple times I was sure I was going to be held up at gun point...yes, even in a Livonia strip mall!! (ha ha!) Once I not only forgot to lock the back door, I actually forgot to close the back door. Ooooh, I thought I was done fer that time. But no...the owner and manager seemed to like me and the work I did...go figure. I actually remember getting a couple raises there over the years. I worked there from my Junior year until my 2nd year of college...I was part of the "Carriage Cleaners family"!! I remember they told me that when I (finally) got married, I could bring my dress back to get cleaned and preserved. Unfort, it (the marriage thing) took awhile and by the time it happened, there were new owners. Bah humbug! So much for "family"!! (ha ha!)

Anyway, I digress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the part where my past comes back to haunt me, or bless me as the case may be. Our home teacher owns a dry cleaner/laundromat called "Sparkle" in Oglesby. He's a great guy...we really like he and his wife. They helped us out a ton when Miss P was born. He was on my speed dial for when labor ensued...and he was the one who showed up at the hospital to take the girls when my water broke. Good people...nuff said. Anyway, he was recently diagnosed with cancer. Blah, boo, hiss!!! Anyway, he is still positive and proactive. Treating his impending surgery like a long vacation from work. Except he was planning on just shutting down his business for the month or so of recup time and follow-ups. He was talking all of this over with Mark at Church one Sunday, when a little light bulb pops up over Mark's head and he says to him, "ya know, Suzy did a little dry cleaning a long time ago...she could probably help you out if you're interested." Only trouble is that this business is his baby...his blood, sweat, tears...he takes a lot of pride in his work and has built a loyal clientele for a reason. He likes the fact that he runs the whole show, he has nobody to blame for mistakes but himself. I think it took him a minute (or twenty) to consider the offer. Ultimately, I think he realized that this is part of his journey...letting go and letting God provide and direct. He asked me if the offer was still good and I said, "absolutely, when do I start?!?"

So that's the reason I've been MIA on the blog front lately folks. I've been brushing up my pressing skills...pants, shirts, some prom dresses, some drapes...it's all good. It came right back...like riding a bike I guess!! I'll probably just work part time summer hours until he can get back on his feet. It's actually kind of fun...perfect work for this nit picky control freak!! Boo-yah!!

Scaredy-Cat

So it's been a couple weeks since we got Charlie. So far so good. He's a very mellow cat for the most part. The only thing we have to compare his behavior to is our other cat Jack and the cat I had growing up, Grace. Both of which were CRAZY!! Grace was actually diagnosed as a "neurotic" cat. What?!? Is that even possible? I remember her not liking us kids much. She would hide under the beds when we were around, and only come out to sit at my Mom's feet when the house was quiet. She was declawed, yet was still able to hunt. She would bring home birds, mice, and once a baby rabbit?!?...dropped at the front or back door. I thought it was disgusting and didn't really want to spend a lot of time with her as a result. Although, she was truly our family pet because when the time came that she needed to be "put down", it was really hard for everyone.

Jack was a different story. A family in our Ward was giving away free kittens. We thought getting him as a kitten would be to our benefit. We were young and naive. We didn't realize the tremendous costs of getting a brand spanking new pet...shots, getting them neutered/fixed, declawing him, having to buy all the equipment starting out, medicine and vet costs, etc. Not to mention the fact that their personality hasn't really developed...that's definitely what happened with Jack. As he grew he got more and more "playful" and active. Everyone said that getting him "fixed" would help alleviate some of his energy. It didn't...it made it worse!! We had him declawed because of the young age of the girls when we got him, and the fact that he started destroying our furniture and bedding. We had wanted him to be a nice indoor playmate for the girls. We were forced to let him outdoors because he was tearing our house up...literally!! After letting him out, he rarely wanted to come in and would use our neighbors yards as his personal litter box. When it came time for us to move from Idaho, we decided to find another family for our pet. I was actually quite relieved to be honest with you. But the girls couldn't forget his so easily. They would continue to talk about him and ask about when we would be able to get another pet. I knew it wasn't over in terms of being pet owners.

While we were in MI., I blamed it on the fact that we were renting. It bought me some time. But when we bought our house here, I knew it was coming. I couldn't decide if we would get a dog or a cat though. When we started to discuss it, we decided that having a dog for us would be difficult. We have a huge yard, but we have no fence and we live pretty close to 2 major roads in town...the one behind us is a county road, and the one in front of us is a major street in town. Also, it was a lot of area to have to police poop for when the girls would go out and play. And I knew I didn't want an indoor dog...especially with a crawling baby. When a friend from the Ward was moving recently and not taking her kitties, the opportunity presented itself again. This cat had shots, was litter box trained, was used to baby noises, knew how to share (because of other cats), and was generally very mellow and affectionate. We took the plunge.

And I must say I feel pretty good about this cat. He's very affectionate, especially towards me. I don't think he's used to having a man in the house, because he runs for the hills when Mark walks through the door. He is slowly warming up to him though. He likes the girls and the baby...doesn't really give them as much attention as me though. He is my little shadow, follows me around all day (sometimes too closely though, I've tripped over him several times and about had a heart attack!!), and wants/begs me to pet him constantly!! If I had anything negative to say about Charlie, it's that he's a little needy...he just wants love and attention all. the. time!! So I've gotten him a scratching pad and I sprinkle some cat nip on it and that seems to tide him over for awhile. I didn't think I was getting a cat for me...I thought I was getting a cat for the kids...to teach them responsibility, compassion for animals, etc. Hopefully he will figure this out before he drives me crazy!!

It's All In the Ears!

Did you guys catch Easter this year? I barely did, by the hair on my chinny-chin chin (which is growing more and more these days by the way...something they don't tell you when you're a fresh-faced 20 something...p.s. when you turn 30 something, your face will start to sprout grotesque wiry hairs seemingly overnight...ewwwww!!)

ANYWAY, I digress!! Let's talk Easter. It came and went in a blink this year. The last week of March I realized that it was the first Sunday in April. EEK!! I only put up the bare minimum of bunnies and festive decor because, hello!, I'm going to have to take it down a week later...or just leave it up through April (maybe that's what I'll do). Hmmm...are you starting to get dizzy from all of my digressions yet?!? Sheesh!!

Anyway, I threw an Easter together to make a llloooonnnnnggg story short. And it was just that...short and sweet.

The End.

Hope you guys had a fun one too!!!!!

Spring Has Sprung!

The girls and I enjoyed a sunny Spring Break this past week. The weather here has been absolutely gorg, and we made sure to get out and enjoy it!!

We went to the movies one day, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". Meh, not so great! I must have been pretty doped up on sun endorphins or something because I took all 3 of them by myself...did you catch that? I took a 7 month old to the movies! What was I thinking?!? At this stage of the game, it was not such a great idea...she fussed...a lot, and I spent most of my time in the dirty hallway with her. I think the girls enjoyed it though.

The next day we packed a picnic and headed to a nice park in Peru. It was nice enough, but pretty windy. Parker had objections to that too. I made up for the early departure to them by a trip through the Culver's drive-thru. "Flavor of the day?" Yes, please.



Maryn and Avery were able to go to a Girl Scout's Cheer Camp. They both had a good time and showed off some serious moves that night. "So I throw my hands up, they're playin' my song, the butterflies fly away...knoddin' my head like yeah, movin' my hips like yeah!!" So cute!!!!



Maryn finally got her glasses! She was so excited for them!! Now she thinks she looks like a little secretary...she pushes them down to the end of her nose, looks over the brims with her big eyes, and asks very seriously, "do you have an appointment?" What the?!?



While I was gone on my girl's getaway to Toledo, Mark took the girls to Bloomington for the day...they went to the Discovery Center and out to lunch. He also cooked some good grub for them...grilled "Juicy Lucy's" one night and Magic Fish the next...I still can't make that even 7 months out from pregnancy...I am scarred! Oh well! She's worth it though, isn't she? How can you stand this?!?



I think all in all it was a great break and a wonderful holiday!!

Wicked Awesome!

My friends and I were able to get away for a quick girl's overnighter last week. It was so fun!! It had been months since we'd seen each other...we were so excited!! Sheila and I pulled up to Casey's house to pick her and Becky up and they burst out of the front door squealing with excitement!! It was just like old times!!
SPRING BREAK 2010--Whoop Whoop!!



We went to Toledo to see "Wicked". It was unbelievable!! Seriously, the songs completely blew me away. Especially the gal who played the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba. She had toured with the national tour before in addition to performing on Broadway. She was flawless, powerful, fantastic!! Gave me the shivers all night long! "Because I knew you, I have been changed for the better, for the GOOD!!" AH!





In addition to seeing Wicked, we shopped till we dropped, ate yummy indulgent food all weekend (somebody pass the cotton candy!), and laughed and talked ourselves silly! We were seriously soooo tired by the time we pulled in on Friday night, you'd think we were a bunch of old ladies or something. Regardless though, it was great to see the girls and so nice to get away for a couple days, with no cares in the world!!

Thanks for a great getaway girls...can't wait until we can do it again!!
SPRING BREAK 2011?!? Possibly?!?