Trying to eat healthier

I am trying to eat healthier. Today, I ate a blueberry muffin for breakfast, so I think I made up for it with lunch and dinner. O.K. so maybe peanut butter and jelly isn't really healthy. However, my granddaughter was here for lunch with me, so she naturally got the hotdog while I got the pb &j. However, I didn't eat anything else for lunch, so I guess calorie wise I was good. Tonight, I had polish sausage, sante fe rice, steamed asparagus, tomato, onion and cucumber salad and chocolate pudding. I guess I got at least 2 servings of veggies in with the carbs and protein.

It is still too hard to chew with my new teeth, so I am repeating a lot. If I cut things up in small pieces, I can almost swallow them whole. Not great for digestion, but it works for me. I eat slowly and I am beginning to get the hang of it.

Gotta go--shoulder starting to hurt again.

Fridays Here

TGIF! I can only say that one weekend a month, since i work weekends. This weekend, though, I am off. Every 4th weekend, we full-timers at Macy's get 3 days off. This may change soon, but it's been this way for at least the (almost) eight years I've been there. It's great, except that I usually have to work 6 days straight when I go back. Next week is Memorial Day, so I have an extra paid day off because I'm scheduled off on Monday. Yippee!

I am going to a graduation party Saturday, so that should be fun. It's a co-worker who is a great friend. To quote my favorite band "A Splendid Time is Guaranteed For All!"

Funny How cake makes you feel better

You know--Italian Cream cake is really, really good.

It is my co-worker's birthday tomorrow. Since neither of us will be there, I baked the cake and we all signed a card for her. She was really touched. Sherry is funny, makes me laugh, a great friend to all. She's the kind of friend you can laugh with and cry with and talk to and not talk to--you know a BFF.

Come to think of it, all the girls in our department are like that. There isn't really a bad one in the bunch. We all help each other through a lot of stuff--kinda like a family--but without having to live in the same house all the time.

For the past month, that's what we've all been doing--holding each other up. Especially since things are super slow at work. Fortunately, there's usually chocolate or cake we can all share.

Love it!

Continue from other blog

What a great group I work with. Sometimes I wish I could film what's going on. I won't go into detail, but sometimes its better than a sitcom. This week, I have been paid to walk around the department, dust, look at gorgeous crystal and china, play with children of customers, browse Macy's online for customers, talk to total strangers about their family and tell stories about mine to friends.

Yesterday, my co-worker and I got a kick out of the daughter of a customer. She was adorable in her new skirt and flipflops. While her parents and older brothers were paying for their merchandise, she picked up a Godiva chocolate bar. She held it to her nose and smelled it (of course chocolate smells SOO good), closed her eyes and smiled. Her parents paid for their merchandise, but the little girl didn't put down the chocolate bar and nobody realized she even had it until they finished and walked away. As they got further away, one of her brothers looked down at her and stopped her Dad, who proceeded to take money out of his wallet to pay for the candy. The brother brought what he thought was enough money to pay, but he didn't have enough, so he went back and told the father how much it was. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough, so he had to return the candy. I wish now I had just paid for it myself. ( I know--she really didn't need candy.) Unfortunately, money is tight right now--even $3.15 is too much for a candy bar!

I hope to get a couple of credit apps today--it would at least give me a little extra. Also, it would improve our department standing creditwise. We are dead last in the store. The trouble is, we really haven't had all that many customers upstairs this week. I made my sales goal one day, but part of the sale for that day were returned, so I am probably not going to make it this week. We just don't have a good sale going on this week, so not many people are shopping. Like every place else, we can definitely see a decline due to the economy in this country.

I'm going to stop for now. This is great. Like keeping a diary in the "old days"

First Day Off in 7 Days!

Today couldn't be any better, weatherwise. The sun is shining, the temp is perfect! Time to mow the grass and sit on the patio w/the grandkids. Okay--so I did more than that. I mowed w/Paige helping me (I wish I had a camera!) and then we frosted cupcakes and cleaned up a little bit. We sat on the patio and tried to blow bubbles for awhile, but the bubbles don't work anymore--guess we need some new ones.

On my other blog, I posted a pic of Paige at her b-day party, so I will put the other pic of her, her friend Carolyn, and big sister Casi on this one. These girls are getting so big. Four years ago, Casi was almost 6 and Paige was newborn. Time just seems to fly.

Today, I made cupcakes and Paige made the frosting. We are going to have a 'teaparty' when Casi gets home. I'm going to put the cupcakes on a plate and we can all have a little snack. Yesterday, while everyone else was at Paige's party, I had to work, so that's why we're having our own party today.--just us girls.

I don't have to go to work until noon tomorrow, so I can finish any cleaning tomorrow morning or later today (If I get ambitious, that is).

Why do we constantly need a title?

Sorry--just started this blog and it came to mind that everytime I add a post it asks me for a title. Why can't I just start writing and skip the title part? A title makes it too much like highschool. Or, no, actually 8th grade. We had an English teacher who thought that a great thing to do was write a journal. The trouble is, I had a thing about people reading my journal back then. To me, a journal was more like a diary. He was always mad at me because I refused to write in my journal. It may have been just a writing exercise to him. To me--it was an infringement on my privacy.

I think the difference between writing in my journal then and blogging now (I actually have 2 going now) is that I am sharing my thoughts voluntarily with others. I don't really put extremely personal stuff on the blog (sorry--nobody is getting any "juicy details"). Also, for an adult that really wasn't a personal friend (and whom I really didn't like) to read about my innermost feelings was awful. Isn't it funny how our ideas change? Now, I think I realize that he was just trying something new with the class. He probably got tired of reading essays and poetry and book reports and grammer lessons. Or, maybe he didn't even read the entries, just checked to make sure we were writing in them.

In any case, all of our entries then had to have a title everyday, too. I made sure that he knew everyday (or, at least the days I bothered to make an entry) what I thought of his idea, too. I'm sure if he did read them, he wasn't enthused with me either.

Last vacation day

I am on my last day of vacation--not for the entire year, just this particular vacation. I still have some days in June and then not until Oct. My granddaughter is here now. She wants to see her pictures from yesterday's wedding. Her older sister was one of the flower girls, so they all went to the wedding.

Vacation technically over

Well-my vacation was technically over on Friday. However, this is my long weekend off, so I'm still off tomorrow. Tuesday will be really, really difficult to wake up to. The funny thing is, I was actually in Macy's twice during my vacation, albeit only for a few minutes. I took Paige and she thought the escalator was the coolest thing ever. The second time we were there, she got to play with my friend Sherry. It was a hoot--she finally grabbed Sherry's hand and told her"You need to go back to your work" and led her over to the housewares dept. Of course, she had to play with Sherry's bracelet and talk to her awhile. At least she had fun.

On Friday, I took Casi, Paige, and Daisy (the dog) to the park for some fun. We walked over to the fishing hole where we saw some swans. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me. There were people fishing and Paige saw a fish in a bucket. It was still flopping around, so it scared her some.

They just left to attend Tony's niece's wedding. Casi is the flower girl. I can't wait to see the pictures.

I'm reading a hilarious book "Bitter is the New Black". It's a memoir of a high-powered exec who lost her job. I know, it doesn't sound funny, but it truly is. Check it out. Mishawaka Library has a copy (I know, because that's the one I'm reading).

Hey--on my other blog, I talked about what a great day we had today! Paige, my almost 4-year-old granddaughter, said it was the "bestest day ever!" My other granddaughter, Casi, Paige, Daisy the dog, and I all went to the park for the first time this year. We have been waiting (some of us not so patiently) to go since the first day all the snow melted. It has been way too cold until now.

I wish now I had taken my camera, but, I didn't remember it. The kids were so cute and we saw some swans at the fishin' hole. I don't think the girls have ever gotten that close to swans before. We may have to go again and see them again.

New Role Possibility

I actually started writing about this in my other blog called vacation 2009. I am seriously considering auditioning for a local production. I didn't mention the name of the production in the blog, but it's "Arsenic and Old Lace" to be done at South Bend Civic Theater in September or October. I've already played one of the old ladies (many years ago--36, I think) but only in one act as an exercise in my acting class in college at IUSB.

The only reason I mention this now is that last month I was in "Our Town" at ND. Not the whole play, just the last act. I was one of the dead people. It was an amazing experience. I would do it again in a hearbeat, so I was thinking that I'd go all out next time and try for a whole show. Doing it inspired me in ways I could not imagine. I'd forgotten how much I loved it--hard work and all. I guess I just got tired of only having the old "get up, go to work, go home, watch tv, go to bed" routine. I forgot for a long time to live. Now, I've decided to do what I enjoy. I do remember that putting a show together is an awful lot of work, but when it all boils down to is that I really do love it. Many people who only see the finished product don't know what goes into making it all work--or, in some cases, not work. And musicals are even more work. Can you imagine having to be an actor, a singer, and a dancer! Plus, the production people have to make sure of so many things--the set, the lighting, the props, the costumes, the (sometimes) make-up. All of this has to be planned and constructed way ahead of time for things to work right. Of course, many things can and do go wrong. Still, it can also go right. When it does, it's magic.

Day 3

I just discovered denture cream works great! I was trying to get by without using any denture adhesive. I got sore spots, so I decided to try adhesive. I had thought that I shouldn't use any since my gums are still sore and yucky! ( I know, nobody really wants to hear this--oh well!) Turns out, it also gives a cushion for them. They feel much better!

Yesterday was fun, but challenging. We went to ND's annual Blue and Gold game. We had to park behind the Hesburgh Library, so tailgating was pretty much out. We did the best we could, and still had fun. I think my granddaughter Casi had fun. We still talk about what we're going to do next year to make it better. We decided to go earlier and get into the stadium itself earlier. It took 20 minutes once we got inside to get a seat. The game had already started, so we missed some of it. I asked her what the best part was and she said just being there together and getting inside the stadium. She never would get to see the inside if not for the Blue and Gold game.

Didn't I do this yesterday?

O.K. obviously, I didn't do this right yesterday. I thought I was logging into my blog. A little about me: For those who don't know and have always called me Marcia, Susie is the name everyone in my family calls me. When I was born, my sisters wanted my parents to name me Susan. I have a cousin named Susan (whom I have yet to meet) and we would have had the same name. They thought it would be too confusing, despite the fact that we lived in Indiana and she lived in Detroit, Michigan. My sisters decided to call me Susan or Susie anyway and apparently so did the rest of my family. I usually go by Marcia at work, my Mother-in-law calls me Marcia as does the rest of her family (except for a few cousins who are also related on my Mom's side).

Anyway--I am married w/2 wonderful girls and 2 equally wonderful granddaughters. I work for Macy's, from where i am currently on vacation.

I hope this works this time. In any case, it is fun.