This was very evident today. I made a quick little trip to Sav Ons today, for those of you who don't know, that is a drug store mini mart type of place. Well i entered the store behind this woman. She was your average every day looking mom type woman. Looked middle class, not down and out or anything. In fact she didn't even catch my eye with the exception of the fact that she planted herself right in front of the carry baskets to examine her coupons. Well i manged to get around her to get one and went on my way to do some shopping. I started out at the make up area, i needed some new eye liner, mascara, make up remover etc. So of course i needed to check out the eye shadows and such as well. Soon enough mrs. lavender (i'll call her this because she was pretty much dressed head to toe in lavender) was right near me checking out the nail polishes. I paid little attention as i examined the eye liners, but soon realized she was really intent on these nail polishes. So i peered over at her. I raised my eyebrows when i realized she was actually painting her nails! Not just to see the color, but giving herself a nice little manicure. She was, however, nice enough to use different bottles of nail polish for each nail. Same color, just different bottles. Might as well spread the nail fungas around! While she did this she continued to take gulps from her bottle of diet soda. No she did not bring this soda in the store with her! I noticed it was a diet coke, i noticed because it looked real good to me! Anyhow, she peaked my curiosity so i decided to follow and see what else she helped herself to. Casually she wandered over to the hair care aisle, worked for me! I pretended to be interested in the hair dyes but was mostly stealing glances at Mrs. Lavender as she sampled hair gels! Now i was sure hoping that nail polish was instant dry nail polish because she was sure to get bright red on everything if it wasn't. She literally took a hand mirror and propped it up on the shelf and applied hair gel to her hair! I don't think she was satisfied with that because she needed to add some mouse as well! All the while she was drinking her bottle of diet coke. When she was satisfied with her hair she put the gel back on the shelf and replaced the mirror. No one could possibly say she wasn't a neat theif! She then proceeded further down the aisle towards the perfume. I, in the meantime, was wondering if i should go blond again! Mrs. Lavender was intent on smelling pretty, she tried at least three bottles of perfume, i could smell it all the way down where i was parked! She finished her diet coke and headed across the store! Hmm, i needed to stay with her! So I parralleled her on an adjacent aisle. Just as i suspected she neeeded another soda! This time she tried Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. This intrigued me so i grabbed one too, not bad at all! Armed with her new bottle of soda, she took a big gulp of it and headed back to the cosmetic section. Apparantly she decided she needed to add some color to her face as well so she opted for some bright fuscia colored lip stick. Well it did match her outfit if you squinted and closed one eye! Since it's not a big store i was able to get what i needed while i followed Mrs. Lavendar around. I really wanted to see what she would do next! Obviously it was snack time for she headed for the chip aisle and grabbed herself a bag of funjuns. She promptly popped it open and began to munch, then she selected some can cheese and used this to garnish her funjuns. Okay at this point i will admit i started looking for the hidden cameras. This had to be a joke. Or one of those practical joke type shows... candid camera maybe? Is that show still on?? Well i saw no cameras so i continued to follow.

She spent considerable time in the toy aisle playing one of those hand held electronic games. I noticed that they still make twister! She was still eating her cheese and funjuns and gulping down her soda. I had to give her kudos, the Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper was pretty darn good. But i was not the least bit interested in trying the cheese and funjuns!

Just to make sure she didn't realize i was following i broke away from her while she played her game and headed for the card aisle. I needed a couple cards anyway. I get hooked on greeting cards so i was probably there for quite some time chuckling as i read the humorous cards. I finally selected a couple and headed off to find out what Mrs. Lavendar was up to by now. I found her in the candy aisle, the funjuns were gone along with the cheese wrappers and all! The soda was nearly half gone and she was going for something sweet. She opened a box of chocolate chip cookies, grabbed a couple for the road and put the package back, carefully placing a full package in front of it. She ate the cookies as she perused the garden aisle. She seemed to be very interested in garden hoses, but she opted not to get one at this time. In the meantime i found sugar free jelly beans! SCORE!

Well my shopping was done but i was real interested to see if Mrs. Lavendar would actually buy something or not. She headed for the femine hygiene aisle and i was really worried i would see something i honestly did not want to see in the middle of my local neighborhood Sav Ons! To my relief she selected a box of tampons and put them in her basket to keep the half empty bottle of soda company. From here on out she just mosied up and down a few more aisles drinking her soda. Soon it was gone and she discarded the bottle on a nearby shelf, again making sure it was obscured by a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese. Back to the refrigerators, she selected a diet mountain dew and took a good healthy gulp then put the bottle back and headed for the check outs.

i got in line behind her and selected the enquirer to read while i waited for her to check out. Did you know that Brittany Spears is pregnant again and has kicked out her husband? Nah me either! Well Mrs. Lavendar had quite the shopping experience and managed to get a lot for her 7.95$ purchase of a box of tampons. She even had a coupon. I was impressed!

I merely chuckled to myself as i put the enquirer back and put my purchases up on the check out belt. I wondered if there were cameras in the store, if they noticed Mrs. Lavendar's activities. I wondered if i should say something, after all she didn't actually stuff anything in her purse. I debated this while i waited for my card to be approved. I decided to say nothing as i gathered my bags and headed for the exit.

Just as i was walking through the door i nearly ran into Mrs. Lavendar as she was being escorted back into the store by a security guard. I guess i wasn't the only one who was monitoring Mrs. Lavendar's activities!

I however very much enjoyed the amusing shopping techniques of Mrs. Lavendar and found a new soda i liked!

What is the deal with people and shopping carts in parking lots? One of my biggest pet peeves is people who can't take the few seconds time to return a shopping cart to the cart round up area! I have had headlights busted out on my car because someone just gave a cart a shove rather than returning it to where it belongs. I've had countless nicks and small dents put in my car from shopping cart abuse. One of my close friends had a shopping cart hit her car so hard it made a big dent and made it difficult to open and close her door! And nothing is more irritating than driving around a full parking lot looking for a place to park and finally finding a spot only to discover there are two or three shopping carts sitting in the middle of the spot! I really don't understand the reason for this other than pure laziness! I have literally watched people just give their empty cart a shove then jump in their car and ride off. I've also seen people, countless times, park their empty cart in between two cars and leave it there and the cart round up is literally one car over! Come on people... you can't possibly be that lazy!

Last night after work i went to the grocery store. When i drove up i found a great parking space and pulled in to discover two shopping carts on either side of this space. I had to get out of my car take both the carts to the round up then pull into my spot. Annoying as all get out when that happens. I shook my head as i discovered not one, not two, but three grocery carts sitting only about 5 feet from the cart round up! I proceeded to do my little bit of grocery shopping. That little bit cost me over a hundred bucks! But thats another issue for another time! So i finish my shopping, i go through the check out and i'm off to load up my car. There is a woman ahead of me with a shopping cart heaping full of groceries. I'm immediately thinking she must've spent a bundle! Anyways turns out she is parked right next to me in the parking lot so i literally follow her out to her SUV which is parked so close to my car that i'm just not sure i can squeeze in there to get into my car! Again, another issue for another time!

I take my time putting my groceries in my car because i want her to pull out first so i don't have to try and squeeze my ample body between my car and hers and try and get in without getting all dirty or banging my door into her car. She is still unloading when i finish. So i slowly meander over to the cart round up, which is literally directly behind where we are parked, then slowly meander back. She is now finished. She slams the back door of her SUV then parks her cart right behind the car parked on the other side of her. I mean literally on this cars back bumper and proceeds to head to the driver's side door of her car. I can not believe that! Now i could just walk away, i could just push the cart back to the round up myself, or i could say something. What do you think i chose?

Just as she is opening her door i say, "excuse me." She turns to look at me, not saying a word, just giving me this impatient look as if to say... "well spit it out!" I'm standing by her abandoned cart and have just noticed that she is in a mercedes SUV! Hmm, expensive car! So i say pleasantly enough, "Are you planning on leaving your shopping cart here?"

She says, "Yes.

" I say, "That is very rude of you.

" She looks at me shocked as if to say, how dare you? But instead says. "Why is that rude?"

I have to chuckle, "Because you parked this cart right behind this person's car. You don't see how that is rude?"

"no." she replies rather impatiently. "they will see it before they back out."

"Yes i know," I reply. "But they will have to take the time to return this cart before they can load up their groceries then return their own cart. What if they are in the big hurry you are in. That is really rude."

She lets out a tremendous sigh and says, "Well if you are so concerned about it, why don't you return it."

I smiled sweetly, "I thought of that, but i was curious as to just how rude you truly were. I mean considering the fact that you parked as close to the driver's side of my car as you could without hitting it, therefore making it impossible for me to get in my car without you moving first, gave me some hint as to your rudeness but this cart situation tells me you are not only very rude but also extremely lazy."

Again i get that shocked, how dare you look. "i am not lazy."

"Well what would you call it when the cart round up is less than 10 feet from here?"

"I am in a hurry."

"i can see that, but you could've returned that cart in less than a minute. i don't think that would delay you too long. However if i were to push this cart behind your car and leave it there then you would be forced to get out and return it or push it to the side."

Again i get a major sigh, "I need to go, if you want to return it then return it."

I'm now looking at her car and shaking my head, "Would be such a shame if a stray cart accidently got pushed into your car and broke a taillight. I bet they aren't cheap for this vehicle."

"Don't you dare push that cart into my car."

"Oh i'm not saying i'd do that. Nah, i wouldn't do that. I've had that happen to me in a parking lot like this and i wasn't none to happy about it. But someone could come along and bump this cart or a car could go by and set it moving."

"That won't happen."

I shrug, "it could, especially if i move it behind your car!"

"Fine." She slams her driver's side door shut, marches by me, retrieves the cart and pushes it over to the cart round up then returns, gives me a dirty look and brushes by me to get into her SUV.

I smiled, "See that wasn't so difficult! and you saved someone from getting irritated and having to do this themselves before getting to their car."

"You are a bitch." She mutters out her window at me

. I just gave her a big cheesy metal mouth smile (i have braces) and replied. "Yes, but i am a considerate bitch!"

She then proceeded to screach out of the parking lot and nearly hit a car pulling into the parking lot. He gave her the one finger salute as he went past her. I just had to chuckle. I also noticed i brushed past her on the road and got to the stop light before her! Even in a big hurry she was still behind.

I know, i know i could've just returned the cart and said nothing, which is what i would generally do. I've done that before, but for some reason this time i just needed to vent a little. I needed her to feel my irritation with snobby, inconsiderate, lazy people such as herself. It also may have had something to do with the fact that i was in no hurry and was looking to amuse myself! Regardless i hope she returns her cart after that one... but i sincerely doubt she will. I do bet she had a good story to tell her husband when she got home though!

Return your shopping carts to the cart round up people, it's good karma! And who couldn't use good karma?

Stuck in a rut... or just comfortable? There was a time in my life when i had to go out nearly every night of the week! To the clubs to the bars to a concert... anywhere, just had to be out and about! In fact if i was home on a friday or saturday night i was either really really really broke or not feeling well.

This started back when i was a teenager. I was never ever home on the weekend nights. When i was to young to drive we had to go to the skating rink every friday and saturday night. The parents would drop us off and we'd be there till curfew time. Or we went to the movies and hung out downtown with our friends. When i got my driver's license at 16...whoosh i was always on the go! We would go cruising or to the drive in movies or go drag racing (shhhh don't tell my parents! lol) or ditch hopping. We could always find something to do on a friday and saturday night. Even sunday nights were reserved, that was a big cruising night! When i was a teen i was never caught home on a weekend night unless i was grounded or sick!

Then on into college. Well we never had much money but we could still find cheap things to do on the weekends, if anything we all hung out and partied! When i moved to LA we would go to the rock clubs practically every night of the week! Of course that was back in the days when i could work full time, go to school full time and party every night and survive on 3 hours of sleep! Ahhh the good ole days! haha Sometimes if we were bored we would just hop in the car at night and go for a drive. Drive up the curves of mulhulland drive to the point where you can look out over the lights of the city. Or go up to Griffith park and sit up on top of the observatory in the summer, it was awesome up there at night. Or we'd go to the beach at night and sit there and talk and watch the dark waves and sometimes sing theme songs to old sitcoms! Or we'd drive up to Hollywood and roam around the streets up there people watching and checking out the cheesy hollywood souvenirs!

These days i don't go out as much. Not nearly as much as i used to! I will quite often say i don't have the money to do things anymore but i make a lot more money than i used to! And i know i had way less money back in those days. But part of that is the fact that now i like to reserve what little money i do have for bigger journeys and trips. Like trips to Las Vegas. I would love to take a "real" vacation soon. Plus gas never used to cost as much as it does right now, i don't know that i can afford to drive around for hours at night just for fun anymore. And a lot of times when we used to go to the clubs we never paid to get in, we were almost always on some band's guest list. And once inside the drinks were usually bought for us. I also think that back then we didn't dwell on the money thing so much. We just didn't even think about it. We'd just go somewhere even if we didn't have any money in our pockets, we'd go and somehow we'd manage! Now i think about it too much... I'm going to vegas, i need X amount of money for food, X amount of money to gamble with, X amount of money for hotels etc. etc. I can remember a couple times going to vegas with way less than 100 bucks in my pockets and still having a good time! We didn't gamble but we still managed to have fun. Or if i go to a concert these days... i need money for parking, money for food, money for drinks. I recall so many times going to a concert with only a buck or two in my pocket and not worried about it a bit!

Now there are times when i'm just as content to stay home and curl up on the couch and watch a movie on the DVD player in comparison to going out! Sometimes i prefer that. I got to thinking about that and i wondered why that was. I still love to go out and a lot of times i have it in my head that it's friday night and i'm going to go out, but then friday night rolls around and i go home and put on my comfy clothes and settle down to watch a movie! So am i stuck in a rut or just comfortable??

Well i examined this all, i tend to over analyze everything! First of all i'm older now and unfortunately my body needs more rest now than it did when i was younger. So after a full day of work i'm tired and just want to relax. Second i'm just not so into the club scene anymore. The music has changed and the prices to get in are astronomical now! We used to go to the Whiskey every monday night for monday night jams and it was free to get in! That is unheard of now! And yes my salary has gone up, but so have my debts and my income hasn't gone up nearly as much as the price of everything else has! Another thing that holds me back from going out on friday nights is the traffic around here. I fight traffic every day to and from work. Granted i don't have to drive very far these days but it's still a lot of traffic. Here's some perspective of that... i live 5 miles from work, it takes me close to a half hour to drive that 5 miles! So since i deal with that every day, when i finally get home on a friday night (traffic is always worse on a friday night) i want to just stay put. I don't want to head out into that traffic again! Plus any restaurant you go to is going to be at least a 45 minute to an hour wait to be seated. You start to think of all the hastle and time involved and ultimately decide ordering a pizza to be delivered is a better idea! I live in a city where anything is possible. Any kind of club is available, any kind of show is available, any kind of restaurant is available... nearly any kind of entertainment is at my disposal. But the hastle to get to these events or clubs or shows and to go out for dinner at the same time can be daunting, especially with the traffic! This contributes to my desire to move out of state real soon. I love LA but the traffic has gotten just way too crazy lately.

Saturdays are better because i usually sleep in and sometimes we are out and about for the day. But even then i still find myself home much earlier than i would have ever gone home in my younger days! I would rather spend the day hiking around outside or driving up to the mountains or going to the beach boardwalk then having a nice dinner and get home at a somewhat decent time (round midnight or so) than go out to a bar and hang out till 2 or 3 in the morning drinking! Am i getting old??? YIKES!!

The answer is... yeah, actually i am getting old. Well i prefer to say older rather than old. I'm more comfortable staying home at times and then going out on occassion! I started partying when i was like 14 years old... i'm now nearly 40. I think i had my fill of drunken party days! It just doesn't interest me anymore. Plus i can't help but be more practical and have more common sense now. When you go out and get drunk every weekend when you are in your early 20's it's just having fun and sowing your wild oats. When you do that same thing when you are nearly 40, it's just plain pathetic!

I would love to go out to the clubs more often than i have been, but i doubt i'll be going every night of the week or every weekend for that matter. Once in awhile would be fun though. Maybe go to a few of the english pubs around here and shoot some pool, i always did enjoy that! So i'm vowing to try and get out more often on the weekends rather than staying home every night and watching the tube. I know i can be content doing that, but i also know i need to get out more!

This will be a busy weekend... we are off to check out apartments on saturday along with an open house at a new age store which should be fun. Then Sunday we are going to the pet expo, which is always lots of fun! So i'm very much looking forward to it. Now, the question is... what will i do tonight? Movies? Dinner? hmmm i just don't know! Maybe i'll stay home, make some margaritas and play my old record albums. I've been itching to do that lately! Whatever i do, i'm sure i'll enjoy it.... Stuck in a rut or just comfortable? I'm thinking just comfortable!

have a great weekend everyone!

Sometimes i just don't know how much to tip! I know the standard is 15%, at least i think it is! Others have told me a good rule of thumb is to double the tax. Also do you tip when you go to a restaurants where it's buffet style and all the waiter does is clear your dishes? And then there are some restaurants where one person seats you, another person brings you your drinks, another person takes your order and yet another person brings you your food! Do you tip them all? Is one tip supposed to cover them all? Or is one person getting the tip and the others get nothing? That hardly seems fair! How about fast food places that bring out your food, should they get tipped? If not, why not? Isn't it the same thing as a diner? I've been in little diner's where you order at the counter then you come back and pick up your own food and they have a tip jar sitting there. All they are doing is taking your order and passing you the tray with the food. Isn't that the same as a fast food place? What about flight attendants? Aren't they waiters and waitresses too? Do we need to tip them also? And if we do i think the pilots should be tipped as well, after all we do tip taxi drivers!

Now i hear you need to tip your hairstylist! I haven't had my hair cut professionally in many many years and now i'm thinking of going to have this done. I'm told you need to tip them! When did this come about? I don't recall tipping a hairstylist? Plus they usually have seperate people who wash your hair. Do you tip them too? And what's with the tipping... don't they get paid a salary? I guess it would make sense in the aspect that they are performing a sevice. But couldn't the same be said for any other job? In my job i scan and touch up pictures for customers... thats a service. Should i put out a tip jar?

Last night we went to a restaurant and our waiter was awful! After we were seated we waited for a very long time just to have a waiter look in our direction. Finally we flagged down what appeared to be a manager and he got us our drinks! Then what seemed like many moons later (we were quite hungry) the waiter showed up to take our order. He seemed genuinely surprised that we "already" had our drinks! Thankfully we knew what we wanted to order because if we needed another "minute" we probably would have never seen him again. Then when we wanted refills on drinks and chips and salsa he was nowhere to be found. Again the manager came to our rescue! Now once we got our food and were trying to eat and carry on a conversation the waiter kept appearing and asking if everything was ok. Where was he when we really needed something?

Now here's the thing... in my opinion when you have unsatisfactory service you don't leave a generous tip. You leave a lower tip. If the service is downright awful you leave a very small tip because if you leave nothing they just think you are cheap. If you leave a low tip then they know you remembered a tip but the service was bad. Of course they may still think you are cheap but sometimes the message gets across! I've always been taught that a tip is a gratuity. In other words a thank you for your service. Now if you get lousy service should you still thank them with high praise in the form of a big tip? I think not! I have a friend who always tips very very high. Too high in my opinion but thats her business. We have gone round and round about the service aspect though.

She has a point that most of the time the waiters and waitresses are paid very little salary and they make the majority of their money on tips. This is fine, but in my opinion they need to work for those tips then! A nice smile, a genuine interest in the people you are serving, making them feel comfortable and at home, keeping an eye on drinks and getting refills when needed. Don't stop by constantly asking if everything is ok, but do come by occassionally. Things like that, it's pretty simple really. I do understand sometimes they are just so busy that they don't have the time for this individual attention and i always take that into account when deciding on a tip. But i have had waiters that won't even look at you when taking your order, they are distracted by something else. Then there are those who act like we are inconveniencing them by asking them to do their job! Right there, that first impression gives me an idea of what i'm going to tip even before the service begins! Even for lousy service my friend always tips high. I honestly don't think thats right. If you want a big thank you then you need to do something to earn that thank you!

And it doesn't make a difference what type of resturant you are in either. I've been to fancy fancy resturants and i've been to fast food places. I've always been taught to work hard at what you do, always give 110% even if you hate what you are doing. You owe it to the job and the people you are working for and those you are serving to give it your all. If you hate it that much then you look for something else. So i may be tough on people having grown up with that work ethic, but i still believe in that. So even if you are working at Denny's i think you should still give it your all. I have literally had better service at Denny's than some fancier resturants! Now i know people can have a bad day here and there, we all do, but when you work with the public you have to put that aside!

I know being a waitress or a waiter is tough work. You are on your feet the whole time. You sometimes have real pain in the butt customers. You have to deal with food the whole time. The smell has got to get to you after awhile. It's physically and mentally demanding work. So yes, when i have a good waiter or waitress i am generous with the tip if i can be. I think someone who gives me a good dining experience while dealing with every other aspect of their job deserves a really good tip. But i don't think i'm wrong in saying that if i have someone with a lousy attitude or i get awful service they don't deserve a big tip.

As far as hair dressers getting tips, that still just blows my mind! I think i'll set up my own tip jar and put it on the corner of my desk. I could use the extra income!

There are times when i feel my age and i'm not that old! haha. When i'm sitting cross legged on the floor for longer than a half hour then try to stand up... yeah, i feel my age! When i only get 3 or 4 hours of sleep and can barely function the next day! I used to be able to survive on 3 hours of sleep, not anymore! When i realize i can't eat pizza at midnight without waking up a few hours later with a stomach ache! When i see a few more wrinkles around my eyes and mouth. When i see more and more grey hairs coming in. When i hear myself saying things like... "i don't understand kids these days!" hahaha ok, so i haven't yet said that but there have been times when i've said similar things. It's very scary when you swear you hear your father or mother's voice coming out of your mouth! YIKES!

Last night was one of those times when i felt old. I was at the gym. I go to curves fitness center and i really enjoy it. Curves is a circuit training type of gym. They have different machines that are set up in a circle with aerobic stations in between. They have people who are called curves motivators. These gals are usually trainer types who walk around inside the circle and keep you going and make sure you are doing the machines to your fullest advantage ect. Curves is an all female gym so you know chatting goes on while working out! I love this, makes the time go by quicker and makes me work harder. Anyhow the motivator that was working last night is this young energetic gal. She really is a sweetie and is very talkative! She was asking me where i worked and what i did. So i was telling her about it. She said she loved photography and wondered how i got into it. So i told her i started out working at a one hour photo in Westwood Village. She said, that must've been fun. And i told her it was...back when i started there Westwood Village was very different than it is now. It used to be a big shopping area for more afluent people. People who shopped in Beverly Hills also frequented Westwood Village, so we actually had quite a few stars that would come in there. She thought that was cool and was asking me who all i've met. So i had to think a bit and started naming a few. I said, Alan Alda was a regular there so i got to know him pretty good. She looked at me puzzled and said, "who is Alan Alda?" OMG i instantly felt old! I said, "have you ever seen the tv show MASH?" She thought for a moment, "i think i may have seen it... it's an army show right?" I had to laugh and realized just how much younger she was than me! The lady next to me said... "how old do you feel now?" and i started laughing, "quite old!" So i explained to this youngster who he was and she said, "Oh!"

Sometimes it's fun to be older though! i look back and realize all the wonderful things that have happened in my lifetime so far and i'm really glad i was around to experience them. I also have fun with my neice and nephew about it too! Quite a few years ago when they were probably about 4 and 5 (they are now 13 and 14!! Yes that makes me feel old too!) anyhow they were quite young and were asking me what i liked to do when i was a little kid. So i started telling them about some of the games we used to play and so forth. I mentioned that we didn't have VCRs when i was a kid. This amazed them so i began telling them other things we didn't have... computers, dvd players, cd players, video games etc. They couldn't fathom this. My neice, all wide eyed, asked... "What did you do?" It was so cute, they couldn't imagine there being anything to do without these things! So i told them about riding our bikes everywhere. How we'd pretend things. Roller skating and skate boarding. Playing softball and basketball and baseball at the park. Swimming all day long. Some of the games we "invented". How we used to put the record player out on the porch and turn our driveway into a skating rink! They were quite impressed that we were able to do things without computers, dvd players etc. Then i really threw them for a loop, i told them that when grandpa was their age they didn't even have a bathroom in the house. They had to go outside to go the bathroom in a little shack with a hole in the ground under it! Now they just knew i was pulling their legs and had to go confirm this with grandpa!

So much has advanced and come into being and happened in the 38 years i've been on this earth. I remember when Elvis died, i remember when John Lennon was killed. I remember the Berlin Wall coming down. I remember when russian communism ended! I remember when the first space shuttle went up. I remember when they were rockets instead of the shuttle. I remember record players and 8 track players. I remember party line phone lines and listening in on other peoples conversations and giggling! I remember the fun of walking the railroad tracks into town to get an ice cream at the Dairy Dandy in the summer. I remember when cable tv started. I remember when MTV started, i was watching when they showed the very first video! I remember when MTV and VH1 showed music videos all the time! i remember American Bandstand. I remember renting VCR's and they were huge with the pop up spot to insert the tapes! To buy one cost about a thousand dollars! I remember when microwaves became popular. I remember knowing all the neighbors in my neighborhood... well mostly i knew all the dogs!

Anyhow during those times when i'm feeling my age (like every morning when i have to stretch extra just to wake up!) i look back at all the things i've witnessed in my life, both in the world and in my own little life. I think back to all my fond memories and the marvels that i use today in everyday life that didn't exist when i was a kid. I realize, i wouldn't want to have missed any of it. I'm glad i'm the age i am now! I'm lucky enough to be able to say that i wouldn't go back and change anything! Sure i've had some tough times in my life and a lot of my childhood i would never ever want to relive again, but all those things add up to make who i am today. And i love who i am today! So it was all worth it.

So next time you feel old, or some youngster comes along and makes you feel old, remember all the things you were lucky enough to know in your life that these youngsters will never experience and be thankful you are where you are in life!

40 here i come and i really don't mind! My 20's were a blast, my 30's were even better in some ways than my 20's, i'm sure i'll have just as much fun if not more in my 40's!

Let the adventure begin!