learn one story

in honor of memorial day-

i heard someone suggest to the story of atleast one veteran today....getting the chance to meet a veteran today- i thought i would pass on a story of a veteran for all who want to hear one....

the veteran---my dad ken

before becoming my mom's husband and before becoming my step dad, he had a past that was steeped in the military....navy to be exact

he joined the service when he was very young
(17 or 18...some rumor of him lying about his age to get in...but not confirmed)

he retired from the Navy, a Master Chief, at 37 (20 years of service)

while in the navy he served in vietnam and though it was not something that he ever talked about i know that it deeply affected him....

for years he wore a moustache to hide some on the scars on his face
for years i remember pieces of metal coming to the surface of his skin
for years i remember going to firework shows with him, even though it made him uneasy
and the only time i ever saw my dad cry was on a visit to the vietnam war memorial in washington dc

the thing i never knew until his funeral service a few years ago...

he served 4 terms in vietnam
voluntarily returning each time
knowing that if he was there-none of his brothers (who were married with children) could be asked to serve

thankfully he returned from his service in the war and continued his career in the military that eventually brought him into my mom's life, and consequently mine....where i could learn what it was like to personal know someone who could sacrifice so much for the people and the country that he loved

curtains for two

this past weekend i was strolling through the window department at a local store and happened on a sight probably not that unusual in the state of florida but it gave me something to ponder on about as i went on shopping.....

two love bugs attached,as only love bugs can be attached, flying in and around the window department in what seemed to me a comical commentary on the others couple shopping for drapes....two people attached at the hip, trying to find the perfect style of drapes for their abode.....

sadly, i knew love bugs don't last long and hoped that there last hours weren't spent picking out a damask stripe over a silk jacquard pattern and they happily made there way out of the store and into the sunshine to enjoy having someone to pick out drapes with.....

corporate world inductee

it all started a week or so ago...when in the search to make a little bit of cash, this "starving artist" decided to use her computer knowledge and the fact that she has two diplomas from two different universities to join the corporate world as a temp.....

and after this first week there is much to report-names and locations will be reserved as what could only make a starving artist more poor is a lawsuit....

however in the corporate world i have noticed.....

people live for the dress down fridays and my god, if "they" tell you, you can wear jeans on friday, you better believe that everyone will be wearing jeans on friday (except me, cause i did not know there was a dress down day policy....so i missed my chance to sport my denim)

people can and do sit and talk for what seems like hours about what they watched on tv last night....this week has been particularly exciting, as lost, american idol and dances with stars and the bachelor have all had season finales of some sort.....makes me wonder what "they" will talk about next week....although i am sure that there will be whole new crop of reality shows to talk about and ensure that a better part of a morning is wasted NOT working

no one sits outside for lunch....perfectly good, empty picnic tables....what is the use of living and working in florida if you can't at least enjoy lunch outside

cubicles are the reason that IM was invented...so you can talk about fellow employees with other employees when you are all within ear shot

badges are the equivalent of making everyone a version of the star bellied sneeches....all the temps have one color- and everyone else has something else

they hire temps for jobs that would otherwise make the "regular" employees go postal...there is relief in knowing that i will be done with this in a week or two and that my daily life will not always consist of numbers, numbers and more numbers

so at the end of week 1....
i know that i made the right choice in following my plans to work in the arts
i know that this is just a temp job that will help me save some money
i know that i now understand a little more about what goes on in those glass buildings

and

i know that next friday i am wearing jeans..................

cool water bliss

why is it that one always forgets how great it is to get into a swimming pool for the first time of the summer season....

i swear that every year it is one of those great moments when you put your first toe in, realizing that it might actually be too cold, but you are going for it anyway- and before you know it you are submerged to your ears, floating weightless and quiet in cool water bliss

you can almost forget the world around you as you stare blankly at the silhouetted tree tops against the blue sky, inhale the mixed smell of pool chlorine and jasmine from the backyard vines and hear nothing but the underwater gurgle of the pool pump.

all rather poetic for a simple summer pleasure......

christmas clearance

so i know that it is no where near christmas time and it makes no chronological sense for me to write about this now...but the story of my first family christmas tree popped into my head today while i was marking clearance price at work

the first family christmas tree.....

not sure the year or the date that this actually happened, i am guessing fairly early in my parent's marriage from what i am told and i am pretty sure that i was not even born yet(so early 1970s)- but that is of little consequence to the story....

my parent's were having their first christmas together-
being christmas, they thought that it might be a time to go buy their first family tree
(fake not real)
so they ventured out to the local department stores to see what they could find...
sadly they found that the price of a tree was more than they ever thought it would be...
thinking if they spend that much money on a tree there will be nothing to put under it...
as they looked and looked for something they could afford a little cosmic intervention happened (or atleast that is what i like to think)....
there on the k mart floor was a lonely clearance sticker ...
a sticker from some random item...
a unexpected blue light special....
undoubtly there to help my dad save the day and give my mom their first christmas tree that
believe it or not was still part of our family christmas until about 10 years ago...