Who could have predicted we would be living in an EMOGI-NIZED world? Granted, I do not often think about the evolution of language, actually I have never thought about it until today; but whatever. Anyway, hey, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! STOP!! Before you click out of your preconceived notion that this is nothing but a boring blog, rest assured I am not talking about sentence structure, grammar usage or even spelling. I am here, once again, to bring the obscure to the forefront.

Who among us has not uttered these words a time or two....or three? Dare I say, ALL of us at some point! On the positive side, most of the time these words are released as an outlet for venting, not really an intended action.

Photo attributed to FREEPIK

Celebrating one's birthday month seems to be a thing nowadays. That said, today is the first day of my birthday month. I've never been one for celebrating birthdays, and this year is no different. However, the thought of turning 64 years old did make me think, WOW! Yeah, I admit I stammered a little on that number too. How come I don't feel that old, mentally anyway. It seems like only yesterday I turned 21, so you will have to forgive me for being a bit bumfuzzled as to how this transition happened? They say that time waits for no one, but seriously, these years flew by so fast I missed my mid-life crises!    

What in the world is QWERTY? If you know, you know. If you don’t, you will. What can I say? I am fascinated by the obvious, inspired by the obscure, and intrigued by the mundane. For some reason, topics or subjects rarely given a second thought by others drive me to want to know more. I guess you could say I find the ordinary intriguing.    

I love the sound of a steady, set-in-for-the day rainfall. For me, staring at the crystal droplets splash in perfect rhythm against the sidewalk is both mesmerizing and soothing. Continuing to gaze out the open living room window, I watch as the downpour transforms bubbling pools of water into narrow, rippling streams gracefully racing downhill. I turn my attention to the window sheers flowing with the wind, seemingly dancing with the cool breeze that drifts through the screen. And, just like that, my worries of the day are removed.  

Father's Day just isn't Father's Day without Dad Jokes. I asked a group of friends to share their favorite Dad Jokes and here they are. Please feel free to send me you own Dad Jokes and I'll plug them into this post. 

What a difference a short span of time can make! Eight years ago, I had to say good-bye to the business I loved. It was more than difficult, it was devasting. My reasons for entering the entrepreneurial world were to have the ability to use my writing and speaking skills to encourage and motivate others to step out of the proverbial box and pursue their dreams, and yes, to make a living. When my dream didn't pan out the way I had hoped, I was angry, very angry. At the time, I had not even noticed that my creativity had suffered and virtually disappeared in the haze of operating a business. I was left with only two very real choices, allow depression, and the would’ve, should’ve, could’ve scenario to devour me, or pick myself up, dust myself off (no this is not a song intro) and reinvent myself. I chose the latter. I came to terms with reality, accepted a "day gig" and started a blog. As I saw it, my blog was a form of therapy and definitely more affordable than an escape adventure. My blog was a safe space where I could express my views and thoughts without worrying about being “politically correct” or frankly, giving a rat’s patootie about whether anyone read it or not. My first blog post titled, NEW LIFE, NEW DO, NEW ME, ​set the stage.​ 

I used to think passion and purpose were pretty much the same thing. If you were passionate about something, then that was your purpose. For many people, including myself, I bought into the premise that my purpose and passion should equate to my work life. While some people are fortunate enough to have a vocation that fulfills both passion, purpose and paycheck, most are not. The problem lies in thinking its' all or nothing. Passion, purpose and paycheck are ideals that can co-exist as separate entities.      

Although my kids are grown, I still remember how hard it was to juggle the responsibilities of being a mom, working a full-time job, and trying to keep a household running smoothly. For those of you who are currently traveling this path, let me encourage and assure you that you WILL survive.

Hubs and I dreamed of the day we could retire and travel all of the time. Although I still have a little bit to go before retirement, I am rethinking the travel dream. A few years back, I was beyond excited to be traveling to Virginia to visit my son and daughter-in-love! I could not wait to see my kiddos, tour the area and check out neighboring Washington D.C. Admittedly, I was a tad bit anxious about traveling the eleven plus hour road trip with Hubs, but little did I know that I was about to discover a very hard truth; we do not make good traveling companions. 

Every so often, we like to take day trips. Sometimes our trips are spontaneous, but most of the time they’re planned. Hubs always drives (I think it is either a macho thing or simply my driving that terrifies him); nevertheless, he always drives. When I’m not stomping on the imaginary passenger side brake, insisting that he “get in the lane he needs to be in before the last minute” or echoing “there’s a car in your blind spot” commentary, I gaze out the window and take in the scenery.