Journey of the Unwanted Necklace

This necklace was purchased by someone who decided that they hated it, but didn't want to bother returning it. It was then handed down to Cheryl's mom who also did not care for it. She handed it down to Cheryl who also agreed that it was ugly. Cheryl brought it to work to ask my opinion and I told her that they were all right, the necklace is just ugly. No doubt about it. But we decided to have some creative fun with it. We will share custody of the CHERRY BOMB necklace for this equally ugly school year. During our wearing period, we will take a picture in which the necklace appears, somehow showing what is going on in our life.

Thursday, October 15.

On day 1 of the unwanted necklace wearing, I break a bead before even leaving the house. 2 fire drills and 2 classes into the day, I notice the bead is broken and half missing. So symbolic of the start of this school year. An ugly first impression, when upon trying to go with it anyway, it breaks down and proves to be unbalanced and flawed . I laugh to myself and continue with my unbalanced day. I look all around my classroom for the missing bead piece and never find it. I decide that it probably represents that the school year will remain broken and unbalanced in addition to ugly. Several hours later, at home, my daughter brings me the bead piece and asks if it is mine. She saw it under the coffee table and thought that it was an olive. I guess I will fix it and maybe hold onto hope that someone will find the olive at school, too.

Journey of the Unwanted Necklace

This necklace was purchased by someone who decided that they hated it, but didn't want to bother returning it. It was then handed down to Cheryl's mom who also did not care for it. She handed it down to Cheryl who also agreed that it was ugly. Cheryl brought it to work to ask my opinion and I told her that they were all right, the necklace is just ugly. No doubt about it. But we decided to have some creative fun with it. We will share custody of the CHERRY BOMB necklace for this equally ugly school year. During our wearing period, we will take a picture in which the necklace appears, somehow showing what is going on in our life.

OH MY! Had the full intention to sit down and blog today about something positive, as life and school right now is so negative. Then as I pulled up the blog, the first image is my last foot pic, relaxing with Gwynn, with coconut drinks and coconut M&M's. It immediately broke my summer heart. Reminds me of that line from a John Mayer song...

"When autumn comes, it doesn't ask, it just walks in, where it left you last.

You never know, when it starts, until there's fog inside the glass around your summer heart."

But you know, I have to move on. Summer IS SO GONE. It was the minute we stepped in the door at McCuyler, but sadly, I think the climate there is going to be the way it is for awhile, before it, hopefully, gets better. We'll see.

My intention, as I said, was to put out something positive and totally unrelated, in any way, to school hell. My sister in law just started a blog this last week too, and I may be having a partially competitive blog reaction - ha! Love ya Katie!

Last night, was a great night. We came home from work, had an afternoon beverage, relaxed with the dog for a bit, then all headed out to dinner. Family time at its best, everyone is getting fed, and cleanup is up to someone else. We talked and laughed, then headed to the car wash. I had SORTA hit a skunk the night before so we paid for the more expensive wash to get the underside of the car HOSED THE HELL OFF, and little did I know how much fun that would be. First of all, an automatic car wash has always been something I have enjoyed. The feeling of "caveness" when all the soap is sprayed on, the spinning brushes and floppy rag things are even better, and although this wash didn't have those, it did have alarmingly loud and strong pressure sprays. Let's just say I was enjoying it myself and loving watching the kids enjoy it too. We kept laughing that it'd be a real trip to bring Lucy, said dog, along to see HER react to it. THEN the MOMENT HAPPENED! We, as I said, had paid for the pricier wash, and it had some kind of weather treatment spray step, and when that started up, a neon sign to the right, bright blue and flashy, started to blink, alerting us of our extra bonus of "Weather Guard!" ZZ Top was on the radio, neon was flashing and my family was in hysterics. It was better than any night out. It was much like dinner out...something necessary was getting done, AND we were having fun. What more could one ask for in a Friday night of a three day weekend?

As we drove away, still laughing, into the RAIN with our freshly washed car, I was gushing about how much fun it had been, and Tim said, "Yeah, a whole lot more exciting than the library, eh?" as that is how, often, Fridays of my youth were spent. I had to agree, in a way, but it all points to the simple things. Pleasure can be found anywhere, everywhere, and it is ours to claim...actually reminds me of another Johnny M. quote, which I love...

"It's about being in control of the pleasure in your life."

So whatever your pleasure, get out there and grab a hold of it...library, car wash, whatever...LIVE a LIFE!

-Cheryl