Facing 40

Many of the life lessons I have learned came from coffee mugs in my parents' kitchen cupboard. Each one had a saying to live by.  When we used to set the table, we would often read the mugs, put the appropriate one with the appropriate saying by the seat of the appropriate family member. 

One of the mugs in the cupboard said "You Have to Kiss A Lot of Frogs To Find Your Prince Charming."  I guess the mug was right since it took me 23 years to find the perfect guy for me.  Where was the mug that was going to let me know that it would take 40 years to find the right hair dresser? 

Another mug read - "Growing Old is Mandatory. Growing Up is Optional."  This is so true since I feel like a kid inside myself with two kids of my own in tow. 

I remember many mugs that spoke to me about reaching for my goals and never giving up. There have been so many times in my life where these mugs came in handy. Too numerous to count.  Just this year, I overcame my fear of public speaking after years of trying.  I'm still not great at it but I feel much better about it and I seek out opportunities so that I can only get better.

My new goal is to respect my love for writing and find more time to do so.

My family, friends and experiences in life - along with these coffee mugs - are all big contributors to who I am today. As I soon enter into a new decade of my life, I realize that I'm really fine with it.  40 is fabulous!
But since I can't find that on a mug anywhere (and I've looked), I'll quote a mug already in my own kitchen - "It's Not the Age. It's the (Positive) Attitude!" 

Words to live by!
 

Comics! Wenches! Mummers!

What am I doing on New Years Day? The same thing I do every New Year's Day.  I watch the Mummer's Parade. Besides the Phillies, nothing represents Philly pride to me more than the Mummers.

(If you don't know what a Mummer is, I urge you to Google it.  You will never see anything like this in any part of the country or the world.  The costumes. The music. The comraderie. The merriment. It is all part of the Mummers tradition. And I love it.)

When I was a kid, it was a family tradition to watch the parade in our PJs and keep track of our favorites.  When we saw the theme of the band, we would try to guess the songs that they were going to play.  Then, we play "Name that Tune" and guess what song they are playing on the banjos.  It isn't easy to recognize a song on the banjo but we did our best.

The most important part of watching the Mummer's parade was keeping our Parade Chart updated. Let me explain.  Each string band has a name and each year they base their performance on a theme.  On January 2nd, the awards are announced and they only give the name of the string band.  Now, we don't know the Quaker City string band from the Polish American string band, but we remember the theme! Basically, if we don't write down the theme - we won't know who won. So the list must be kept. We pick our favorites and see if the judges agree. It is just part of the tradition.

I secretly always wanted to be a Mummer - to get dressed up and march down Broad Street with my umbrella in hand is something that would bring me great joy. But, being a Mummer is serious business. You have to join a club, practice and attend rehearsals for 6 months prior to the parade, learn an instrument (unfortunately, I can't roll my piano down Broad Street) and learn the dance routines. 

I think this will always be a pipe dream, but I can still show my support by watching every year in my pajamas with my chart in hand.
Happy New Year to all!

A New Resolution for 2011: Unsubscribe!

I subscribe to way too many email lists.  It is time to start weeding them out and clean up my email inbox once and for all. 

First, I went to Fandango. I recently purchased tickets to see Megamind.  It was very convenient - right down to printing the tickets out instead of standing in line on Christmas Day. But, after I saw the movie, I received 3 emails - one to confirm the tickets, one to see if I liked the movie (why do they care?) and one to offer me other tickets to buy. No thanks. Unsubscribe!

It took me a few extra minutes to figure out how to unsubscribe from Classmates.com.  I don't need this website now that there is Facebook.  Apparently, unsubscribing is not good enough. You must close your entire account.  Of course, this option is not easy to find on the website. When I found it, I acutally yelled out, "A-HA, I found you!"  I was very pleased. Unsubscribe!

Then, I went to my work email account where I was recently put on a list serve called Atomic Survival.  This very scary email tells me all about the people who are out to destroy the world and what I can do to save myself and my loved ones.  How I got on this email list - I do not know.  Unsubscribe!

Now, if I could only find a way to unsubscribe from the emails that I get which are all in Hebrew.  Apparently, they don't understand English and refuse to release me from their strong cyber-grip.

Finally, there are the store websites that deliver sales information, coupons, free shipping and more.  These are the toughest ones for me to unsubscribe from.  For G-d sake, they provide me with coupons!!!  Why would I unsubscribe from savings?

I'll tell you why - because these companies email me once or twice a day and cause a blockage in my inbox that only a cyber-plumber could fix. Unsubscribe! (Except for maybe Barnes & Noble and Borders - I really use those).

So, here is New Year's Resolution #1 : When I give my email address to a website, I will look for the fine print and little check box that is always checked automatically for me to receive emails from now until forever.

Stay tuned for more resolutions and Happy New Year!   

Buried Treasures

While in the process of my home makeover, I have taken a lot of time to go through my closets, playroom, attic and shed. I've uncovered many treasures to keep and others to part with. Here is a brief list:


Baby furniture - Goodbye to strollers, booster seats and exersaucers. You did us good, but our kids are too big to play with you now.

Baby clothes - I parted with many clothes, but I had to keep a small sampling of how stylish my kids were as toddlers.

Maternity clothes - I had some great maternity clothes but now they too have been donated to someone who needs them. But, not before I went through each one and remembered my favorites.

Pictures from my bachlorette party - I couldn't throw them away but I hope my kids don't find them anytime soon.

My corsage from my senior prom as well as pictures of me at other formal dances. My daughter decided she liked my Junior prom dress the best.

Old diaries that I will probably let my kids read some day. They are living proof that I was once their age a long time ago.

Have to run, the next closet and piles of bags and boxes are calling my name. Feels good to purge lots of stuff and still take a walk down memory lane.