Sophie's Story

  This is a story about an usual gift I received......      The church Christmas program was last Sunday. C and I had been asked to participate. We decided that we were going to play a guitar and harp arrangement of "Angels We have Heard on High." I'd been practicing the song as much as I could for about a month. The arrangement I was using was a little too advanced for me so while I practiced it I simplified it.   C and I started practicing together a couple of weeks before the program. If you think that this is really not enough time, you're right. The challenge is that C and I work opposite schedules and in addition both of us had to work extra hours this month. Fortunately, we've played together before. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It didn't take long for us to come up with a good arrangement.    The morning of the program, we loaded our instruments into the car and went to church early. It was cold and the instruments literally needed to warm

   I'm getting a little tired of people asking me if I'm ready for Christmas. I'm not ready. I'm not ready because I refuse to start preparing until after Thanksgiving. Since I work full time plus, this leaves little time for preparation.    I've given up on the idea of having things wrapped and ready. I've given up putting a lot of decorations up. I've even for the most part given up shopping. Most of the people in my life only want money anyway.   The few presents I have bought are not wrapped yet (although I do have gift bags for them.) I haven't had time to send a single Christmas card. C and I have practiced our piece for tomorrow's Christmas program roughly one hour (spread over one week.)   I'm clearly not ready. I'm not even close to ready. The way things are looking, there's no way that I'll be ready in time for Christmas.   What am I going do? Well, they always say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Now,

   C took a day off work so we could spend some time together. During December we try to go to downtown Minneapolis to walk around. A department store has a yearly seasonal display on one of the upper floors. C likes to look at it.    It was a hectic morning. We had to buy a Christmas tree and get other errands done. We left for the city a little later than we wanted to. I was worried about traffic and about parking. It was Christmas and people were going to shop. I was hoping that places would not be too busy.    C is great to ride with as he seldom gets lost.He also knows a lot of different routes to get to places. It didn't take us too long before we were downtown. We found a good parking ramp close to everyplace we wanted to go.    We wandered through the skyways until we got to the department store. We wound around the different departments,taking mental notes of things we may want to look at later. We walked through the display.     Neither of us were hungry yet, so we

   Why does it seem at times that the person you most want to be around isn't? You drive down the highway. Someone passes you at about 100 miles per hour, yet there is no one around to cite them for speeding. You have what seems to be a dozen salespeople asking if you need help when you are just looking, but no one around when you need to get into a dressing room. When there's children running heedlessly, bereft of adult supervision.    I have been thinking of ways that I can get the incessant Christmas music,which is driving me and several of my coworkers nuts, turned off. Most of the ways included some plan for destroying the Muzak receiver with my trusty Louisville Slugger. The problem is that wondering the store with a baseball bat in winter is a bit conspicuous.    Then it hit me. I need someone, preferably several someones,to step up and complain. I need a group of well meaning, but easily offended people to make comments on how they find the Muzak offerings offensiv

   One of the ways I deal with the barrage of Christmas music I'm forced to listen to every day while I'm at work is to focus on the lyrics. Doing this prevents the tune from being stuck in my head, which would drive me crazy in a hurry. It's not hard to do, there are only so many songs and they repeat quite often. Some of the lyrics don't make sense to me. Today I'd like to share with you some of the lyrics that don't make sense. Maybe you can help me figure them out.   The first one is "It's a Marshmallow World". The lyric writer must have been thinking about lunch or maybe dessert with all the food references. "When the snow comes to cover the ground, It's a time for play, it's a whipped cream day, I wait for it all year round." Obviously, whoever wrote this does not live where there is actually snow. Unless you are a child, there is no playing when snow comes around. It's hard work shovelling,plowing or driving through t

   It's December, when Muzak turns completely to Christmas music for the month.People who work in retail are forced to listen to this for the entire shift. In order to keep from going crazy, you have to resort to several techniques. One of them is to tune the songs out. That's a good one, especially when the volume is low. Another one that I like to use is to analyze the lyrics.    I was listening to the song 'Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer' for the fourteenth time. A thought came into my head. Rudolph was a victim of bullying. I thought about how the story would go if it were written today. I'd like to present to you a version of the story of Rudolph if it happened today.   Rudolph was born with a rare condition called Altered Nasal Pigmentation. After several months of studies and visits to veterinarians who specialize in these types of conditions it was determined that there was nothing that could be done about it. Rudolph's nose would remain shiny.  

   I get comments on columns I have written and I read every one of them. I got one recently that made me think. It was a comment about the column I wrote about retail stores opening on Thanksgiving Day. The reader liked the column but called it a lost cause. Money talks.   Obviously,the reader is right. The purpose of a retail business is to sell goods at a profit. It is unreasonable to expect a retailer to pass up a chance for sales.     The question is, why am I tilting at this windmill? Why did I see fit to criticize something that is going to go on and most likely grow? Why did I spend the time thinking and writing about something over which I have no control?   Then the light bulb came on. I had stumbled upon the magic word. Control. According to the American Heritage Dictionary it means,"To exercise authority or dominating influence over;direct; regulate. 2 To hold in restraint; check."   One of the things I have tried to do throughout my adult life is to act ac

     When you first join a Toastmaster's club, you get a Competent Communicator manual. It contains the first  ten speech projects. These projects all deal with parts of a speech, organization, movement, language, props and so forth. Once you have finished this manual, you are considered a "Competent Communicator".    Once you have the CC designation, you can go on to advanced manuals that deal with different types of speaking. There are technical presentations, speaking for TV or radio and many others.    Once I was awarded my CC, I picked out two manuals so I could get to the next level. One of them was about storytelling. I enjoyed it and finished all five projects in the manual. I wasn't sure what to do next. I didn't really feel like doing the entertaining speech manual. I looked at technical speeches, too much work. Nothing looked good to me.   I went back and reviewed some of the projects in the first manual. There was a long time where I just didn'

   Thanksgiving is coming, isn't it? I checked the calendar. Thanksgiving is still listed as a holiday in the United States. There is a sign in the pharmacy that says that the pharmacy will be closed on Thursday.   If it weren't for those things, I wouldn't know it was coming up. There is Christmas, excuse me holiday, music being advertised on cable TV and on the radio. I look in stores and I see Christmas trees and Christmas decorations. Stores are holding "Holiday Sales Events". Even the Internet is full of stories about "Black Friday."   I think Thanksgiving needs to be put on an endangered list. It used to be that people looked forward to it and celebrated it. You remember, don't you? There was turkey, stuffing (or dressing) and potatoes of some sort. There's always one dish that no one likes, but is made anyway. There is always one dish that everyone likes and is gone before the meal is over. Families would gather and spend time together

   Hi! This is Scamp. Colby and I had a really busy week this week. Sophie, our human, took some vacation time and was home. Colby and I were expecting a week of relaxing grooming sessions, window watching and using our exercise equipment. (They are NOT toys.)    That wasn't what happened. We thought she would sleep in, but every morning at 5:30 she would get up, put on her exercise clothes and go downstairs to that odd contraption that she calls an elliptical. That means,of course, that we also have to go downstairs to supervise. We always supervise all of her exercise sessions.   Monday,she took all her clothes off the shelves and put them in boxes. Then she went downstairs and got different clothes and put them on the shelves. Humans do really strange things sometimes. I checked out the new clothes before she put them on the shelves. Colby and I had to make sure that there was nothing hiding in them. Some of them were very soft. I hope she takes them down sometime. They woul

   I got some unexpected time off and am using it to take care of a few things. One of those things is my yearly eye exam. I hate going to the eye doctor. My biggest fear is going completely blind and it seems that every year I get closer and closer to that happening.   I've had some bad experiences with some of the tests that they have to do, especially to me because I'm so near sighted. Every year I'm supposed to have my eyes dilated. I really really dislike that. I have to find someone to drive me to and from. I also have to take an entire day off work as it takes eight hours or more before I can see again. (Even when they put those drops in to make it better.) I also don't like the nasty puff of air test for glaucoma.   Fortunately I found an eye doctor that takes a picture of my eye so I don't have to dilate and uses a much better way to measure eye pressure. I tell all health care professionals that I deal with that I am a pharmacist. I prefer that they ta

   As I expected,no one is happy about the outcome of the recent election. I can't remember when I've seen more rage, anger and malice over the reelection of a President.    To those of you who have been posting pictures of tombstones announcing the death of the United States, crying uncontrollably because your candidate did not win and telling everyone that that the United States is fallen and will never rise again I have one word for you.   Leave.      That's right. You heard me. Leave. Pack up your things and go. Go to Canada, go to Mexico. Go to South America, Asia, Australia, I don't care, just leave.    If things are that bad here, if you are so convinced that all hope is gone and that all opportunity is forfeited because Barack Obama got a second term, you should go someplace else.   Unless I missed something the election was conducted in a legal fashion. The President was re-elected by a majority of the popular vote. There were no recounts, the

   At 7 am, C and I drove to our polling place. I sighed in relief as I watched my ballot get sucked into the machine. I was grateful that campaign season is over.   I am tired of the attack ads. There are no other kind of political ads anymore. For the last two weeks, I've been listening to an automated radio station to try and avoid all the ads.   It bothers me that this is what we do these days. I'm embarrassed and ashamed. I think of all the children that look at this and wonder why adults tell them it's not OK to say bad things about other people when adults do it all the time.   I read in the online news the the two major campaigns have retained lawyers in the event that there will be recounts. Instead of having to go through the same mess that we went through a few years ago I have another solution.  I think that the person who got the most votes before any recounts are instituted should be the President. The person with the second most votes should be Vice Pre

   It is one of those weeks when I had several topics to choose from when it came to writing. I thought I would write about the upcoming election and how I wasn't sure the person gaining the most votes would be the winner in the race. The man who wins may get a really nice house and of lot of perks, but will have to deal a Congress who will make sure that nothing gets done. I was going to talk about how all the rumors,lies and fear mongering have completely destroyed the spirit of cooperation that is needed to really run this country.   Last night C and I watched a show about writer Erma Bombeck. I thought I might write about how I would have liked to have met her and maybe had lunch with her.    Then I remembered a speech that I heard last week.    Guy, a fellow Toastmaster, gave an icebreaker speech. The icebreaker is the first speech that a Toastmaster gives. It is meant to introduce yourself to the club and to asses what skills you have or need to improve. A Toastmaster ca

   I'm sure most of you have heard about Jennifer Livingston by now. For those who missed it, Jennifer Livingston is a television anchorwoman who received an email telling her that as an overweight person she should not consider herself a good example for young people in the area. The writer told her that she should be more responsible and promote a healthy lifestyle. Her response to this email has been the subject of news stories, blogs,tweets and Facebook postings.    The reason why this was given so much publicity is that it is widely considered to be bullying. I'm probably going to get into trouble for saying this,but I don't consider this email to be bullying. Unkind, inconsiderate,small minded and ill advised, but not bullying. The man was expressing an opinion that he had, nothing more.    This does not mean I agree with the writer of the email. What bothers me about it isn't that it's an example of bullying. It's the implication that someone who is o

   Colby and I were hanging out in the bedroom when we heard a car in the driveway. It was very late at night. It was probably the neighbors. Judy, who takes care of us when C and Sophie go on a trip, comes only in the mornings. It couldn't be her. Then we heard the sound of the garage door opener. Could it be? It had to be!   It is best to always be cautious. I jumped off the bed and quietly went into the hallway. Colby stood by ready to back me up. The car stopped in the garage. I could hear the car door open. I walked to the end of the hall and waited. Could it be?    The door opened and the lights came on in the kitchen. It was! It was! The humans were home! I ran into the kitchen to greet them. I started to purr loudly, I couldn't help it. I was so happy to see them. They picked me up and kissed me and petted me. I couldn't purr loud enough. I even meowed a little bit. They were home!    Colby came out to see what was going on. Since he is the guard cat he carefu

   A mix up in our reservations caused us to cut our vacation one day short. I was worried about it as I had to change the reservation three times or so. Fortunately we handled the situation without too much embarrassment. It was not really the way either of us wanted to end our vacation,but sometimes these things happen.   We had a couple of choices. We could either scoot home as quickly as possible in embarrassment or carry out our plans for the day and then head home. Since C and I try to make the best of every situation we find ourselves in, we opted to carry out our plans.   The plan for the day was to shop. There are a few things that I can only get in the area. We have several shops that we patronize because we like and want to support the owners. We had made a list the night before so we were all prepared. We figured that we knew what we wanted so we could shop quickly and still be on the road at a decent hour.   We loaded up the car,paid our bill and headed out. First sto

   Once again the weather people were wrong. They predicted rain every day this week. Today it was changed to sunny and about 61 degrees with clouds coming in later in the afternoon with possible rain.    C and I knew what we were going to do today. It was a day for golf, miniature golf, that is. There's nothing like getting out on the course on a nice fall day. Since this is the end of the season, the courses are empty. We don't have to worry about anyone playing ahead or behind us.   We set out after breakfast. We stopped off at Shopko so I could get a new pair of shades and something to keep my hair out of my eyes. Then off to Johnson Park. The course there is pretty easy and is a good place to warm up. We paid our fee (C got to use a senior discount.),selected our clubs and balls and went out onto the course.    I put my ball on the starting point and took a good swing. The ball hit the side of the enclosed area and came right back to me. This was not the way I wante

   My vacation started yesterday. I'm a bit of a workaholic,so I always feel a little guilty for taking time off. People depend on me, how can I just flit off and leave them? The problem with this attitude is that when you start to think like that, you really need to get away. In the past I did take a little vacation time, but only because I was going on a trip. If I took time off and stayed home, I felt guilty because my coworkers would have to pick up the slack.    I still feel a little guilty about being gone. I know that there is a relief person to work my shifts, but is that person taking care of my people? Maybe I should just cancel it for this year......   One nice thing about having C in my life this that he forces (in a good way) me to take a vacation. His job is so stressful that he has to take time off to preserve his sanity. Since we don't believe in married couples taking separate vacations, I have to go with him. Now I can justify taking time off to myself. I

   We were preparing to go to the Arboretum and I was digging through my closet looking for a suitable hat. C pulled one out of the pile and handed it to me. "Wear this one," he said.    I looked at the hat. I forgot I had it. It was bright blue and made out of ribbons that had been sewn together. (It sounds strange, but it does make a nice hat.) I tried it on. Perfect, brim was wide enough to keep the sun off my face. It was tight enough so the breeze wouldn't take it off. I went into the bathroom to make sure it was on right. As I looked into the mirror, something didn't look right. It was my face in the mirror, but it didn't look the same. I stared at myself for a few minutes trying to figure out what was different. Then I saw it    It was my eyes. They looked blue.    The person staring back at me in the mirror had blue eyes. I closed my eyes for a minute and shook my head. I had to be seeing things. I don't have blue eyes. I opened my eyes and looked

     The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been in the news off and on for the past few years. Due to a certain musical and a certain person that I don't wish to name, there has been some curiosity about this faith. There was profile of the LDS on television a few months ago. Members and former members have been speaking out about what they believe.    The LDS have several customs that I like a lot. The LDS is a mostly volunteer organization. There are no paid clergy and the leaders are also not employed by the Church.The grounds are cared for and the buildings are cleaned by the members of the wards (congregations) that use the buildings. When someone is chosen to do a job for the Church (also known as given a calling) the person is sustained by the membership. When a person is relieved of their duties (released) they are given a vote of thanks.   After the opening hymn is sung the man conducting the meeting reads any announcements. At that time he also reads th

   I spent some time with a couple of friends yesterday afternoon. We sat out on a deck enjoying the nice weather, good conversation and each other's company. We ranged over a lot of different topics. One of them was on being "normal". As usual I recited my favourite quote on the subject, "We do not know what is normal, we only know what is customary." We spent a few minutes on the topic and then moved on. The thought stayed in the back of my head. I pondered it as I drove home. (C isn't the only one who ponders.)   Normal "adj. 1 Conforming, adhering to, or constituting a usual or typical standard, pattern, level or type" (American Heritage Dictionary Second College Edition) In other words, customary.    When I was a teenager I did not consider myself "normal". I didn't do what the other kids my age did. I wasn't dating. I wasn't staying out late, unless I was working. I wasn't getting drunk. My closest friends were b

   The new computer we ordered arrived a little sooner we thought it would. We had not expected to get it this soon as we were having it custom built. I played around with it once we had set it up and noticed two things about it. It is much easier to use  and much faster than the old one. New technology is like that that. Faster and mostly easier.    Is it possible for things to be too fast or too easy? It is something I've been wondering about. Last week after Toastmasters, I had an interesting discussion with a few friends. I had mentioned that people will text or email the most hurtful things to another person. Things they would never say to the person's face or on the telephone. My theory is that text and email allows us to react before we have a chance to think things through. The first thought that goes through your mind is the one that gets sent out. Since you are doing this all electronically, you can also block out the consequences of what you have said. You don

   A week or so ago my faithful old desktop computer decided to give up for good. A trip to a computer repair shop was unable to find out what was wrong, so we had to leave it so they could do a more thorough look. I was not worried. We had C's laptop computer so I would be able to continue to write without any interuption. Right?    Wrong! C's laptop runs on a odd operatting system that is no longer supported. I didn't know what to do. I have a commitment to write and publish once a week. The only other choice I had was to do what I did when I first started writing. I would write on a word processing program and then mail it to those people who want to get it. It was all right, but there are a couple of people who can't access it when I do it that way.    I finally figured out a way to do it. I was suprised. I'm not that good at figuring out things when it comes to computers.    So far it seems to be working. I'll be really glad when the new replacement de

   I finally got around to transplanting the forget-me-nots into a larger pot. They were looking a little cramped in the small blue pot I put them in. I hoped that more space would make them happy.   The fact that I have them is something of an accident. Every year the church gives little gifts to all the women over 18 on Mother's Day. I feel very self conscious about accepting the gift. I'm not a mother, I'm a step mother and there is a big difference between the two. Mother's Day is a day to celebrate those women who have children either by birth or adoption. Stepmother's Day is for those of us who acquired our families through marriage. To me accepting the Mother's Day gift at church is disrespectful to those who are actually mothers.    This year I stayed in the chapel after the service and talked to someone and missed the people that were handing out the gifts. The gift this year was a small pot with forget-me-not seeds in them. Along with the pot was a

   When I was younger I would always ask my Dad what he wanted for his birthday. I wanted to know what present I could buy him. His answer was usually the same, nothing. He rarely wants anything for his birthday. As a kid and young adult I never understood that. I always wanted something. Most of the time it wasn't very big or very much, but it was always something. That's not unusual. There's always a toy, a game, a book, some item that you want when you are younger.   A few weeks ago C asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I thought really hard and came up completely dry. I couldn't think of a single thing that I really wanted. I have a good husband, good cats and a nice home for us to live in. I have enough food to eat, clothes to wear and a car to drive when I need to get somewhere. I have two harps and a hammer dulcimer. I have needlepoint projects and books to read. I have good friends. There's truly nothing that I feel I lack.   I did get some gifts yes