Sophie's Story

   Now that the weather is warmer it's time to start using the summer sheets. I have always had summer sheets which are cotton and much cooler to sleep on and winter sheets which are flannel or jersey and are warmer.    We had a really nice set of purple sheets that had a high thread count. It was almost like sleeping on satin. Unfortunately, Colby, in his desire to burrow under the covers one day ruined the fitted sheet. Since I can't use mismatched sheets we used the other set that we had which was brown. I had mentioned a few times that I'd like to get another set, but there were other things more urgently needed than another set of sheets.   Yesterday, C mentioned that we should get a new set of sheets. Since we were going to Costco, we thought we could look there.    After we finished getting the food we wanted, we looked at the sheets. The selection was pretty thin. The vast majority of the sheets were for king or queen sized beds. Ours is a double. The only double be

   Last year I came across an old post in my memories section. It showed a picture of me proudly holding my Advanced Toastmaster Bronze certificate. (It's Advanced Communicator Bronze now.) In the post I mentioned that I had taken too long to work on the award and my goal was to obtain the next level, silver, in five years. Then I promptly forgot about it.   I continued to work on my advanced manuals drifting somewhat aimlessly. I was dealing with job issues and health issues and didn't have time or energy to spend on Toastmasters.   Toastmasters decided to change the programs it offered. The designations of Bronze and Silver were going to be discontinued. It was time to get going and get things done. I don't like having unfinished business in my life. That was about the time I saw the old post. I looked over the requirements to see how long it would take for me to finish my silver designation. I had to finish one more manual and do two other projects. I was almost finished

   I like to watch weddings. I admit it. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. I especially like to watch weddings involving European ruling families. I like the pageantry and ceremony. I like looking at the clothes and especially the hats.   A few weeks ago I found a video of British royal weddings from the 20th century. It started with the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal to Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood and ended with Prince Andrew's wedding to Sarah Ferguson. (They didn't include the 1999 wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones which I thought was unfair.)   One wedding that was given much time than the others was the July 1981 wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. It was interesting to see the footage and commentary from this wedding that occurred nearly 39 years ago.    I will fully admit that I was one of those starry eyed girls who watched the wedding on TV early in the morning. I saw Lady Diana riding in a coach with her father barely

   I started another 30 Day Yoga Challenge several weeks ago. This one is a power up challenge meant to building understanding of how yoga works and to build strength. I think it might be meant for those who have been practicing yoga for awhile as it seems to be at an intermediate level. Much of it it includes things that I can't do or can't do well. I could have used this as a reason for not doing this challenge and sticking with the video classes that I know.    I didn't do it because I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to do something a little bit too hard for me. In that respect this was the perfect challenge. Throughout the class, the teacher constantly says that those of us following along need to do the best we can. Our bodies are not the same and don't have the same strength, flexibility and bone structure. There are some things that will be more difficult for some people to do than others. Some of us may need to use props. Some of us may need to modify poses

   The salons and barbershops have been allowed to open again. I had an appointment to have my hair done right after the stay at home orders went into place. My appointment had to be cancelled. It was rescheduled and then it had to be cancelled again as the stay at home order had been extended. I rescheduled it again and hoped that I could go.   Like so many thing my trip to the salon was not the same as before. I was questioned about how I was feeling. I was asked if I had been around anyone who had COVID-19. I was honest with them. I am a health care worker. I take precautions,but cannot know if I come into contact with someone who might be sick. I had my temperature taken with one of those forehead thermometers. Then I could go into the salon with a mask on. I had to sign a waiver. Then Lisa, my hair stylist, and I went back into her room.    From then on it was just like before except with masks on and conversation about current events. We also got caught up on what happened in eac

   The last week has seen a lot of rage, chaos and damage to property and to people. We've had curfews, police, the National Guard  and a lot of fear. Fear that protesters with guns will break into my store and burn it down. Fear that gangs will come and rob the pharmacy and shoot the staff. Fear that protesters will burn our home down because they can't be stopped. Fear for the lives of the innocent and their neighborhoods.   Now that things have calmed down a bit, I've read several posts about white privilege and the experience of African Americans. It's been interesting and educational. Several of these things have left me with the feeling that the original creators of these posts believe firmly and definitely that all white people are racist. All of them. Even if you don't think you are, you are. This bothers me. The definition of racism that I found online is "prejudice,discrimination or antagonism directed at someone of a different race based on the belie