Sophie's Story

I went into Small Town today to have my hair done. When you have hair like mine and you find someone who can do it without screwing it up and is a nice person on top of it you tend to keep them. Even if it means driving 20 minutes to get there. As I was walking back to the car I stopped by the fair trade store. It's been open a year or so. Usually it's closed when I walk by it. Today it was open so I went inside. I try to buy things fair trade and from food co ops and farmers markets whenever I can. At the very least I try to buy things from local businesses. Maybe I wind up paying a bit more, but supporting the local economy is important to me. I firmly believe in fair trade. Fair trade stores buy their goods from people who pay fair wages and keep decent working conditions for their employees. They also tend to have items made from recycled objects. Since I recycle it only works when you buy things made from recycled materials. I found a cute blue cotton knit jacket. I ...

I was glancing over the headlines on the Yahoo home page when I came across one that mentioned President Bill Clinton's bucket list. I'm sure most of you know what a bucket list is, but for those who don't it is a list of things one would like to do before one dies. (kicks the bucket) I don't really have a bucket list. To me all I hope for is that I if/when I look over my life I don't say, "If I had it to do over again I 'd do it differently. " It sounds strange, I know, but I've always thought my purpose here on earth was to make my corner of it better. So a bucket list is really not necessary. There are a few things that I would like to do or have happen, but those require action on someone else's part so I can't really call it a bucket list. I will share a few of those things now. I would like to have one of these columns printed in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Actually I'd like to be a regular columnist there, but that woul...

I have the day off and it isn't raining so I thought it would be a good time to get a little work done in the garden. I haven't had time to do much except water the pepper plants in the pots when they look wilted and to maybe pull a weed here or there. I did get a chance to smell the lavender when it bloomed. The herb garden needed to be trimmed a little. The lemon balm was over taking the thyme and the peppermint plants were shadowing the rosemary and the chocolate mint plant. The grape vine was trying to shake hands with the lemon balm and I couldn't even find the chamomile that I planted. I put on my work clothes, gabbed my shears and went to work. I trimmed the basil plants and the lemon balm so the thyme could get more sun. I trimmed the mint plants a little bit. Then I cut some basil and some lemon balm and mint. I thought I might try to dry them. There is a spot in the computer room by the window that could work. I could hang bunches from the shelves. If it did...

The air conditioner in our house went out late last week. We knew it was going to happen sometime as both the air conditioner and the furnace are around 20 years old. We had planned to replace both units and had set money aside for this purpose. We had planned to shop for these items late this past spring, but since C's schedule and mine are opposite each other it was impossible to find a time when we were both off to start looking. I panicked when I first found out it was broken. This is a big purchase. It's not something you can make on the spur of the moment. We haven't done any research or anything. What were we going to do? It would have to be replaced as soon as possible. What if in our rush we got a bad product that would cost us down the line? What were we going to do???? Wait a minute, I thought to myself. Why am I panicking? I've lived nearly half my life in places without air conditioning. I know how to manage without it. We have floor fans, ceiling fan...

I was going to write about taking Scamp and Colby to the vet or Scamp and Colby would write it themselves. However it didn't go well, Scamp doesn't like to go to the vet but usually voices his displeasure by hissing and growling. Today he tried to attack the vet tech and turned into someone I didn't recognise. I was a bit upset and really embarrassed as he doesn't act like that at home. The vet assured me that it was all right and that some cats act like that. Next year, they'll knock him out first. It has been raining off and on all day (so far). After dropping off a friend after lunch I went to the post office. It was pouring and of course I couldn't park very close. So I got out of the car and walked in. I liked it. It felt good. Actually, I like walking in the rain. I don't mind getting wet if I'm not supposed to be someplace where I have to look presentable. It's refreshing. Really it is. I went running in the rain once. It was a light ...

I was told a story about my grandmother when I was young. Grandma said she wouldn't marry Edward even if he was the last man on earth. Her mother chided her saying,"The stone you throw the farthest always comes back to you." By which she meant that you shouldn't say things like that for you may have to do them. Grandma did marry Edward despite the fact that he wasn't the last man on earth. This is fortunate otherwise I wouldn't be here to write this. I gave a speech at Toastmasters seven years ago on the topic of things I said I would never do and then did anyway. Last week I gave an updated version of the speech. In the evaluations I received someone remarked that I could write a book on the subject and each story could be a chapter. I thought I'd share a couple of them with you. Stone One I will never sing in public. I have heard the recorded sound of my voice. It's pretty awful. While I have a decent, some would say pleasan...

I was rooting around in my linen closet, making room to put some freshly washed sheets when I came across an item I didn't know I had. Sitting on a shelf neatly folded underneath a pile of cotton dish towels and kitchen towels was an apron. Not just any old apron, this was a church apron. Why would I have a church apron? A church apron is usually made of cotton and can be either a bib style, a waist tie style or a tunic style with ties on either side. It is usually a floral or some discrete pattern. Church aprons are worn by the women who help out in the kitchen during church functions where food is involved. They are the women who help serve the food at funerals mostly, sometimes weddings and potlucks or the Wednesday night dinners during Lent. These are the salt of the earth women who polish the wood on the alter, clean the chalices or items used for a Communion service keep the alter cloths neat and in repair and just generally make sure things look nice. They go by all kinds...

Bonnie had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. They caught it early and she was going to take treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Her doctors were optimistic. Still, cancer is cancer and it conjures up visions of hair loss, nausea, mouth sores and generally feeling unwell. A scary prospect. She was calling up her daughter to let her know what was going on as she prepared to start chemotherapy the next week. A male voice answered the phone. She had dialed a wrong number. Bonnie apologised explaining to the man that she was trying to call her daughter. She told him that she had just been diagnosed with cancer and had a lot on her mind. The two started to chat a bit. The man's name was Loren and he asked if it would be all right if he stayed in touch with her to see how she was doing. They traded phone numbers and said a short prayer together. The day after her first chemo treatment Bonnie got a call from Loren to see how her first treatment went. He told her that he taught ...