woman, a haiku

whispering deeply, 
woman to future woman...
our thoughts, life, love.

...life is good. ~cath
find me @jonesbabie on Twitter

you can fix anything with duck tape

I am OCD about some things.  For me to admit that is a big confession.  But the reason I am OCD about some things is because if I wasn't, I'd be doomed.  I was reminded of this not long ago.

Driving to work one morning recently, I was a bit distracted.  I had several things on my mind, and was trying to make a mental list of all the things I needed to do.  I had pretty well worked the list out in my head, and decided to run by the pharmacy on my way to work.  Actually, it was two pharmacies.  Stevie Wonder and I use different pharmacies, for the same reason we use different banks.  But that is another story.

While I was picking up my prescription, I decided to pick up some makeup I needed, rather than try to make another trip to buy makeup.  That was my first mistake.  When I start looking at makeup, or anything that causes me to use the unorganized side of my brain, it means there is a conflict.  In my brain.  Because you can't daydream and organize at the same time.  Not with my brain anyway.

My mind started to drift as I looked at the new products.  I grabbed my standard mascara, and picked up some nifty eyebrow pencils, and then I saw the lipsticks, and started trying to decide what color to get.

That was the beginning of the end.  I was on limited time, so I was feeling the pressure to make a decision.  I was trying to add up what the cost of all this beauty paraphernalia was going to cost me, and then head back to pick up the prescription.  My attention span was starting to drift.  I got my prescription, headed to the car, and then across the street to Stevie's pharmacy to get his prescriptions.  I drove through the drive through at that pharmacy, then headed to work, still making good time.

I got to work, dropped my keys in my purse (my second mistake), cracked my window just a little to keep the heat from building up, then got out of the car to go around and pick up my purse and bag of makeup goodies and carry them in.  I pushed the lock down and slammed the door shut.

Have you ever done something, made a mistake, and felt like you were standing back and watching someone else do some dumb ass thing in slow motion? 

That is how I felt as I watched the door swing shut.  Just as the door went "click", I realized that I had locked everything in the car.  I had changed my routine and made that last dumb  move and shut the door, without making sure I had my keys in my hand.

Now I had a problem.  Stevie Wonder was out of pocket, so I couldn't call him for help.  I walked into my office, and started trying to arrange to get someone to break into my car.  Then my mum surfaced in me.  She raised me to be independent, and that attitude, along with being married since the Stone Age to Stevie Wonder the Tool Wizard, made me decide I could deal with this myself.

I thought about how to approach this.  This was the planning stage.  Like making a blueprint in my head.  Once I figured that out I assembled my tools:
1. a flexible steel yardstick
2. a paper clip
3. duct tape

Now if you live in the south, you know most of us call it duck tape.  That is just the way we roll.  This tape is so versatile that it should be a staple in all emergency kits and households.  I assembled my tools and taped a paper clip to the end with several pieces of duct tape.  I proceeded to the car, slid the yardstick down inside the window and flipped the lock open on the third try.

Three things saved me that day:
1. duct tape
2. determination
3. leaving my window cracked that crucial inch

I never crack my window, but I did that day.  For the same reason I dropped my keys in my purse.  I was thinking with the left side of my brain.

Sometimes being unorganized works out for the better.

  
...life is good. ~cath   
find me @jonesbabie on Twitter

sisters

three glasses, three sisters

If you aren't blessed to have at least one sister in your life, you don't know what you are missing.  I have two, so it is double the fun.

I can't remember not having Vicky there.  We were born fourteen months apart.  So I can't remember a time in my life that Vix wasn't there.  I remember Dooj's arrival on the scene though, because I was 5 years old when she was born.  She was like having a live babydoll, and was a perfect lookalike for the Gerber baby.  We had a lot of fun with her when she was a baby.  She was the perfect baby. 

The sisters and I have been close our whole lives.  Nothing keeps us apart, and our strength is each other.  We have been through the normal gamut of life experiences, but what makes us strong is that we rely on each other.  There have been untold times in our lives when we called each other because of some stressful thing we were dealing with, or not dealing with well.  I can remember calling Vix one time years ago and telling her I just wanted to hear the voice of someone who loved me because  I was having a terrible day and didn't think I would make it through.  One of those days you remember because it was so nasty and stressful it was almost like you were living someone else's life.



vix and dooj walk and talk

And Vicky said something.  I don't remember what now.  The words weren't important.  What I remember is the soothing calmness I felt after I talked to her.  I was less stressed, strengthened, and better able to deal with what was going on.  That is what we do for each other.  When one is in need, the others step up to the plate and share strength.  We give support and remind each other that we are not alone.  We are SISTERS.

Many times my sisters or I have called each other.  And many times I have received those calls shortly after I was thinking about them.  We have called for advice, to gripe, to gossip, to tell each other how much we loved and missed each other.  Computers and social programs have enabled us to keep closer contact with each other, as have cell phones which make phone calling so affordable we can do it as often as we want or need to.



flying high

it begins with a flash



When our dad died ten years ago, one of the biggest wake up calls for the three of us was that time is fleeting and  you can't get back what is past.  It is gone forever.  It was a big regret of Dad's that he didn't spend more time with us, but one he couldn't undo.  But we decided after Dad's death that no matter what came up in our lives, we would find time for each other every year, and more often if possible.  We have taken several road trips together, and the time spent alone as sisters has just deepened the love I have for them, and I am sure they would respond with the same answer.  It is our time to reconnect and relive old memories while making some new ones, and there have been some very special moments together.


 

the ham sisters

Most of all my sisters make me laugh.  Oh, we have our share of fights and disagreements.  But we never hold grudges.  The three of us were just not made that way.  We know we don't agree about everything, and sometimes we hotly disagree about things.  But in the end we are still sisters, and that is more important to us than any disagreement we have.  We accept the differences.  We are all uniquely different and we appreciate that in each other.  We find humor in almost everything.  That is one of our strengths.  That even when we are in the midst of a disagreement, one of us can make a  remark or crack a joke and we all laugh.  Every time.

will you turn that camera OFF?

That is part of our strength you see.  We complement each other.  We are stronger as a whole than as individual parts of the sum.  We see the humor in everything, and we have a wicked sense of it, often almost to the point of absurdity.  But we GET each other, and understand what the joke is about even if those around us are looking dumbfounded at us and scratching their heads.  Right now as I sit writing this about my wonderful sisters, they are interrupting me making jokes.  And I stop.  And we laugh.  Because that is what we do.

What can I say about my sisters?  That they are part of me.  That I understand them.  As they do me.  That I admire and love them and would do anything they asked of me.  That they are strong, courageous, wise women and I am proud to be their sister.  That had I had a chance to pick out the sisters I wanted when I was a girl, I could not have chosen two women any more perfect to be my sisters.  And I will always be grateful to them for all they are.

Even when Dooj is wearing my panties on her head to get a laugh, and Vix is snorking tea through her nose because I said something stupid.  That is what makes them perfect.

cath, vix,, and dooj