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@kimberlyvoxland



Hope to see you there!

Whether (weather) or not

I thought after a week of an earthquake, aftershocks, and a hurricane that it was time to say hello. I am never sure whether or not I am ready to be back here. And there is no reason for that...just a busy life like everyone else.

Yesterday was filled with rain and wind but this morning the sun is shining so happily. It feels really good. I've been out since early this morning in my new green rain boots with rake in hand. The little farm is a mess. But I like putting things back together again.



I felt so dramatic buying those new boots on Friday afternoon. We get a little silly here on the East coast with storms. Any storms. People by bread and milk whether or not they need it or even use them on a normal basis. I went out for tortilla chips, Little Debbie cakes (you know, the essentials), and threw some boots in the cart. I felt really silly. But people were too busy fighting over D batteries to care whether or not I was buying boots.



I am headed back outside now. I like making order out of a little bit of chaos. And whether or not I get it all done today doesn't matter.

It will all be waiting for me tomorrow and the next day...just like this little blog, whether or not I am ready.

Sunday best

As I sit here this morning the fog is lifting- both outside and in my head. It's wet and dreary and I suppose a good time for sleeping in. I just can't sleep my weekends away, though. Or any other day, really. I'm at my best in the morning.



I've been outside to feed the birds. I took the trash out. I'm even taunting Mother Nature with some stuff out on the clothesline.

I'm hoping she's just sleeping in and will soon wake up with her Sunday best- blue skies and sunshine. I have flowers to plant and things to spray paint.

Seeing Red

Target is my home away from home. But last night it was anything but home sweet home.

Perhaps someone was wise to my wicked ways. I bought two dresses recently at full price- $27.99 each. Gasp. It's not often that something comes home with me without the red sticker tag. Let's blame that on an unused Christmas giftcard. And perhaps temporary insanity.

On Sunday I open the ad and there is my dress staring at me. Taunting me with $17.99. But mine were still in the closet. Still had the tags. Apparently Mother Nature meant for me to get the sale price. The weather has been anything but dress friendly.

So, yesterday I threw those dresses in a bag, grabbed my receipt and walked out with $58.00 on another giftcard. That was around 8am.

My plan was to swoop back in at 5pm and get those dresses back. And I did. They were waiting for me. Oh- did I mention I had two $2 off Target dress coupons? Oh yes, I did.

Um, did I mention I had another 40 or so coupons for other stuff? I did. I was armed with a meticulous list and a plan.



That plan did not include a team meeting in the toothpaste aisle. A meeting that ran out of that aisle and blocked one of the clearance end caps. I know. Don't get me started...oh wait, too late for that.

I believe that perhaps there was a better time for this meeting, like not during after work errand rush hour. And perhaps a better place. Like anywhere that I didn't need to be.

But I do now know how to stock a Target shelf and that Brian's birthday is on Friday and that Betty is celebrating 5 years with the company. Perhaps the greeting card aisle next time?

I somehow managed to negotiate the Target togetherness and grab 3 tubes of Colgate. But it wasn't without a serious amount of eye rolling. And head shakes. And loud sighs.

So guess what, when everyone is in the toothpaste aisle it doesn't leave a lot of folk for the registers. I had two choices, the teenage boy or the teenage girl. Both seemed less than stoked to be anywhere near Target.

Did I mention I had coupons? And had two separate transactions planned. I did. Oh, and a giftcard.

Transaction #1. I hand her the giftcard and she scans it and throws it in the trash. Are you kidding me? And then we go dumpster diving at register 6. Funny, there were A LOT of other giftcards in there. Who would have thought? After about 10 tries we found mine. Fun.

Transaction #2. She scans everything in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n. Apparently her previous job was at my local theater concession stand. You know, when you are about to miss the previews. But I digress...

Everything is bagged and in my cart. Coupon time. At this point anyone and everyone in line behind me leaves. Fine.

I hand her the pile of coupons and I watch the screen ready to pounce. If you are a Target coupon user you know their computers are challenging. And so am I. Not a good mix.

Immediately it started saying that the items were not there. Oh for the love of...

She wanted to search through my bags. Well, she'd have to kill me first. I stepped between her and the cart. Them were fightin words.

She didn't touch the bags. And I saved $58.00. Which ironically was what I got back for returning the dresses.

Those damn dresses.

Skipping school

I'm up early this morning as usual. And as usual I hit the snooze button at least 5 times. Good thing I set the alarm extra early to allow for that fun. I could make that an Olympic sport...with my eyes closed and one arm tied behind my back.

Usually I'd be laying out my jeans and making sure I have the $2.09 for my large vanilla iced coffee from McDonalds. It's my rite of passage into the weekend. It's what Fridays were made for.

But I'm skipping school today. And by skipping I mean I took a vacation day and by school I mean work. But school references abound when I refer to my daily routine. I still call them school nights. I swear I think the bell is going to ring in my building at 5pm.



But anyway...I'm skipping school. I'm putting on my jeans and lacing up my sneakers and heading out with the Fella. And we are going to run around the amusement park today like teenagers. And by run I mean walk and by teenagers I mean...well, I don't know what I mean.

It's Friday. Enough said. I hope you do something fun before the bell rings. I hope you skip out early and get your weekend started.

Feels good

I felt like I was wearing the same outfit every single day. Logging on here was like walking into a room that was way overdue for my typical move this, move that overhaul. I was itching to move things around. So I did.

And now it's a happy sigh to walk into my little corner of this blog universe. It feels good. I hope you like it too.



I wrote a press release today for work. And it wasn't lost on me that I can actually say that I went to school for this. I usually say that sarcastically while rolling my eyes and pulling out my hair over yet another mail merge. Not one single Communications professor of mine ever said a word about name tags. Then again, I think we might have all changed majors.

Today felt good. I liked seeing my name next to the word CONTACT. I like saying I'm in charge. If you know me, this is not news to you.



I was standing in line at the grocery store the other night and the lady in front of me asked to use my discount card. I obliged of course. Two words- cheaper gas. She then turned to look me up and down and announced that I looked like the AFTER on one of those makeover shows. I laughed. What an interesting choice for a compliment. That was a compliment, right?

I wondered if she has glimpsed a bit of BEFORE in my bathroom mirror. But I left the store smiling and it felt good.

I have one of my favorites sayings up on my banner now....
because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.
And life feels so good.

A bit random today, I know.
But random feels good.

Smile

Just something to make you smile.



Are you having a good day?