Happy Valentines Day!

I love this holiday! I suppose it’s for several reasons. First, I am a hopeless romantic and I can’t think of a better holiday than February 14th. Second, it marks 3 more days until my birthday. In food terms, that makes Valentines Day the appetizer to a great meal.

Lots of my friends prefer to call today “Single Awareness Day”. Of the +2 dozen Valentines I’ve celebrated, only 3 were with whatever boyfriend I had at the time. Despite being single the majority of years, I love this holiday because of one person: Mama Mia.

I don’t remember a Valentines Day where she didn’t give us cards or some sort of treat growing up. When I was really little, she would use red food coloring in the dinner. This meant we might have pink pancakes or pink mashed potatoes or pink lemonade. A few years later she started making red Koolaid ice cubes to float in Sprite. Makes a great red fizzy for a special dinner drink. She has even made pink scrambled eggs. Mama Mia really makes this holiday fun for everyone.

Now, when I was in high school, I didn’t always appreciate her style of fun. I was already embarrassed that my family couldn’t afford the cafeteria food and I had to bring a sack lunch everyday. Something about having more than one child in school makes it impossible to afford the $1.25 lunch…or allowance for that matter. I typically grabbed a few items on my way out but one particular Valentines Mama Mia surprised me by packing my lunch. Imagine my horror when I opened the sack to find my tuna sandwich on pink bread. P I N K bread! Was this some sort of sick joke to ensure I never made more than 3 friends? I couldn’t believe it. I was so insulted I didn’t even take the sandwich out of the bag. Instead I broke off small pieces and quickly shoved them in my mouth so no one would see the weird food I'd been subjected to. When I got home, I was so upset. I told Mama Mia how embarrassed I’d been. She said, “You didn’t take the sandwich out? That means you didn’t even notice I cut the bread into a heart shape."

HEART-SHAPED?! Am I 5?! I vowed never to be cheesy like her when I grew up. However, anyone who knows me now realizes I’m even sillier than Mama Mia. And I guarantee that my kids will get pink, heart shaped sandwiches.

Happy Valentines Day Mama Mia. I Love You!

How $1.49 can ruin your day

So I think I am allergic to my body wash. I just got a new scent last week and ever since my entire body itches like I have poison ivy. At first I just thought my skin was dry so I put lotion on. Still itchy. I shaved my legs. Still itchy. I washed all my clothes and sheets. Still itchy. The thing is, I’ve been using Suave as my body wash for years and this is the first time I've suffered the side effect of itchiness. So I don’t know if it’s just “coconut crème” or if Suave started using a new chemical I can't use. The problem gets worse: I’ve itched so much, I’m starting to get tender in certain spots on my arms and legs so now it feels like I’m itching a bruise.

Which is worse: itching or aching?

Nice to meet you…don’t worry about my name.

Twice this morning I have been asked to spell my name over the phone. Our copier broke so I called to schedule a repair.

What is your name?
Charlotte.
Is that with a C or a S?
With a C. Like Charlotte, North Carolina.
Can you spell that for me?
Uh sure. C – H – A – R – L – O – T – T – E.
(Laughing) Boy I’m glad you spelled that out. I royally messed that one up.

How hard is it my name to spell? I admit, when I was in 1st grade I wanted a phonetically correct name so I turned in all my papers with “Sharlet” written at the top. The teacher took me aside and said she wouldn’t accept any work unless my given name was on the top. After that, I have always gone by Charlotte. I am amazed at some of the attempted spellings though. Charolotte, Charolet, Charlet, Charolette.

Now, my family nickname is Charika.

I’ll understand if you misspell that!

In the mouth of Old Babes

I got a perm in January. I walked into the salon and asked for a wave, something to add curl and body when I wanted to actually do my hair, but came out looking like a poodle. I did NOT like it. I washed it that night, brushed it, tried to straighten it, and washed it again the next day. Still curly. So I had to come to grips with the concept that for a few months, I will have curlier hair than I anticipated. I’ve learned how to style it better and people are even complimenting me. I assumed this meant my hair finally was starting to look okay.
This morning I had some extra time and decided to straighten my hair. It’s been about a week since I last took the time so it was fun seeing my hair straight. I’m sitting at my desk when my boss came in. Instead of the typical “Good morning” he flat out said, “What happened to the frizz?”

Hmmm…tell me how you really feel.

Super Bored

Today is one of those days where I am not having a bad day but I’m just having “a day”. A numb day. I can’t really explain how I’m feeling so I’ll explain what I don’t feel. At lunch I went and got my food but realized I wasn’t hungry. I ate a little anyway but didn’t really want any. I’ve had some water at my desk all day. I haven’t been thirsty for it though. I’m drinking just to stay hydrated but typically I drink tons more. On my lunch break I also went grocery shopping. I just stared at all the produce. Nothing was jumping out at me. I went to the cookie isle. Nothing. Meat – same thing. I ended up getting some staple items that I hope I will start to crave soon. When I got back to work, we had a birthday party for a coworker. I wasn’t excited but I wasn’t bored. Just there. With some cake. Cake that I ate but didn’t really even want.
My friend Rexbasior has a theory that when one person has a bad day, there is someone out there having a great day. So…someone is having the most stimulating day ever!