First Time @ The Beach

Oh, how I wish I would have been there to hear the giggles, see the toes in the sand for the first time, and delight in the glory of a baby at the beach....next time. Lucky for me Fran sends me photos,, thank you, thank you, thank you.....

A Picture...

...speaks a thousand words.

111 Years Old

Working with money is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. We have strict deposit instructions, no more than .99 in coin. I used to send all the one dollar, and half dollar coins in my deposit along with really old and worn out bills, then I was introduced to the deposit rules. That was awhile back and now I know. As a result, most of us buy the coins just to get them out of the drawer. I have quite the collection of gold & silver dollars, Kennedy half dollars, and such. Once someone tried to cash in a $2 bill signed by her dead mother. As she told me the story, I handed her two dollars out of my jar and told her to put it in her pocket. I do my best to maintain a professional relationship with work people. As a rule, I never give or lend money to the customers. But she got me with that story, as I happen to have a two dollar bill given to me by my mother the year they were issued, and would never consider spending it. Well, I suppose that is evident by the fact that I still have it 34 years later, and some of those years two dollars made a difference. I wondered later if she signed it in the parking lot before she came in, and now, no matter what the story, I just take the money.

The other day, a regular came in and said, "Can I have a paper dollar for this?", and dropped a coin in my hand. It was cool and heavy in my palm and I looked at it as I opened my drawer. When I saw that it was a 1899 silver dollar, I asked her if she was sure she wanted to spend it. Her response was, "There's a nick in the wing.", as she took her paper dollar and headed for her favorite machine. I never even put it in the drawer, replacing the paper dollar I had just given the customer with one out of my pocket. I carried it all night long and thought about how long it has survived in the world; how many transactions it had been a part of; how long it sat in a coin collection somewhere; how it got a nick in the wing.

I feet special to have become part of the journey. I called Mom to see if Nana had been born in 1899, but no, she was born in 1898 -- pretty damn close though, right?


Wishing you magical moments...have a great day!

The Corn! The Corn!

Life

Shoe Emergency

Last night at work, I was humming along nicely around 7pm, thrilled to be on day six of a long week headed to three days off starting at 12:30am. The store was busy, I had about ten players and after work cigs were selling well. I came around the corner coming behind the counter and my right shoe felt like it was falling off. I thought my shoe lace had come untied. I bent down to deal with it and found the entire rubber sole of the shoe was disengaged from the leather upper, save for the area around the toes. Bummer. That's when I looked at the clock and thought, in Phoebe's voice, "ohhh noooo.", I'll never make it. I rushed to the office and attempted staples, which I had little faith in, but I had to try...and rubber bands. Two steps and I knew this would not work. I had a momentary flash of panic, then I took a deep breath and called Amber, left a message. Called Jenn, didn't bother leaving a message. Called Willie. In the ten plus years I have known him, every time I have called him in need, he delivered. Every time. He got a ride with a kid across the street who has adopted us and brought me my Danskos within the hour. In the meantime, my other angel, Amber called to see what I needed. She has also never failed to answer my call, bless her great big heart. I was happy to tell her she did not need to interrupt her evening. History tells me every day it is a waste of time to worry about anything and I am not alone on this journey.

When I got home, Willie and I laughed about it and I told him the story of my high heel breaking on the cruise to Mexico in 1995. I had been thinking about that trip as I dragged around my flopping shoe till Willie and Tyler arrived to save the day.

I took these pictures this morning. Not sure why they loaded sideways, but I like it.

Have a wonderful day!

The End of an Era

Well, the use of Kraft Marshmellow Creme jars as drinking glasses in my kitchen will soon come to an end. As one can imagine, they are glass and break eventually. Generally, the same break near the bottom of the jar, a sign that it is an old jar and time to purchase some more. I have six jars left on the shelf. I went to purchase some more the other day and found my beloved glass jars had been replaced with plastic. I have looked all over the city to see if I might find the last remaining glass jars on the shelf, but no. I cannot express the depths of my disappointment.

The View This Morning