Pray. Just pray. There is no other word.
Bathroom Talk
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Can we talk about public bathrooms here? Because honestly….I don’t think people nowadays give public bathrooms the respect they deserve. Obviously, I’m a girl and I’ve only ever been in the girl’s bathroom. (Well, there have been a drunken moment or two when the men’s bathroom was closer and available but we don’t have to talk about that.) I have a few pet peeves and a few suggestions to make the public bathroom experience a more pleasant one.
Let’s get the pet peeves out of the way first:
1. What’s with the cheese roll holders that do not allow you more than one sheet of toilet paper at a time. I’m sorry but I’m a big girl and I need that thing to spin like the Wheel of Fortune! One little sheet at a time means I will be in there for the length of a Bible!
2. What’s with leaving your human signature behind (literally) when you leave the stall. Is it really too much to turn around and check for cleanliness before you leave? I could see how embarrassing it can be caught cleaning the stall but I would honestly have more respect for you.
3. The public bathroom is no place for your intimate phone conversations. I realize how convenient it is with mobile phones to bring them with us EVERYWHERE. However, starting a conversation while in a public bathroom can garnish an unwelcome conversation from the person in the stall next to you who think you’re talking to them. And for the love of all that is holy, please DO NOT talk dirty to your other half while in a public bathroom!!! I really do not want to hear your intimate plans for the weekend, evening, etc……
4. Rinsing your hands under water without using soap does NOT equal hand washing!! If you get nothing else out of this post, please hear me on this one!!!!! Only soap will clean your hands!!! And for women, please use a bit of common sense here with regards to where your hands have just been and USE SOAP!!! I cannot say it enough!!! Otherwise, I reserve the right to squirt hand sanitizer on you every time I see you!
5. Stop using public bathrooms as your own personal makeup/fashion center. There is NOTHING I hate worse than having to wipe away some strangers’ hair before I can wash my hands. Do your hair and makeup at home!!!! Otherwise, embrace your own natural, messy beauty and MOVE ON!!!! This also covers perfuming. Honestly? I took a shower. If you still feel you need enhancements to your smell, or if you just smell naturally, put that on at home! I’m sick of walking out of bathrooms with a noseful of your perfume.
6. Likewise to air sprays. It’s a public bathroom, people. It ain’t always going to smell pretty. Spraying a pretty smell over a bad only makes a pretty bad smell!
Now, some suggestions:
1. We’ve come a long way with technology. We have toilets that flush themselves (often without you being ready), G-force hand dryers, water that turns on by itself, etc. Is it too much to ask for floor to ceiling stalls? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a public bathroom only to have someone’s child look under the wall or peek through the little slit in the door. Privacy, people! Otherwise, I’ll start charging for what I’m showing!
2. Before using any public bathroom, people should be forced to watch a short video on public bathroom usage. It can be available in a few languages. Perhaps it can be a code of sorts by which you must watch this video or the bathroom door will not open. WE’VE GOT TO GET THE WORD OUT, PEOPLE!
3. Bathrooms should be made a such material so as to disable hand-held electronics. Again, stop talking on your cell phone in the bathroom. Get in, get out and let someone else get in.
Bottom line is public bathrooms are meant for one thing and one thing only. Be kind. Be respectful. And most of all, be quick!
Happy Birthday, Mommy!
Last month, I posted a letter my father wrote to me when I was fourteen years old. In the same vein, here is my mother’s letter to me. My mother is the most amazing woman I know and a true mom in every sense of the word. She’s always done anything and everything for her children. No sin too great she would not forgive. No deed too small she would not praise it to the hills. Time and time again, we’ve left to live our lives only to return home, broken-hearted with our children in tow and truck loads of emotional baggage. She’d help us unpack all our emotions and issues, give us the space to deal with our pain, hold us while we cried and did whatever it took to get us up on our feet again. She’s simply the truest meaning of beauty there is.
Here is her letter to me written on February 24, 1982.
Dear Vikki:
This is a letter from me to you just to say “I love you”. I love you for all the years of joy and happiness and love you have brought to Daddy, me and the rest of the family.
Just when we least expect it, you do something to surprise us. Like the many times I come home and find that you have not only cleaned the house but prepared dinner and then serve it to me on a tray. It shows your kindness and love to me. The way you care about our problems and worries and cares.
Your beautiful, smiling face and your contagious giggle make us all happy.
You have grown up so fast and soon will be starting high school What a lucky school it is too; to be getting a girl who will have enthusiasm for school projects and will be definite asset. I am sure they will be as proud of you as we have always been.
Honey, there is so much I feel in my heart and I sit here and don’t know how to put it into words and especially on paper. What I am trying to say is that you are a thoughtful, considerate young lady. You care about others and try to help others in any little way you can. That is also being very grown up in many ways.
You are about to enter into some of the happiest days of your life. I want to wish you success, joy and all the love a mother’s heart can hold.
As I started this letter, I will close it. I love you, honey.
Mom.
I think this is a wonderful thing for any parent to do. I have these letters and have had them for 30 years now. In the last 30 years, I have grown up, married, had babies, lost one baby, got divorced and have had to hold my own children together through some very painful times in their young lives. People say I’m a good mom.
What else could I be? My own mother is so very excellent!
Scout, the Wonder Dog
Last night, my family and I said good-bye to a long-time member of the family – our dog, Scout.
Scout came to me 10 years ago as a 2-year-old puppy with lots of enthusiasm, spark and loyalty. Within only a few days, he was a member of our family and we were instantly in love. He has endured so much with us including a 20 hour drive in the car as my girls and I moved from Texas to Illinois. He sat in the car atop all our luggage, ran the neighborhood almost getting hit by a car and protected my mom and our new home with the fierceness only a dog can have.
He was a little dog with big dog mentality.
His illness came quickly. Most likely, he’d been suffering for longer than we thought but he never showed it until his body could take no more. We made our decision quickly and he kissed us all good-bye in his own little way. He is missed so much and I hope wherever he is, he’s having fun, frolicking like he used to and running amok.
So tonight, I lift my glass to Scout, the Wonder Dog (Sans His Invisible Plane and Flowing Cape). Not only were you the light of our lives and our joy these last ten years, you were our most faithful companion, our most loyal protector and our best friend.
Here’s to my puppy. Rest in peace, Scout.
Fat Mob
I Need More Of Me
Sometimes, I wish there were two of me. I know I’m not the only one to feel this way. But I have so much in my head just aching to get out so it can live and breathe on its own. Things like my book about overcoming abuse and my marriage, my ghost story (which is constantly evolving in my head as I gain more knowledge), my daughters’ stories of overcoming, the 101 crochet projects I want to get done and the new stitches and techniques I want to learn, my beauty blog, vlogging, writing, more and more and more…….in addition to raising my two teenage daughters, my family and a job in which I am very fulfilled.
Scratch what I said earlier! I need five of me!!!!!
You Don't Want to be Fat Do You?
The store I work at, which will naturally remain unnamed, is run by people who insist we offer small children lollipops (as well as small, cheap toys that often double as choking hazards). Since we're reminded to make such offers, I did so today only to be met with a response of "Oh, no. My daughters don't need those." The three little girls protested, and were met with a scolding along the lines of "You don't need suckers, because they're nothing but sugar and sugar makes you fat.
And this is why little girls have eating disorders. Because if you're fat, then nobody will like you. What a load of crap!
