I shall overcome...with the help of chocolate.

OK, so I had a really crappy day, but no one wants to hear my sad, long and pathetic story so I will skip it. But I will say one thing. OK, maybe one thing said in a few different ways.

1. What goes around, comes around.
2. Everyone gets what they deserve. Eventually. When you aren't expecting it. Possibly with flaming arrows and lava.
3. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap St Paul, Galatians 6-7
4. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you Matthew 7-120
5. I know people. Some mildly crazy.

So, that said and done, I hope everyone else had a great day. Mine started getting better after I got off work. My hubby called me just as I was getting off work and met me at the nearby watering hole for a beverage. I ranted and raved about my day. He attentively listened. Or at least he's getting better at faking it. I frankly don't care. At least not today. As long as I feel better, at that time that's what I needed.

So I was dreading going grocery shopping tonight, but...what's this? He found my list? And went shopping!?! Wow. My night just keeps getting better and better. Then I get home and what do I find? A box addressed to me from Harry & David's. I was praying for an entire cheesecake, but I got even better. An entire box of assorted chocolates and various chocolate covered fruit or something. I don't care, it could be chocolate covered socks at this point. Yummo!

Chocolate. Chocolate. Mmmmm......and it was sent to me for Mother's Day so I can eat the whole darn thing by myself without guilt. Well, mostly. Ingrid, Sandy I love you. Thank you, thank you! May the god's of richness, gorgeous mute men with money to lavish on you, and chocolate chip pancakes, smile on you! See above rules. ;-) Goes both ways, didn't you know?

Oh and thank you Sonja for my various and at odd times random phone calls, whenever I could spare a minute to bitch about my day. I might save you a chocolate covered something.

*Perseverance, a virtue, implies persistence, endurance, hardiness, fortitude, stamina, robustness and tolerance. It is constant persistence in a course of action, purpose, or state, steadfast pursuit of an aim, tenacious assiduity or endeavor, continuance in a state of grace leading finally to a state of glory. Your Ascension work must equal the Power moving through you, and you must back it with persistence, perseverance and a continuous soul-need to move higher, reach higher, understand more, comprehend more. All obstacles become a challenge for the initiate to practice steadfastness and perseverance. Persevere in standing under the Light, which will shine on your path to the goal.

One Ticket To Anywhere Please.

I have never more than today, I think, needed to get away from it all. Maybe go to the beach or take my dogs on a nice long day hike to a lake or something.

Being near the water is supposed to be "calming"; apparently you can "breathe" your problems out across the ocean.

I keep wanting to try this, but before I could even get the first breath out, I always think, "Someone is going to be breathing this in. These problems have to end up somewhere." I envision some poor guy on the coast of Japan, trying to relax, and suddenly he's got my problems. He doesn't need that. He's walking around going, "Gee I got to call my Carol and thank her for the card she sent--I don't even know who she is."

And my next thought is, "Forget about that--what about his problems? I don't want them washing back to me." We could each potentially be walking around with problems neither of us are prepared to handle. Suddenly this whole breathing and relaxing thing is not all it's cracked up to be.

It's not easy to ever truly "get away from it all," because like they say, "Wherever you go, there you are." (Again, I couldn't tell you who They are, but trust me, they said it.)

I mean I love to go for walks in the mountains, but I always feel like I kinda look wrong. Like people can tell I'm faking it. I've been hiking happily and had people stop me, presuming my car broke down. Geesh.

I'm not sure what the actual difference is between "hiking" and "walking." Is it speed? Intent? It may be related to the type of pants you are wearing. Shorts that come close to the knees can turn "walking" into "hiking" like that.

Also to be considered is What You Look At. If you are just going from point A to point B, it's "walking," But if you stop and point at a tree, it's "hiking." Even a simple, "Oh look, some kind of bird!" Automatically makes you a "hiker." So if that's not what you had in mind, for God's sake be careful what you point at.

The Swimsuit Season is Almost Upon Us.

One of the reasons people get married I think is suntan lotion; your going to need help. There are parts of your back that you simply can't get to by yourself, and quite frankly, no woman is going to do it for a man that isn't already married to him. All those random hairy parts, ew.

My fear of getting burned goes back to being a kid, when you not only had the pain, but the humiliation bonus the next day when you had to where a t-shirt over your suit in the water. Nothing more embarrassing than that one. Just a big advertisement to the community that you have no common sense whatsoever. "You all put on lotion and didn't get burned; I myself was careless and stupid, and now I wear this Garment of Shame before the entire swimming pool population."

And you get that little air bubble under the t-shirt, which provided your friends something extra to pull, thereby adding another layer of pain on top of the humiliation. All in all, a pleasant outing.

I was talking to an acquaintance the other day about how he and his wife went to a nude beach. I immediately thought, "Gee, there's logic: It's 140 degrees, why not scorch everything?"

The thing about being naked in public, I would think, is that there would be nothing you could think about other than about how naked you are. And how naked everybody else is. That's all you see.

You don't think, "There's a tall guy." It's, "There's a naked guy." You don't say, "That woman looks like a lovely person." You say, "There's a naked lady."

And I would imagine that you'd think a lot about your clothes. When you're dressed, you don't think about your clothes. You never walk down the street conscious of your clothes, thinking, "I love my pants. I'm happy to have pants." But when you are naked, you can't get past, "I have no pants. I'm walking, and I am very much without pants." That's all I would be able to think about: the absence of places to put your hands. No pockets.