More Redneck Recycling

Many of you may remember my post last year about how Redneck's were recycling long before it was vogue. One of my friends saw my clever repurposing of a plastic, one quart soup container from the local Chinese restaurant and thought I should share. Behold the Reusable One Quart Drinking Container with Lid:

Punching the hole in the lid was the trickiest part. ~En-JOY!

What I Wore.....Tuesday

I love to read blogs, especially ones that deal with life after 40. A favorite is Fabulous After 40 Today's topic is leggings. How ironic that today I just happened to wear my favorite tunic/leggings combination! I purchased the tunic at the Southern Women's show. The clerk in the booth was wearing it with leggings and cowboy (cowgirl?) boots. Precious!! Thought I'd share it with y'all, just like I shared it with them ~En-JOY

Football Fashion

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Football Season!


As you know, I am a HUGE Auburn fan. Here in Alabama, football is not a sport, it's a religion. And the two biggest sanctuaries are Jordan-Hare and byrantdenney.


I love sporting my team colors, as I did with the two outfits here.




Don't need a logo to to promote my team. Here I'm wearing a blue swing swearter and orange tee (Cato clearance of course) with my favorite pair of  Chico's white jeans (a thrift store purchase I happened upon while looking for a costume for an 80's themed birthday party). Another cool jewelry purchase, a handcrafted necklace that my Mom and I found in a shop on The Curve.  It's made out of recycled wine bottles!




Another cute outfit that I wore to run errands.





More cute Auburn outfits to follow!

~En-JOY!

What I Wore.....Well, Thursday

Okay, who says I can't have two fashion posts back to back? It's my blog, right?

 

Again, another dreaded bathroom pic but I just wanted to capture this great outfit I threw together on the spur of the moment this morning.

 

 

Pink Tie-Front Shrug Sweater = Cato Clearance Rack....I never buy anything at Cato full price, unless I'm desperate. I forget what I paid for it but it would be less thank $10

 

Pink/Orange Multi Colored Skirt = This one I've literally fro 10 years. I got it at Goody's in Cullman when I was there for a pageant and got caught short one outfit. I bought the pink pull-over sweater that was on the manequin with it (a good idea at the time) but it never really looked like it matched.  Because it was so long ago, I really don't know what I paid for it either, but given my frugality, it had to be $20 or less.

 

Cheap White Tank = Walmart $3.88

 

Clear/Silver kitten heels = Quite literally my favorite pair of goes-with-everything shoes. If I had known 15 years ago how much I would love them, I'd have bought both pairs they had in my size. (I revisit that poor decision often)  For acrylic princess shoes, they have been quite sturdy and I will miss them when they are gone, which is why I am piecing them back together now. I just super-glued the heel cap back on and hour before this picture. Hopefully a good shoe shop will help me keep them a little longer, but I'm too chicken to find out.

 

Pink and Orange Multi-Strand Necklace = Probably my favorite part of this whole outfit. It is actually two necklaces worn together. I have been looking for a statement necklace to wear with the original skirt outfit but never hit on anything that I felt fit the outfit.  Until I found these two necklaces (Cato Clearance, of course) at the end of the season.  They were both marked down considerably, so I figured, what the heck?!  I connected the lobster clasp of each necklace to the chain of the other necklace (that's a lobster claw claps on both sides) and connected the whole thing with a safety pin behind my neck. Nice huh?

 



 

I feel really pulled together and trendy, despite the newest piece being the cheap white tank.

 

I'm also appropriately dressed for the baby shower we are thowing today in my department (it's a girl, can you tell?)

 

~En-JOY!

What I Wore Wednesday

I really hate having to take a pic in the bathroom mirror, but no one was available to help this early.

Today's WIWW features "The Most Expensive Shoes I've Ever Bought... Ever"

Top = Haynes Outlet $5.99
Skirt = Thift store $1
Shoes = Nine West Outlet $65.00
Jewelry = Gift from my awesome boss

And I always forget to link back to The Pleated Poppy, but this morning I remembered!!

~En-JOY

Have You Forgotten: Annual Repost of My Own 9/11 Story

This is a repost of my my 9/11 story from last year on the 10th anniversary. In the year that has passed, now I count my brother-in-law, among those keeping our country safe.  Eleven years ago, he was just a kid, much like my children. Now he is a man, doing his duty a world away in the Middle East. He has on his mind, the safety and security of not only himself and his family, but the families of millions that call the Land of the Free home.

Today, this is for him

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

It is time for the annual repost of my 9/11 story.

The last few days have been somewhat emotional for me, as the tributes have begun playing on t.v. It's hard to believe it's been ten years now.

If you are a regular reader and have read this story before, I urge you not to skip over it. It's going to be a little different than in years past and here is why:

"All You" magazine had wanted to publish it in this month's edition, along with other 9/11 stories from readers across the country. I was very excited, but after working with the editor, it became clear that for me, the story was still too personal. I was not ready to share it in that medium yet. So my Bucket List item of being published will have to wait a little longer.

I also became aware of a problem that may be caused by the disclosure of a few facts about my customer.

I work for a coffee company. It is a coffee importer and distributor based in Birmingham, Alabama. We primarily handle coffees for Food Service (hotels, resorts, restaurants, hospitals, etc...) Office Coffee (that stuff in your breakroom at work) and Convienence Stores (gas stations, truckstops and the like). We even offer the option to purchase it for your home through our home  goods departmentt. But a large part of our business is Private Labeling.

Have you ever looked at a bag of store-brand coffee and read "packaged for This Store in Birmingham, Alabama?" Well, sometimes, Birmingham, Alabama means us. That is "private labeling." Some companies don't take kindly to the source of their private labeled products being revealed, so I've removed the customer store name. The real point of the story is not where the coffee was going, but the person delivering it and my reaction. And, I like my job.

Next February will mark my 21st year there as a customer service professional. Oh, the stories I could tell.

Like this one.

Tomorrow will be September 11th. Patriot Day.

I'll be wearing my yellow ribbon and my American Flag pin.

This year, marking the ten year anniversary, I know that it will be commemorated with the reverence that it should.

Even after ten years, the emotion is nearly as fresh and raw as it was watching the non-stop news footage.

And every year since, I have thought about 5 cases of coffee.

I cry when I tell it because the emotions bubble back up, so you are at an advantage reading it, though I am about to cry just typing it.

Every now and again, a private-label customer would request a few cases of coffee be sent directly to one of their stores. On September 10, 2001 they requested that I send five cases of coffee to the store on the basement level of WTC. I am told this is where the food court was. They had requested Next Day Air, Early A.M. delivery, which means it is delivered first thing in the morning. I processed the UPS shipment myself, to ensure it was done in time for pick up.

It stood out to me because the address was simply :

(Store Name)
Basement Suite#
WTC, NY and the zip code.

I remember thinking, "How cool is that?"

At the office the next morning, I arrived early enough to make my coffee, prioritize my "things to do" list for the day, and settle in. My department is a long room, lined in cubicles, with a walkway from our main breakroom to our lobby on the interior side and a wall of windows on the other. The cubicles in the center face outward, creating a large open area in the middle of the room. Between each workstation is a curved countertop and a chair, so in the center there are two that face one another like tables in a cafe. The space is very conducive to lingering and chatting by those passing through to and from the main breakroom. At times it can be very disruptive.

Our purchasing agent at the time, a fellow named Ron, was walking through on his way to the main breakroom, coffee cup in hand. You must know this about Ron. He was a very serious individual, but was also extremely funny. He had the driest sense of humor and could deliver the funniest jokes with an expression so deadpan, that sometimes it was hard to determine if he was being serious or pulling your leg. So when he stopped in the center, and asked "Did you hear a plane crashed into the World Trade Center?" we all paused for the punchline.

After convincing us that he was serious, I raced to the breakroom to see the breaking news on t.v. The address of my previous day's shipment suddenly came to mind and it dawned on me, the UPS driver could very well be there at that very moment. I was standing there watching, when the second plane hit.

As the events of the day unfolded, I thought more and more of those five boxes of coffee and the unsuspecting UPS driver I'd sent to his death. I prayed for a lot of people that day, but I prayed specifically for him.

Over the next several days, I began to think about him quite a bit. Was he married, did he have children, what kind of person would he have been....? Because I would never really know his fate, it started to be too much for me. Every time I saw footage of the dust & debris, I imagined a UPS truck buried beneath it.

Though it may sound strange, I felt really guilty, like somehow I was responsible. I cried uncontrollably, nearly daily, over this person I'd never met.

Two weeks went by. My best friend told me that I was going to give it to God and let it go. So I finally prayed that God would give me some peace over it and release me from this guilt I was feeling. I prayed once more for him and his family and "laid it down."

The very next day, our local UPS driver returned those five boxes of coffee stamped "UNDELIVERABLE." They looked as good as the day I sent them out. I took their pristine condition as my sign from God that the driver I prayed so diligently over, was okay too.

Looking back, I can't explain why I was so upset over this person that I didn't know, when there were those who I did know right in the heart of the events.

• My cousin, Amanda, pregnant with her middle daughter, on a courier run in New York. Her company had called her back to the office, just shy of reaching WTC, where her deliveries were to be made. She was one of hundreds of thousands who fled Manhattan on foot across the George Washington Bridge.




• One of our DC route reps had just left from making his Pentagon delivery, watched as that plane passed overhead. He called in, shaken but okay, and told one of the CSR's "I think I just saw a plane crash."




• Moments later friend Penny Huggins Bailey, stationed there as a protocol officer, would be saved from the direct hit by an overwhelming surge of mother's intuition.

There was a resurgence of hospitality, patriotism, and faith. People were kinder, gentler, more caring, more forgiving. More were proud to be American and began to relish what was good about our country, rather than harping on what was wrong. And everyone began to rexamine their faith.

Ten years later, my emotions still overwhelm me, and the tears come as easily now as they did then.

Alan Jackson's "Where Were You" effortlessly captured everything I had felt about the events surrounding 9/11. Thursday, I had posted the video of it from the live performance to my Facebook page. I watched the full five minute video to make sure it was complete and not compromised in any way before I posted it. Half way through, I realized that I was crying.

I know, when I tell this story to my grandchildren some day, I will fight back a tear even then.

I realize that to some extent, as a nation we should "move on." But I was raised that the first part of getting where you are going, is knowing where you've been.

Never Forget


(As always, dedicated to those who unsuspectingly gave their lives Sept 11, 2001, the people who knew & loved them, and all our military hereos keeping us safe ever since.)

I'm Just Wild About Harry.....

I don't think that I have ever written of my extreme adoration for Prince Henry Charles Albert David of England. That's Prince Harry for the rest of you.

From the start, I knew that Prince William ( i.e. William Authur Philip Louis) would be the King of England, but Prince Harry would be the King of Hearts.

Prince William was certainly cute growing up, but I've always had a soft spot for that frisky little red-head. From the top of his carrot-topped head to the flush of his freckled cheeks, he has an air of "devil may care, wearing an expression of mischeiviousness, like a big secret lurking just under the surface. I guess it's easy  to be cavelier when you are known as "The Spare." No one takes you too seriously.  What can I say... I've always liked bad boys.

 He also shares his birthday with my dad, which is a cool little factoid.

Many think my obsession er..ah...addoration, odd at best, given he is young enough to be my son.

Is it wrong to say I think that he's hot? Not so much now that he's officially an adult I suppose.

I was excited to learn that he was shipping to the Middle East about the same time as my brother-in-law. How cool would it be if they met?  Highly unlikely, but cool just the same.

Now, I read that the Taliban has posted a viable threat against my precious Prince Harry.

I admire him for stepping up and allowing himself to be put on the front. Personally, I think I'd be a little more selfish. I'd be "I'm freakin' ROYALTY here folks. Let some other poor schlub hunker down on the front. I'm too valuable."

But he is a man of honor....even if he was photographed running "randy" around Las Vegas.

A "spokesperson" for the Taliban has telephoned in the threat from an "undisclosed location."
How does one become the "spokesperson" without putting himself in line for serious harm?  I mean, we know who this guy is!

Better yet, what the hell are we waiting for?!

Now, please don't take this the wrong way. But if we can get the Google Earth satellite to zone in on our pool parties whenever we please, we can't tell where a telephone call, placed on the Afgani two-cans-and-a-string telephone system is coming from? Come On!

The media reporting all the "tricks" that they use to keep the prince safe, are also not helping.

"Captain Wales"?  Really?  How many of those do you think there are?

Prince Harry, I will tell you like I told my BIL....KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!

Truth in Adverstising

I wonder what angle they took this picture from? That's a pretty small patty doncha think?

What I Wore Wednesday: Sick And Tired Edition

Usually I post what I'm wearing today, whether it's boring or not. But today I am sidelined by some illness that started Sunday as a fever and a tummy ache. (Actually, I've run fever for three nights in a row but the tummy ache stopped yesterday around lunch) The dose of Nyquil last night that broke my fever, caused me to oversleep considerably. Luckily, the kids don't have to be at school until 9:00 a.m or I might have been really late.

Today, you will just have to use your imagination. After 2 mornings of having to be here at 7:00 a.m. I am lucky to be clean and dressed, much less dressed in anything that might be considered chic or stylish.  I am wearing a tee shirt and black pants. I'm not wearing make up. What's the point? All the eye-watering and nose blowing will just run it off. My hair is in a pony tail.  That was the best I could muster, given that I had 10 minutes to get showered and dressed and out the door.

But I am here, and that's all that counts

Really hard to en-JOY right now