Back in time in order to be present

Posted on January 5, 2021 by simplygiselle

I had to log in the site today in order to update my work’s webpage, so I took a quick second to check out my own site only to be completely surprised that the last post was done in 2018?! Whaaa?!! Holy smokes what have I been doing these last 2+ years? (Wait.. did I do the math right?) I will need to go back in time in order to catch up to my current life (which is so much more boring now being shut-in).

Well, I definitely will have to give all my past travel its due diligence and address them separately, so coming up will be trips to Ireland (2018 Dec), Iceland (2019 Jul) and Japan (2019 Dec). After the passing of my father in 2017 and the amazing trip to Paris as sort of an escape from reality (click for pictures – simply an outstanding trip with Goose!), we decided to take as many Christmas breaks as we could to do a big vacation. Unfortunately everything has come to a screeching halt (thanks pandemic you selfish virus!). 2020 has been a bust for everyone, so not much more to focus on other than working from home, working out (lost 13lbs and many inches!) and walking Chester several times a day (whether he likes it or not).

Despite the controlled food intake and double the daily workout, my weight loss has plateaued. So, I have joined the many who participate in Dry January in hopes to jump start another layer of weight loss (or something). If you have not heard of Dry January, it is a personal ‘challenge’ of sorts, to abstain from alcohol starting the first of January throughout the month. Although was seems to be fairly new to the States (2014) upon further research, it was first coined as “Sober January” in 1942 by the Finnish Government as part of the war effort. Huh. The more you know!

Anyway, I have stuck it out and not had a sip (that sounds much more impressive than the fact it is only day 4) and even the temptress Cabernet, I bought in December, consistently sings to me as I walk by, like a siren calling for this old broken boat to cast herself against the rocks along the shore…. I avert my eyes and remain vigilant to my personal promise. Now I find myself filling the void with herbal tea and flavored honey (thanks for the teapot and honey Goose!)

It is still very early in the year and although I have not made any ‘resolutions’ I would like to follow through with a few self improvements; learn the piano and French, among others that I have not yet committed to. My mom played the piano and here it sits in my house, idle. I imagine every time I walk by it says, ‘Hello!! Here I am! Don’t just let me sit here and rot, use me!” I have wasted this last year where I could have been learning and practicing but as it looks like I will be working from home for another 6 months, I should refocus and get it done. I owe it to my mom, and the piano, to put some time in, even if it is a simple Happy Birthday tune.

Tis better to have loved and lost… I call B.S.

Posted on May 21, 2018 by simplygiselle

Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote: “Tis better to have loved and lost. Than never to have loved at all…”

I call total B.S. on this. If you do not have the ability to know what you don’t know, in this case, feel what you haven’t felt before, than how can it be as bad as having your heart and soul ripped out, stomped on and then lit on fire? It can’t, plain and simple.

It is very similar to the dolts that say ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’ – it doesn’t buy it, but it is required to obtain it i.e. travel, parties, etc. Only people with money say this because they want the poorer people to feel better about not having any money.

Just like falling in love, those that are still in love wave the Tennyson crap-flag about,to make us brokenhearted dolts feel better. Well it doesn’t so shut up.

Witness Protection Please

Posted on May 18, 2018 by simplygiselle

This is “Chester” – I had to change his name to protect him from the cartel he was running on the Texas/Mexican boarder. He had just arrived a week before from the mean streets of Texas and staying in the day care system until a foster (temporary witness protection) or an adoption (full blown witness protection).

When the rescue agency tells you that this tiny brown boy not only was the head of the Chihuahua gang on the streets but also again in their day care too, you know he is the real deal. I didn’t make this up!

I haven’t asked about what brought him to New England and why he needed to hide out and he hasn’t offered any hints so I think it best to just ignore it. So far, he loves the area and the people.

It may be a while before he puts his past behind him and stops looking over his shoulder to see if someone recognizes him, but I have assured him, say the word and decorative outfits will be bought to disguise him. He came to the right house; no snitches here. Whatever it was, I think he was framed.

The price of no vacations

Posted on May 10, 2018 by simplygiselle

I have not been ‘inspired’ to write anything these last many months as they have been tumultuous and heartbreaking; a fractured nose complete with concussion, the passing of my father (leaving me an orphan), my 9 year relationship dissolved, and facing the holidays for the first time without parents.

It is time to heal, push forward and grasp the limited time I have here – so no more sadness, time for the vacation updates….

It is no surprise to any one who knows me that I love to travel. I am proud to say that I am not a ‘tourist’ but rather a ‘traveler’ blending in with the locals as best I can by researching the area and culture, food and fun. The latest and greatest was a 10-day Christmas extravaGANZA to Paris with Goose.

We had both been to Paris before, me with my parents just out of high school and she with her high school french class, but this trip together was amazing.

We did hit the hot spots, Eiffel Tower (where we had our Christmas dinner complete with an out of this world bottle of Champagne! Merry Christmas to us!) Arc d’Triumph, and Notre Dame (where I lost my phone on the bus and had to spend half the afternoon tracking it down and explaining that the case that holds the phone says “don’t touch my phone” could be considered ironic…let’s ask Alanis…)

The Louvre was a bit disappointing as it was overcrowded with pushy souvenir sales people. They are hard to ignore and completely take away from the magic that surrounded us. We also walked to the Moulin Rouge – did not attend a performance as there was much more interesting things to do, see, and eat!

YUM – Charcuterie at Le Chat Noir – made a meal of it! and dessert oh my!

Have to get the selfies in – in front of Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame.

Simply an amazing trip to add to the collection of travels and adventures we have had together… and always more to come, much more.

So to get to the title of this post – the price of no vacations — it is the stolen memories… the laughs, the adventures, the awkward conversations in broken languages, the bond created during the fantastic experience… this is the price of no vacations because it never happened.

No Alanis, that is NOT what ironic means

Posted on August 16, 2017 by simplygiselle

To point out the irony of this photo;

it is taped to the white board at work. Yes. Taped. = IRONIC

Which leads me to the Alanis M song Ironic because it just drives me batsh*t there is not one example of irony in the whole damn song. I really like the song…so I have a huge internal struggle every time I listen to it.

**An old man turned ninety-eight, he won the lottery and died the next day… (not ironic just extremely bad timing and hey, he was ninety-eight for crying out loud!)

**It’s a black fly in your Chardonnay…(this just outright sucks and can be considered alcohol abuse because flies are gross and you have to toss the wine no matter how badly you want to drink it)

**It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late…(there is a theme that runs throughout this song focusing on bad timing and this is just the second of many that points it out)

**It’s like rain on your wedding day… (you may think bad timing, but I will chalk it up to omen)

**It’s a free ride when you have already paid… (again, timing. I want to give it another category, but really I can’t its all timing)

**It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take…(ok, this is clearly not ironic but you didn’t take the advice for many different reasons; first and foremost, you may be thick headed and just stuck to your guns, nothing wrong with having some conviction, Alanis!)

And on and on we go. you know the song… dude waits his whole life to take a trip on an airplane and it crashes (pure bad luck, not ironic), traffic jam when you are already late (theme = bad timing), no-smoking sign on your cigarette break (um, are you too damn lazy to move to another spot? The sign won’t follow you around you know…)

Anyway, my photo shows what ‘ironic’ actually means. It’s not timing or bad luck.

Ironic is having a sign that is taped to a white board that states you are not allowed to tape anything to the white board. THAT is IRONIC Alanis. Fit THAT into your earwig song!

Talent(less) Show

Posted on August 8, 2017 by simplygiselle

When work brings up the idea of having a talent show, I immediately think – I have no talent! I can’t even do the Molly Ringwald (Breakfast Club) hands-free lipstick trick! (and I actually had the nerve to judge how lame that was and NOW look at me, ugh).

So what does that leave? Sing? Not unless you want the neighborhood dogs to as my back-up (maybe the barking Christmas carol dogs are still available). Dance? Um, no. I already am convalescing from a concussion and fractured nose and that happened with me tripping over my own shadow a few weekends ago so I can’t afford more time out of work… I can’t throw my voice nor do I want to stick my hand up some puppet’s butt for a few laughs (and I don’t cook a turkey for the same weird reason)… I am not double jointed (although that always sounded so cool) and I am running out of ideas.

I need suggestions and pronto!

Tea for Two

Posted on July 26, 2017 by simplygiselle

My mother (God rest her soul) would break out in song and dance with the slightest, or even no, provocation. She was not Adele and could sing way better than me, she could not remember all the words to most of the songs she sang, and then there was always that ‘make up words as you go along’ to fill in the blank spots…which I think she did on purpose just to annoy me.

But Tea for Two was not just any song; she gave the whole soft-shoe-tap-dance like I was watching a 1920’s vaudevillian show.

Tea for two and two for tea
Me for you, and you for me..alone!

enter the soft-shuffle with full 360 degree turn while wearing a flowered housecoat and slippers. Yes it was quite a sight.

As I would sit there and shake my head at what I was seeing and hearing, she would say, “you will miss my singing when I am gone”. I miss more things about her than I can ever count; her singing is not one of them. Maybe I need more than 5 yrs time to appreciate it.

Lollipops and Wise Old Owls

Posted on July 20, 2017 by simplygiselle

Mr. Owl; how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

It is close to impossible for me to hear the word lollipop and not travel back in time to the 70’s to a commercial where a young boy asks a number of animals this very important question. I wont even describe the short commercial because it loses so much in translation. The answer ultimately becomes 3 and leaves you to believe even further it is not the answer because the owl can’t make it to the end and bites into it. Ok, spoiler alert for those that were too lazy to look it up beforehand.

My favorite flavor of the tootsie pop was cherry but the tootsie roll center was not a complementary pairing. I ended up tossing the center which is too bad because it is pretty tasty on its own.

In need of some Tooth Fairy money but Mother Nature is taking to damn long? Astro Pop to the rescue! Sticky rating: 11 out of 10. No way to save a tooth once this pop made the slightest touch.

A Ring pop is for the little girl who wanted it all; the 12 yr old prince that could afford one and the sugar to keep us running from them and pulling on our ponytail.

The Whistle Pop is the revenge pop to every parent who allowed their child to scream endlessly at the supermarket or restaurant and blankly stare at the rest of us as our ears bleed, for every kick to the back of our chair, for every cut in line at the bathroom because the kid just couldn’t wait… take THAT. A lollipop that blows out your eardrums for a good 30 mins or more, hopefully on a long car ride where the parent cannot escape.

The DumDum, aka the Halloween lollipop . A case of these will cost about a dollar. Treats handed out at a fraction of the cost and yard not toilet papered; dun and dun. Any what is with the ‘mystery’ flavor? Call it berry and stop screwing with us.