Happy Juice

Once a month, our family will come together and do our big grocery shopping. This is where we get all of the things that will carry us through. Non perishables, cleaning supplies, stuff for the next few weeks, dog food. You know the one shopping trip every month that you spend hundreds of dollars and come home broke just to watch it dwindle to nothing all over again. Yea, that trip. I rather enjoy it. It is yet another time where there are no electronics and televisions and we have to interact with one another as families are supposed to do. (You would think I would be a big fan of the whole 'eat dinner at the table' movement but it is the moments like the grocery shopping that do not seem forced like watching each other shovel dinner into our pie holes. I prefer those moments over a forced moment any day. Besides, I have already asked everyone about their day long before dinner comes around. So there! Yea, I digressed, didn't I?)

Sometimes you see things in the grocery store that just make you go....OKAY!  I have seen Snookies dog snacks, Bordeaux Butt Paste, Boogies Wipes, Piddlers, and a whole host of other things that were just wrong to be named that. But this particular shopping trip, it was Cal who found something that was like YESSS!

He found Happy Juice! Let us disregard, for a moment, that it was in the alcoholic beverages section. (Don't judge, the soda and bottled water is in the same section so do not go there. No drunks in this family thank you very much. Besides, if you knew our kids, you would wonder WHY we don't have a full bar in our house anyway.) NEW THOUGHT! I will be right back, gotta check the lottery numbers.

............

Ok. Back. Typical ending to the lottery numbers. Crumpled up paper to add to the recycling pile. It never fails. Back to the Happy Juice. The off brand beer and coolers are across the back wall and the name brand beer is in a cooler on the side of the section. All of the soda, flavored water, wine, and bottled water are on the rows in the middle of the floor. As we rounded the end of the soda aisle to go to the bottled water in the next aisle, there was a woman standing there holding her buggy down. She was not interested in the goings on around her, she was just sort of standing there doing nothing. As we walked by her, she took a couple of steps and it looked like she was about to walk away. However, Cal stopped her. He walked by her  and about five steps later, he did an about face and said "Did I just see Happy Juice?"  He walked around the end of her buggy (she was about to turn into the soda aisle) and went to the corner and pulled a glass bottle off the top shelf. It was filled with something red and had a yellow top. Was a typical 24 oz glass bottle but it had an evil yellow smiley face on it. The woman actually had to stop walking because he had cut her off and she looked at him incredulously. "Look! It's Happy Juice!" he said and presented the bottle to her face. Her flabbergasted look turned into one of amusement as he walked back by her and she giggled as she walked into the soda aisle, forever forgotten (or so she thinks. It would be CRAZY if she read this! haha.) 

He brought the bottle to me and yup. It was there. "Happy Juice" Evil smiley face and it was an alcoholic beverage! Oh yea, if someone has a few of those they may certainly be happy, or happily fall down, or happily puke....whatever floats your boat. Of course, I pull out the camera. Yes please! Something to write about! I do find myself thinking, when I have an especially trying day, would Happy Juice bring the happy back? I am not one for trying a new beverage because I like my go-tos but I may take the plunge and try that one day. 

Here is Cal with the Happy Juice, I almost had to take the picture twice because he was smiling holding the bottle. Even here, you can see that he finds it as amusing as I do. Yes, we have a sick sense of humor. That is why I love my Cal! :)

What a great name for a frosty cold one huh? (Oh! Imagine what it would look like were it truly frosty and had some of that crystal ice forming on the outside of the bottle? I would hope to get the one that forms mean eyebrows on the smiley face making more fanatical. Hehehe)

What do YOU think?

Day 9: Mommas Dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys (Waylon Jennings)

This is for all the ladies out there who are lucky enough to have a man bring you to meet his family. On many levels, this is a big step. It is one for the relationship, your love, and you. It is an important step in the relationship because it is an indicator that things are becoming serious and this is more than just some fly by night romance. It is a big step for your love because he thinks enough of you to 1. Expose you to his family and the eccentricities and 2. It opens the relationship and you to scrutiny. It means he is prepared to answer for all the flaws found in the relationship and your personalitym it is inevitable, he will be drilled and asked a mollion questions the next time he talks to the parental units without you. Finally, it is a big step for you because you will see the environment that produced this man and give you insight for some things that may need explaining but you were too afraid to ask.

It is a good thing that first impressions are important. Most of the time, the first meeting will be brief. You want to look decent, use your manners and still be you. This can be hard for some personalities. That is ok. Just don’t be too nervous.

Now ladies, I want you to be aware of something. Your other half may be the farthest thing ever from a Mommas Boy. He may not even get along with his mother that well. There may even be a step mother that raised your love. Take to heart every single thing this woman has to say. This woman knows more about your man than anyone else on the planet. No amount of long relationships, exes, or best friends can have a more candid opinion about this man than his mother.

The point I am getting to is this; if she gets you alone, things may be said. Mothers are protective of their sons just like fathers over their daughters. There is one conversation that I am going to discuss that you really need to pay attention to. (I personally never had this conversation with Cals mom. So this is not one of those been there, done that things. However, ecperience makes us stronger and I learned over the years. Strength with experience works fine too. Be strong phenomenal woman….I digress.)

Should this mother take you to the side, offer you a cup of coffee at the kitchen bar, look you square in the face and say:

“I hope you are ready to love my baby.”

Sit up and take notice. What follows that statement will give you great insight to the future. More specifically, should she follow that up with:

“It takes a special kind of personality to be attached to a (insert you loves last name here.)”

You have three options. 1. You run. Run very fast and very far. 2. Politely stay out the visit and break it off later. Or 3. Hope you have the intestinal fortitude to take whatever this man may have happen and dish out lest you become so frazzled you will want to jump off the pier during shark season.

Its easier said than done. Just remember lovely lady. Should you have that presented to you, consider your strength. This man will test everything you are about and you have been warned. Should you accept the challenge…it is for life and nothung will be the same.

What do YOU think?

Relationships

I had a co- worker mention that she would like to read something about relationships. While I am no expert, I wondered: Did she mean ships that were relation? OR relations that had ships? OR simply relatives and their ships? OR vice versa?  Ok, so maybe she meant social or love.  Ya, that is not something that I am adept at providing information about but let us see what my warped mind can come up with.  You already got my two cents about ships and relatives. Not that any of my relatives HAVE ships or are even remotely close enough to purchasing one, it was quite witty. (If I must say so.)

**Love**

I love my husband dearly. I love my kids. All of them are why I breathe. I love my dog. I love my various other pets, plants, siblings, and my parents. I even love my mother in law.  All of those are very different situations.  Being said, that means that I assume my take on this one would be to live right and the rest will follow.  Don’t try to fix something that refuses to be fixed. (My sister hasn’t spoken nicely to me in years.) Also, don’t walk away simply because it gets too hard. Every relationship will run into rough waters. It happens.  Especially between those who are in love with each other.  I can tell you, my husband I have been through thick or thin. But we have never walked away from each other and said “I quit.” For us, that is NOT an option!   We just keep chugging along. I guess that attributes to our longevity as a couple! J

I have nothing more on that particular subject. I am no expert. I just know what is right for me. Each situation is different and it is all a matter of trial and error.

**Family**

Not speaking to a sibling?  What about your kids?  Try to fix it if you believe it to be necessary. If the whole spat is something silly or this long complicated thing, just let it ride. There will come a time when you will need to speak to each other and that may be the day that things will come full circle.  Blood is thicker than water and while some blood may never be happy around each other again, that may be for good reason or no reason at all. Just live life right and to the fullest and the one who is in the wrong will see the err of their ways one day.  You will see.  No expert here either but this is what is working for me.

**Pets/plants/strays/other things**

If you don’t have some sort of bond between you and your pet or a connection of sorts or if you simply hate them; get rid of them. They need to be loved too, just like humans and they DO have feelings.  It is not right to simply have a pet to bring out and put away as you please. Would it be fair to lock your children in a cage when you did not want to deal with them?  Well, the same goes for your pets. If you don’t have time or it is not in your heart, find a better or more appropriate home for them.  While it may be a hard decision, it is the better one. 

Plants?  The same. It drives me up the wall for someone to get a plant and not try to keep it watered. It is not horribly difficult to do. Some plants you just water when the soil feels dry, others you water more often. Most store bought plants come with instructions on how to water and what kind of light they prefer. Like anything else, it is trial and error but, if you do not have time or you are travelling a lot, give the plant to someone who will care for it. They are living things too and need care just as a pet or fellow human would.  Heck, when I was a kid, I was convinced that talking to my plants helped them grow. What I didn’t realize was that it helped me too because you can tell a plant a secret and they will never turn on you!  While a bit eccentric, it is great therapy! I promise!

Strays?  Well, this is something else entirely.  You can feed a stray once, but they do come back. If they find it a very cushy deal for them, they will bring friends. Be careful in doing this because it may cause issue.  Also, turtles belong in ponds. This is especially true if you find them in your yard or on your porch.  Just take them to a pond and turn them loose. No lost love there. Easy peasy.

Other stuff?  Stuff is just stuff. While you may have a heirloom or sentimental value, it is nothing compared to your own life and do not let your stuff consume you to the point of intervention.  The first step of letting go is always the hardest but you find it easier the second and third time. It is ok to keep things and keep little trinkets that are sentimentally significant, but do not take it to a level where it damages you and your other relationships…or relations with ships their ships will sink if you load up their ships with your stuff and they will not want to be related to you anymore….

What do you think?