Sarabeth's Blog

A little known fact about me: I always return shopping carts to the shopping cart return station, or to the front of the store.  I never leave them in the parking lot, or jammed up on curbs.  This hasn’t always been my way of doing business, but for the last year or so, I’ve made it a special point to always return my cart.  On a few occassions, I’ve actually been so helpful as to return other rouge carts to the cart return if they happen to be in the way of parking spots.  Sometimes, I even pat myself on the back for this good deed of mine.  It makes me smile, like I’m contributing to the good of society or something.  It’s a small, unrecognized gesture, but at least it’s something, and something is better than nothing.

Last night, I had just finished returning my cart to where they keep the carts at the front of the store, when I saw a lady with about six carts.  She was a bit on the heavy side, and not a young buckeroo by any stretch.  She also wasn’t wearing a uniform.  I stood in awe as I realized that she wasn’t an employee at all.  She was a normal customer that collected six carts on her way IN to the store.  She left five of them with the rest of the carts, and took one for her own shopping.  Wow!  I’m not impressed very often, but that impressed me.

Perhaps I will try to take in one or two carts on my way into the store from now on.  That right there makes me smile!

Last night, I drove into the Publix parking lot to try to find a space.  In my chosen aisle, there was a car waiting on a spot close to the store.  There was a spot right behind where they were waiting that was vacant.  I drove closer to get the second spot and stopped to wait on the person to move (see diagram below).  As I was waiting, another person in a spot directly to the right side of my car was backing out of their spot.  They didn’t see me.  So, like any person would do, I honked my horn.  I had no where to go.  There was already someone behind me, so I couldn’t back up.  The lady was waiting in front of me, so I couldn’t pull forward.  The backer-upper still didn’t see me.  This person was about a foot from hitting me, so I honked again.  This time, longer.  FINALLY they slammed on their brakes and didn’t hit me. I pulled forward to take my spot, the backer-upper got out of their spot and left, and the lady in front of me was able to pull into her spot safely. 

I KNEW the lady in front of me probably thought I was honking at her to get into her spot more quickly.  I had to say something.  I waited at my car until she finally got out of hers.  I said, “Ma’am, that was me honking.  I just wanted to let you know that I wasn’t honking at you.  I was honking at a Mustang that was pulling out on the right side of my car and was about to hit me.  It was about two inches away from me before he finally stopped.  I’m sorry if you thought I was honking at you, but I wasn’t.”  I was 100% sincere, polite, and apologetic.  She looked at me, still walking, and said, “I thought that was extremely rude!”  Then she closed her eyes, stuck her nose up in the air and walked right past me towards the store.  I couldn’t believe it.  I had a legitimate reason to honk, and it wasn’t even directed towards this lady.  Seeing the possible perception misconception, I took action to reclify my position by explaining the situation and clarifying any misunderstanding.  Nope, she still snubbed me.  Not cool lady, not cool.  I felt bad for my entire grocery shopping trip.  I even ran into her a few times, and she couldn’t look me in the eye.  Really?!?!? 

Public service announcement:  Cars have horns for a reason.  Honking your horn is NOT a crime, especially not if it is done for a reason.

Perception got me again today.  I stopped at Sweet Tomatoes to get a take-out salad for lunch.  I’ve never done this before, so wanted to ask a question about how the take-out system worked.  I stood patiently waiting for the salad line employee to finish talking to another customer.  When they finished talking, I went to get her attention, so I said, “Excuse me, Ma’am?”  HE turned around and said, “It’s sir!  How can I help you?” 

Oh

my

god! 

Without missing a beat, I quickly apologized and didn’t make a scene.  I asked my question and moved on to collect my salad.  The reason I even thought it was a lady in the first place is because he had a feminine voice.  Very soft and a little higher than average for a man.  I didn’t check for boobs.  Who checks to make sure someone has boobs before they address them???  Also, he had long hair that was tucked into his hair net like a bun.  I got to thinking while I was in the line.   What if this guy is really tore up about this incident?  What if it just ruined his day?  What if he is already self-conscious about his looks, and I just threw him over the edge?  I didn’t stop and apologize again.  Maybe I should’ve, but I didn’t.  As I was walking out, I thought to myself, maybe he might be a drag queen or something, and maybe I just unknowingly gave him a compliment.  That’s the best I can come up with.  Regardless, I still feel extremely bad about this and it makes me really sad. 

Perception is a killer.  This just goes to show that any situation can be seen in a billion different ways, all depending on where you’re standing.  Keep that in mind before you react in a certain way to certain things in life.

A good friend of mine recently sent me a link to www.WhenParentsText.com. 

If I’m ever in a bad mood, I go to this website.  If I’m ever mad at someone, I go to this website.  If I ever feel like the world is full of terrible things, I go to this website.  You get the idea.

This website is a compilation of texts between parents and children.  Real life text strings are submitted through the website.  They reveal how utterly clueless parents are with texting technology and their children as a whole.  It brings out the cheesy and embarassing things parents expose their children to.  The best part about this site is that you can actually put yourself in the position of either the kids (my case) or the parents. 

Example: Everytime my dad texts me, he ends the message with “All my love, Dad”.  I told him once, “Dad, you don’t have to sign your message with ‘Dad’.  I already know the message is from you because it’s coming from your phone number.”  He has since stopped writing “Dad”, but still wants to let me know he loves me.  He has shortened “All My Love” to “AML”.  This is one of the sweetest things my dad does for me on a daily basis.  Yes, it’s extremely sweet, but also funny!   

This website provides the reader with good, clean humor and is a great opportunity for some laughs!  To give you an idea, here is one of my favorites:

This morning I found myself especilly frustrated with people at work who had neglected to return emails to me.  Idiots!  They’re all idiots!  There’s nothing that gets my goat more than an unreturned email.  HOWEVER, I have a newly discovered technique that I’d like to apply to this situation.  The technique is called reframing (You can read all about it on the blog of Life Coach, Tim Brownson, at www.ADaringAdventure.com). 

My ability (or inability) to adopt this technique as a life-long practice will have huge impacts on my stress and anxiety levels, tendency to worry too much, and my overall positivity in life.

Here’s how it works:

Situation: An irresponsible and inconsiderate coworker/colleague didn’t respond to my high priority email which was time-sensitive and had a very specific and easily-answerable question in it.

Reframe:

• At least they didn’t forward my message to my boss and reveal how demanding I am (yet).
• This situation gives me a better appreciation for people who do actually return their emails and makes me want to strive towards return-email-perfection in my own life.
• Perhaps they were in a bad accident or their mother died, in which case it can be agreed that my email is certainly no longer as critical.
• This gives me time to work on other tasks that I might not have gotten a chance to work on had I received their response.
• Perhaps they are too busy working with a potential client and are winning us a project, which would give a little more job security to everyone in my division.

I’m pretty sure this is how the technique works.  In this case, I’m not too mad about the unreturned email anymore…although I still need an answer.  Luckily, I was able to make arrangements which have dispelled the critical nature of the task.  It can wait until Monday.

Last night, I opted for the stationary bike at the gym, because that would give me the best position for reading a book.  Not just any book either.  More on that in just a minute.

I feel it would be good to tell you that I hate the gym.  I hate exercising to the point that if I had it my way, I’d sit on my butt all day long, moving only to reach out for an occasional sip of Pepsi, or walking across the hall to the bathroom.  I’d walk from my house to my car to drive to work, then from my car to my office chair.  I’d work all day long without getting up, and then the process would reverse.  Lately though, I’ve felt like a big fat hippo and have realized (with some help from my prodding husband) that I need to get off my ass and start moving around.  This fact doesn’t make me like it anymore than I did before, but it must be done.

I don’t normally read at the gym.  All that moving around makes me lose focus on the book I’m reading, so I just choose not to read.  Furthermore, the only exercise machine that allows for good reading, the stationary bike, doesn’t provide a very good workout, it really hurts my butt, and isn’t my favorite machine (if such a thing even exists).  However, last night, I settled in on my stationary bike and read.  When I got to a stopping point, I glanced up to the timer, I had already gone for 25 minutes without even realizing it.  Next thing I knew, I had exceeded my goal of 35 minutes, and was at 41 minutes.  Incredible! 

Project: Happily Ever After by Alisa Bowman is “her brutally honest and humorous account of how she went from being a ‘divorce daydreamer’ to renewing her wedding vows – and all of the steps in between”.  I’m having trouble writing this review, because this book means so much to me, and I want to give it due justice.  Alisa’s work is so special to me because I discovered it at a very low point in my life.  Truth be told, I have a struggle with anxiety and depression.  On multiple occassions, Alisa’s words have given me the strength and courage to pursue the things that make me happy.  Her words have given me a desire to make my life worth living.  At the very least, her words have been my motivation to improve my marriage at least twice. 

Alisa starts her story by giving us a picture of the moment she decided to improve her terrible marriage.  Then, she takes us back to before she met her husband-to-be and the boyfriends and lovers of that time.  Then we find out how she met and reluctantly fell for her husband.  Next comes moving in together, getting married, building her career, and having a child.  All the while, her connection with her husband was fading, which led to her mentally planning his funeral.  I don’t want to give too much away.

The best part of the book is that Alisa writes with a conversational tone.  You feel like she’s describing the story to you over sushi on a Saturday girls’ night.  It’s anything other than a typical, boring self-help read.  It’s also not corny, dry, or irrelevant.  Everyone, no matter where you come from, what part of life you’re in, or what your maritial status is, can and will relate to and gain something from this book.  I hate reading, but I read this book in about two days.  I couldn’t put it down.

The single criticism that I have of Project: Happily Ever After is that I feel like Alisa might have protrayed her husband as a bit more of a pushover than he must be in real life.  However, with that said, perhaps my husband is just extremely strong-willed, and I can’t imagine any husband anything but similar.  That pretty much invalidates my criticism, though.  At some points I was asking myself “Why isn’t he arguing with her?”, “Why is he going along with this?”  Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.

At one point while I was reading on the stationary bike, a fellow exerciser put her hand on my arm and asked me if I was alright.  She was legitimately worried about me.  You could see it in her face.  As I shook myself to reality, I realized that I was so griped by the story that my face showed pure sadness, worry, and despair (the week after Alisa gave birth to her daughter, her mother suddenly

This book has truly enriched my life.  I wish there were more books like this out there.  It would certainly make cardio go by so quicker.

I’ve been waiting for a few straggler Christmas presents to arrive in the mail.  Some of which, I have to hide from the snooping eyes of a certain husband.  I went to my mailbox yesterday, only to find a package that didn’t seem to be the size of any that I might be expecting.  From “Bowman”.  Hmmm…could it be from Allen’s friend in New Orleans?  If so, then why is it addressed to me, not him?  I looked at the return address.  Pennsylvania.  Hmmm…Do I know a Bowman in Pennsylvania?  DUH!  Of course I do!  Alisa Bowman, Author of Project: Happily Ever After!  What would she possibly be sending me???  That’s right people!  Read it and weep! 

Alisa sent me an autographed copy of her book!  What an amazing and plesant surprise!

MY BOOK IS FINALLY HERE!!!!  I pre-ordered a copy of “Project: Happily Ever After” by Alisa Bowman in April, and have been waiting patienly for it to be released and mailed ever since.  IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!! 

Another bonus: A quote by me, along with my name, is written in the book.  How awesome is that?!?!?!  Page 261.  You’ll have to buy it to find out what I said.

If you’re still unsure about whether or not you should buy this book, even though I can tell you right now it’s sure to be extremely amazing, I’ll be posting a review as soon as I’m finished reading it. 

Page 261 of "Project: Happily Ever After" by Alisa Bowman

There’s nothing like instant love for another.  Two people that I never had to think twice about loving are my nephew, Nathan, and my brand new niece, Briana.  They both came into this world and stole my heart with the least amount of effort. 

Nathan is just about 20 months old.  He’s growing so fast!  I recently got an opportunity to spend a week at my sister’s house. I got to enjoy his company for most of the days I was there.  Although he has his moments, like every child does, he was generally sweet as can be.  When he was in just the right mood, and the time was timed perfectly, he’d crawl up on the sofa with me and lay his head on my shoulder to watch TV.  It’s moments like that makes life worth living.  Sometimes he’d crawl up on his mom chair (she was 40 weeks pregnant at the time) and give her belly kisses. What a sweet boy!

Nathan barely talks, although there are a few things that come out of his mouth that sound like actual words.  Among them are: juice, eat, balloon, mama, dada, and bye bye. I love to hear him babble on and on about nothing in particular.  He gestures with his little hands and seems to have complex emotions portrayed on his face, but he’s still just a little boy being a little boy.

I love him more than words can ever express.

This past Sunday, two days ago, my sister gave birth to my very first niece, Briana.  She’s an absolute gorgeous doll!  I am saddened that I wasn’t able to make it to North Carolina to be with her during the birth or recovery, but I look forward to being able to go up there and meet Briana for the first time. 

From what my sister tells me, she hardly cries and she’s super tiny.  She says that Briana looks just like Nathan did when he was born, but I can’t help but smile at the prescence of pink in her pictures. 

Thank you to my sister for giving me these two children to love instantly and unconditionally.

Briana, 1 day old

Nathan, 20 months

www.DamnYouAutoCorrect.com

All I have to say is:

Funniest. Site. Ever.

This morning, I opened up this website on a friend’s recommendation. Within 30 seconds of reading it, I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe, had tears in my eyes, and was spitting all over my desk. That’s funny stuff!

It’s not just the meat. Although, I have to say, Publix has some good cuts. I love the people that work in the meat department at Publix. Not just any Publix, either. The Publix at Chickasaw and Lake Underhill in Orlando. Their service is phenomenal! They consistently go out of their way to make sure I have everything I need, every single time I shop.

For example, last night I wanted a leaner cut of ribeye steak since we’re on a diet. As an alternative, I noticed some New York Strip that looked pretty lean, but wasn’t sure it would taste as good. We’ve had a lot of delicious ribeye, so I hate to deviate. “Frank” was stocking the ground beef, so I figured I’d ask his opinion. He strongly recommended the ribeye, although he gave the new york strip it’s compliments, he said the ribeye was the way to go. I expressed my concern for the lack of leaness of the cuts available on the shelf. There was one three-pack that had two leaner-looking steaks. He offered to repackage the steaks so I’d only have to buy the two steaks instead of three. I told him I’d be back to pick them up in a few minutes. He went to the back of the meat department, repackaged them, and then found me in the store to give them to me instead of making me go back to the counter.

What a nice guy!

It’s not just the meat department either. That whole Publix location always treats me so nice! On Friday, I had to ask a produce stock person where I could find the fresh ginger. She stopped what she was doing and took me to it. Later, in the same shopping trip, I couldn’t find the egg roll/spring roll wraps. I asked her and she took me right to those too!

Even though it’s not the closest Publix to my house, I always go to this location because they have the absolute best service! I love them!