Note from mom

Today when I got home from running errands, I opened my garage door and saw a piece of paper lying on the ground, just inside my garage. The wind kicks up leaves and trash and for some reason, it always ends up right in front of my garage door, so I assumed it was someone else's paper that blew into my garage. I bent down to pick it up and stopped. This was in my mom's handwriting!

I looked around, trying to figure out which box of my mom's stuff, stored in my garage, this piece of paper had escaped from. I couldn't figure it out, nor do I remember ever seeing this note before. My garage is a complete disaster...it's packed to the gills with junk from my mom, dad and my grandparents. Since I live in a one bedroom apartment, I have nowhere else to put anything. But random pieces of paper shouldn't just mysteriously show up.

So the only conclusion I can come to is that my mom wanted me to see this piece of paper today for some reason. I believe that the departed do find ways to speak to us. My sister got a phone call from dad and has been visited by mom several times in dreams. Dad used to hang out with me in my dreams and sometimes I will smell him or my grandma. But this might be the first time my mom has visited me.

Not sure what the significance of this note is. I vividly remember what mom went through in 2009 - and 2010, for that matter. I will never, ever forget it. In fact, I watched the movie My Sister's Keeper on TV last night and cried and cried, remembering all the horrid medical procedures both my parents endured. Maybe it was just the easiest paper for her spirit to find in a box...ha! Maybe it's because my birthday was Saturday...but wait, today is my sister-in-law's birthday. Maybe mom is chuckling right now, knowing that I'm trying to solve the mystery. And maybe one of my cats got into a box when they were in the garage the last time, but then there's still the mystery of how this note made it's way to the front of the garage.

I may never know the answer, but I am thankful that it made me think of my momma and for the smile it brought to my face.

Little Black Boxes

So I finally decided to rejoin an online dating site, begrudgingly. My sister and sister-in-law practically had to force me. Let's face it...the dating world can be a not-so-fun place. Turns out not much has changed since the last time I was on one of these sites. In fact, I'm seeing a lot of the same people. However, I have hope that they work because both my siblings met their significant others on this site. There's a lot of weeding through the weirdos and guys who clearly don't bother to read your profile. But hey, the first guy to contact me was 25! So that did wonders for my ego! And then I noticed a new, disturbing trend:

No, these are not photos of men who have little black boxes for heads. But yes, these are pictures of men posing with money! Literal money. Cold, hard cash. I would really like to know why these men think this is a good profile photo and if this works for them? Are there really women out there who would be impressed by this? Do they think that holding cash makes women swoon? And does Money Boy #1 think that $100 would cut it if that's the case? I'm curious, yet very disturbed by this trend.

So I will plug along and look for men not holding money in their photos. If they happen to have a little money in their bank account, I'm ok with that, but it's not what matters most. Clearly, how much cash you can gather for your profile photo is where it's at!

Who Took the Twinkies?

We have a long-standing family mystery involving Twinkies that I like to call "Who Took the Twinkies?" When we were kids, we spent most afternoons and every summer day at our Grandma and Grandpa Doerfler's house while our parents were at work. Grandma always had a snack for us in the afternoons and one time, she bought a big package of Twinkies. Apparently when she went to serve them to us, they were missing. I remember being placed in what felt like a line up and being questioned, over and over, about who took the Twinkies. After what seemed like hours, my brother Jeff finally admitted to eating them. I knew he wasn't the culprit (he wasn't really into sweets that much) and I knew I wasn't the culprit (I never really liked Twinkies). But I wasn't sure about my sister Jill...ha. She was very young and wouldn't remember now if she were the one who took them. To this day, I think grandma hid them somewhere and forgot where she put them. I wouldn't be surprised if the people who bought their house found those Twinkies, still good since they have a shelf life of 60 years, tucked away somewhere in a corner! Anyway, I just read that Hostess, the company that makes Twinkies, is filing for Chapter 11 and made me think that Twinkies could actually cease to exist, giving a whole new meaning to our "Who Took the Twinkies" saga. I don't eat Hostess snacks of any kind anymore (this could explain the bankruptcy), but it does make me sad for future generations to think that they could grow up without these sugary treats.