Peeling Back the Layers

I've started so many posts, but just can't figure out what to say.  I feel like I'm in such a wonderful place right now, with so much opportunity ahead of me.  It's just that everything feels....well.....ahead of me. 

It's as if there is nothing happening today that is interesting enough to talk about.  Wow.  That sounds pitiful.  But seriously, let me explain.  Yesterday I got up bright and early and headed to a local Food Lion.  This particular Food Lion is closing, and everything in store (other than alcohol and tobacco) was 50% off starting yesterday.  I grabbed my coupon bag, and headed out the door. 

I was at Food Lion for probably 3 hours.  I spent $200.  I saved about $300, thanks to my coupons.  I came home and my housekeeper was here.  Yes, you heard right.  I don't have a job, but I still have a housekeeper.  Shush.  I don't want to hear it.  So my housekeeper and I chatted for about an hour, while I put my groceries away.  It was past lunch time, and so I had a late lunch.  And then little Louis needed some snuggles.  And before you knew it...TEN was leaving work and wanted to know if I wanted to watch a movie. 

You see where I'm coming from, right.  What in the heck am I going to write about that? 

I've been job searching online today.  Looking for something that I think would inspire me.  Something that would make me want to better myself.  Something that would challenge both my mind and my soul.  I started pacing through my house.  Down the main staircase.  Down to the basement.  Back upstairs.  Then I decided to take photographs of the things that made me smile. 

I still don't have any idea what I want to be when I grow up, but here's what I found worth smiling about today....

(my deep freezer!!  definitely the best $75 i've ever spent in my life)

(seeing this sucker packed to the brim, and knowing that I won't go hungry for a long, long, long time...)

(oh yes.  those are breakfast sausage patties that you see.  mmmmm....i'm all about some breakfast these days!)

(part of the personal care section of my stockpile)

(sauces and soups and such...)

(TEN remarked that we needed to find a recipe that would use soy sauce and worcestershire sauce.  because i have even more in another stash :-o)

(paper products)

(laundry supplies under the counter...)

(...and on top of the counter)

(this is my view every morning at 8:30am.  please notice the 3lb hand weights.  my arm muscles are getting out of control.  i'll bee up to 4lb hand weights in no time. hehe..)

(some of my formal gowns.  sometimes, while on my treadmill, i stare at them.  and i remember the balls i wore them to.  and what wonderful things happened.  always good for a smile)

(random montage of old halloween costumes.  another good walk down memory lane)

(rando Russian musical instrument that my dad found and bought.  it has all of this Russian writing inside, and is probably worth a mint.  wonder if pops would mind if I sold it?  hmmm....i'll meditate on that.)

(what i refer to as my "wine cellar".  yes.  i really do call it that.)

(portrait my parents had painted of me once upon a time.  aren't i cute?  i'm pretty sure that had Toddlers & Tiaras existed back then i would have walked away with Ultimate Grand Supreme.  WORK IT TOOTIE!!!)

(this is a photo of my dad.  he was younger than me here.  sometimes this picture makes me smile.  sometimes it makes me cry.  i just wish i could talk to him.  in person.)

(i don't even remember this time in my life.  this is the home in Florida where i grew up.  i didn't realize that we hadn't always had the huge screened in porch, the deck and the pool.  amazing, since i look like i should be old enough to remember that.  dad's rockin the seersucker pants and some mad hair.  this little pup is Piper.  he was my first westie love.)

(dad & i in the hammock.  i have this hammock now.  it hangs in my back yard in the summer.  laying in that hammock is one of the things that makes me happiest in the world.)

(my mother sent me this picture in this year's birthday card.  i can't help but laugh every time i see it.  look how demanding i am!  for a minute i thought i was giving someone the finger, but i'm sure that can't be so.  i'm probably saying "give me that knife so i can cut myself a piece of this damn cake!!")

(the downstairs bathroom where i get ready each morning.  i'm not really sure why i get ready downstairs?  it is definitely cooler in the summer, and i think i feel like i don't use enough of my house?  it has 4BRs and 2 full BRs and it's just me here.  regardless, it's my "get ready room")

(another shot from the downstairs bathroom)

(this is my kitchen, and my most favorite room.  i wish it were bigger, and that i had an island, and newer cabinets...but whatevs.  it's mine.  and it's where everyone congregates.  and where all of my mad cooking skills are put to use.)

(my parents in Europe.  i think this was their honeymoon.  i love my mother's suit!)

(my upstairs bathroom.  my mother's bathroom is all white, and i love it.  so...i copied her!  white shower curtain.  white tile floors.  and blue accents.)

(this little man is the first thing i see every morning when i walk out of my bedroom)

(speaking of my bedroom, this is the "accessory" get ready space)

(here is the "which purse shall I carry?" space)

(belt or no belt today??)

(my home "office".  this doesn't really make me smile, it actually makes me laugh.  hysterically.  for some reason?)

(one of my spare bedrooms.  well, one corner of it anyway...)

(and here's me!  the new me.  the me that doesn't really look a whole lot skinnier, but whose legs feel so much stronger!  and whose arms are starting to have some definition.  someone who isn't sure what the hell she is going to do with her future, but she's pretty darn sure she's looking better and better in her leggins.....)

So there you have it.  I've got Mumford & Sons Little Lion Man on repeat, and I won't get tired of it for a while.  It's a song that I've always liked, but when I listened to it yesterday I realized that it had a different meaning for me these days.  It's empowering somehow?  I was singing it at the top of my lungs a few hours ago when the mail lady came.  I'm pretty sure I scared her half to death......





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