Eliminate wasps and....free hugs!!

Day 14:

So, I’m not as consistent at recording my follies, triumphs, and otherwise average experiences as I thought I would be.

Pouty party.

Well, glad that’s over, now let’s get to the good stuff!!

I was walking down a driveway today and this girl from the next house over, comes up to me and says, “Hey, I know you”, and proceeds to give me a hug. Uh…I’ve never seen this girl in my life, and she’s probably ten years old. As she’s hugging my waist, I’m kind of trying to push her away and trying to not be rude at the same time. I’m sure the neighbors are wondering who I am at this point. And I don’t want them to become concerned that I’m just giving neighbor kids hugs, weird. I say, “Oh, where do you know me from?” She says, “Well, I just remember your face”. I just say, “Okay, well…are your parents home?” I continue walking up her drive way to see if they’re home. She leaves me alone. Crisis avoided. Usually I’m super nice to kids because really, they’re cute, and they brighten my day. But this girl literally came up to me from nowhere and suddenly we’re best friends. I guess I have that effect on people. jk

You know you’re out in the middle of nowhere when you see excessive use of PVC pipe as part of a home. This particular house’s front porch railings were made from PVC pipe. It was just cemented into the porch and probably had a diameter of 1.5 inches. There was purple glue residue seen along its sides. PVC pipe, so many uses!

I did see some classy tattoo work today on a gentleman with some solid American and Nascar pride. Wranglers, cut off National Guard T-shirt, barbell mustache, greasy hat, and steel toed boots. The tattoos were very colorful and covered both of his arms. He and I were at the same place. Standing in line at Maverick, or as I affectionately call it, The Mav. Of course, I was there getting the soft serve, he was getting the cigs. I wondered what it would be like to be a gas station cashier. You’d see and meet so many people. But then, I don’t think I’d like to be there past 10 or 11 pm. I’m not sure what kind of people would be coming into the Mav that late, and I wouldn’t want to find out. Plus, I would probably fall asleep. I value my sleep above food and drink. Ah, the life of a gas station cashier. I wonder about that…

Also, if you haven’t tried the Frazil yet, I highly suggest it. If eaten too quickly, you’ll double over with a frozen stomach, as Husband remembered all too well today (yes, that’s 2 treats in one day for those of you that are counting, don’t judge).

My secret to success...

Day 13:
My secret: TREATS!!!!

Today was a pretty good day. Sunny, warm, but not hot. Plenty of wasps to be treated so people were open to listening to me. Best part though, was when I knocked into the owner of one of the TCBY frozen yogurt shops down here. Of course, I asked about everything they had to offer (being an ice cream and frozen yogurt connoisseur myself, we had a lot in common). So, 18 flavors, 37 toppings, I found out which flavor was best, health benefits of frozen yogurt vs. ice cream, etc. He said they were open till 9:30 tonight and that a kid named S. was working there (different name, obviously). He asked if he should call and have him keep it open so we’d have time to get there. I said no, that we’d make it. Well, we had to pick other guys up, which put us behind schedule. I quickly called S. at TCBY and told him we were coming and that the owner said he would pay to keep it open for us to get there. We hauled down the freeway and made it at 9:28. Perfect! Oh and how glorious the experience was! He let us try samples, we got 5 toppings in the one shake, he was super nice! It was so great!

For future reference, I got the white chocolate mousse mixed with chocolate frozen yogurt with Reese’s, butterfinger, and Oreo toppings. This was an excellent choice! Surprisingly creamy texture, with small bits of tasty cookie. A+

Husband got a cake batter and peanut butter frozen yogurt mix with butterfinger, chocolate chips, and something else. I tasted a sample of his. Friendship fees. Not as good. Tasted a little tangy to me and the peanut butter flavor didn’t really come through. So, I will give that one a B+, since it still had the great texture.

As stated in previous entries, treats really are a great motivator for me. And I think I’ve found the highest quality treat. The TCBY frozen yogurt shake. I told S. at the store that we may be coming at 9:28 pm every week night. He said, anytime! Perfect!!

Same drawstring, color, and bunchy ankle hem!

Day 12:

1. Knocked on the door. Son answered. Said his parents were busy. I thanked him and walked down the driveway. The father had just pulled in front of the mailbox to gather his mail. I walk on the sidewalk and say hi. Father accidentally drops a piece of mail from the mailbox as I’m walking by. Before offering to help, I notice it’s an edition of a Victoria’s Secret magazine. But this guy is trapped. He’s sitting in his car, so it would require him to either squeeze his hand through a poorly opened car door or park first, then come back. Poor guy. I decided to pretend I hadn’t really seen the content of the misplaced mail and still offered to pick it up for him. He hastily informed me that he could take care of it. Eeeeeee.

2. Saw a kid fly off of his scooter today when he tried to land a jump from a ramp his dad had made. He promptly wailed, “My butt cheek! It’s on fire!” His dad ignored him.

3. Sooooooo…Husband and I spoke to a couple today on their front porch. They were about 55 years old, nice people. As we were standing there, I realized that something looked familiar. This nice man and I have the same pair of sweat pants. I’m certain of it. I bought mine from the men’s section at Walmart. $5. He, of course, was wearing them right then, and I was wishing I was wearing mine. Not only for comfort’s sake, but to point out that we were twinners! Hello?! Now, hindsight is telling me that this is something I should keep to myself and be glad I wasn’t actually wearing them for the sake of keeping that fact a secret.What can I say? Comfy sweats is where it's at.

Quick! Get the tweezers!

Day 11:

You’re right. I skipped Day 10. I was lazy. We got rained out.

Thunder + lightening + metal binder = no selling.

And I had no desire to write anything about anything. So I didn’t. My apologies.

But today was a new day.

It rained in the morning, but was sunny the rest of the day. I was feeling super unmotivated. Probably because we’ve been rained out the past few days it seems like, and because I felt tired. So….time to regroup. I thought I would share what motivates me to get out there and knock on door after door.

My Motivation:

1. Husband

2. Treats (root beer floats, Frosties, fruit snacks)

3. Paying back student loans

4. Saving money for a house

5. More treats

6. Money for a car

7. Earning time and money for triathlon races and for other things that I might want to do

I’ve made a Dream Board for myself. I add pictures from magazines when I find something else that motivates me. I think I will print out a picture of a house that I like. I tried to draw a blueprint for a house. I just ended up drawing a rectangle with a sharpie, then thought about the house for 15 minutes or so. Turns out I’m not very good at making blueprints. I decided I would rather buy someone else’s blueprint that I like and make any changes to customize it. I should look into that process.

What do you work for? What motivates you to work hard?

Also, just wanted to say; I knocked into this home whose yard had the largest bark chips I have ever seen. You know how they’re usually 2 inches by 1 inch? Just covering the flower beds nicely? Well, these were huge bark pieces from a tree, no, several trees. Think…the size of a shoe. A basketball player’s shoe. It’s like a large tree was cut into twenty pieces and laid on the flower beds. Just scattered about, every which way. I can only imagine getting a splinter from those. Ouch.

One man had a 6 point elk hanging in his front room. I guess that's what they call it when there are 6 points on each horn. Imagine something like this, but mounted, of course.

Lacking social grace and assurance

Day 9:

Very interesting experience today on the doors. I can occasionally stick my foot in my mouth sometimes, but can usually pull it off by coming back with something like, “oh, it’s not a big deal”, or at least something clever enough for people to not be offended. Today, I just kept going and going. Let me know what you think:

Knock, Knock. Young girl answers, very trendy clothes + accessories, a lot of make-up, bleached blonde, long hair.

Me: Hey, how’s it going?

Girl: Good, how are you!

Me: Great! Hey, I’m sorry to bug you, but is your mom or dad here?

Girl: Actually, I’m the mom.

(Oh! I was not expecting that! Hopefully it didn't show on my face)

Me: Oh! Do you mind if I ask how old you are?

(Ok, I asked this before I thought about the question. I guess I figured since I was partially embarrassed enough to ask her if her mom was home, why not dig myself deeper into the hole? After all, I was certain she was younger than me)

Girl: I’m 19.

(Discovery: she is younger than me.)

Me: Wow! So do you own this house?

(At this point I hear the proof of her mother-hood in the background)

Girl: Yeah!

Me: Wow! Good for you! That’s impressive!

Girl: Thanks!

(In my head I’m thinking, “so…she has a kid, and really nice trucks and fifth wheel in the back…when did I miss the course on how to be rich and married by the time I’m 19?”)

Luckily we just kept talking and it was cool. Potentially awkward situations like this seem to happen often to me. But usually I can just slide right past it ever feeling awkward, I think, or at least I hope so. I think the trick is to not let it show that the event was a bit awkward. If you don’t think or react as if it is awkward, than it doesn’t actually make it awkward, right?

awk·ward - a : lacking social grace and assurance awkward newcomer> b : causing embarrassment awkward moment>

I think I found it: lacking social grace and assurance.

Also, saw this guy's artwork today. Very cool and unique: check it out!

http://www.metal-creations.com/index.html