Taking a Trip To Holland!

Holland Michigan that is :-). Had ya going didn't I ? The third week of July we are taking a trip to Holland for 3 nights. I am so looking forward to this break. We can't do a whole week . I havent been to that area of the state before and I hear its beautiful . We are staying right next to Dutch Village. Not really sure we will even go there though. I am more interested in Tunnel Park. Its a tunnel of trees that you walk through and when you get to the end there are sand dunes and Lake Michigan! Sounds glorious to me. The day we get there they are having a music festival at night downtown. So we will do that and well just take in the beauty of this area of Michigan. I'll take pics and post them. I really love Michigan in the summer and Fall.

Life Lessons

I love the above picture that my daughter Rachel took of herself. It reminds me of a yoga pose we do where you spred your arms out wide lean your head back and open yourself up to the Universe.

Today's post is just three bits of advice I have learned as I stumble,walk and run through this thing called life.
1. You stay young by moving out of your comfort zone
2. There is a reason we lose our close up vision as we age,so forget the botox
3. Learning to say no is the most freeing thing you can learn,just be polite about it.

As if we don't have enough to worry about....

Had a client in the spa today getting a facial. We got to talking and the" so what do you do for a living?" question came up. Well she is a prison guard at a prison in Wayne county. I am like "Wow you must really need this facial,sounds like a stressful job" She says it really is. BUT what is even more stressful is that they are releasing Prisoners way, way to soon. They released 70 last month alone and she said NONE of them were ready to be out. BAD attitudes,disrespectful ect. She knows most, if not all will be back in withen a year. She says it seems like they are only keeping murderers,everyone else is getting out.

I asked ,"is this becouse of over crowding?" She says no,there is room to house them,but there have been so many cut backs that they don't have the funding or people to work at the prisons to house them....

Great,just great I'm thinking to myself. She expects all will be back withen a year..that means all of them will do something to get thrown back in. Commit a crime or violate their probation in some way,I.E. commit a crime. And that was just 70 in ONE month,and that is just ONE prison.

Watch your backs ,lock up your homes,dare I say arm yourself? I have never been a gun advocate ever but now I'm thinking...maybe it's not such a bad idea?

My half sister's mom who is 79 just got assaulted last week at the mall in Florida. She was lucky they only hurt her hand some while they robbed her. It was daylight. She was scared to death! And most likely still is.

Somethings gotta give....

Just a short post to vent some frustration. Hey I named this Blog Rambling for a reason...lol.
People keep coming into work (I work in a Day Spa) and asking if the economy has slowed down business. And when I tell them yes they actually seem surprised! Well DUH! of course it has. I don't really know of any business in Detroit that hasn't been affected.
If any of you know a business that is flurishing right now please tell me,I could use the ray of hope. I will admit there are some restaurants that seem to be holding up ok.

We got a mailing at work the other day from the management of a large local mall. They were offering one year FREE rent,a FREE sign,FREE moving costs,and several other incentives for us to move our business there. We have NEVER gotten this type of mailing before. Scarey. My brother was just telling me that the next really bad thing for the economy will be the Commercial property collapse. Well it's already here. Empty storefronts all over. Half empty malls.

Frankly I don't see us pulling out of this for 10 years or so and when we do it will never be the way things were before. I feel bad for my daughters generation. They had such high hopes and everything seemed plentiful when they were growing up. Now it will be mainly up to them to try to straighten this mess out. Big job to fill.

Hang in there and when it all seems too hard to handle I know of a good spa where you can get a great Massage!

Families are like fudge,mostly sweet with a few nuts {author unknown}

I love the above quote becouse it sums up family to me perfectly. I don't know about the rest of you,but most people I have talked with have this view of thier family in general. You love em,but there are those few that you just shake your head about and even those few that ,well you just tolerate.
But all in all you still love them,faults and all. We have also heard that you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family. Well I have found that if you have certain friends for long enough they become just like your family,mostly sweet,with a few nuts. Funny how that is.

Wonder which of my family members shake their head about me? I have certainly given some of them reason to in my life time. I married three times,the last to a much younger man. I'm sure that caused some head shaking. Most of my family I am sure look at me with fondness,at least I hope so. I try my best to love them all unconditionally,flaws and all. I remember all thier birthdays and root for them when they need it.
What has coused all this family introspection? Been talking with my daughter lately about loyalty. Family and otherwise. It seems sometimes we all can get cought up in our own lives that we forget what it means to be connected to each other. We see each other briefly on Facebook or My Space. I recently deleated my My Space account. I am thinking of doing the same with Facebook. I only keep it as a way to keep up with some old friends and distant family and they all have my e mail if they really want to contact me. I do find Facebook mindless fun sometimes.

Whats the point to all this? Nothing really,just rambling ......

I'll leave you with this last quote:
"It's not Flesh and Blood but the Heart which makes us Fathers and Sons" {John Shiller}

Can it get any worse?

Today I was informed that the Gym that I take Yoga at just suddenly closed down. This left many people in limbo that have already paid memberships or Punch Cards to use the facility. I had just purchased a 65.00 punch card to use for Yoga the week before. There was no warning ,they just had to lock the doors.

I can only imagine that thier business has taken a huge hit with the economy being so bad. A facility that large has to have a huge overhead to pay. I feel bad for them and for the rest of us being left out in the cold and unable to get our money back.

Thankfully the yoga teacher worked it out with another Gym to accept the punch cards tward classes at thier gym. Very generous of him ,but smart as well. I am sure he is hoping to pick up some new members for his own business. But I am thankful as I can ill afford to lose $65.00 right now.

Has me wondering how many more places will close and how many more homes will be lost before this all winds down. I think that it will get worse as this year goes until it will finally level off tward the end of this year. At least until all the auto related busineses close. Here in Michigan every single business has some tie to the auto companys becouse they employed so many people. It is going to take so many years to recover from this.

The best thing about getting older is.....

Well for one,you expect less. Less from people ,less from life in general. I have learned that you need to just take each day as it comes and look for the best in it. You also learn not to expect too much from people as if you do,you will usually be dissapointed. And when you least expect it, the ones you care about will do something thoughtful and you will be wonderfully surprised and touched.

I became cautious growing up with a mom who suffered from mental illness. Kids can be cruel when they find out your mom is mentally ill. It made me cautious to say the least. I didn't invite friends over too often, cuz I never knew how Mom was going to be. The few friends I trusted to get close to were cherished.

I found that I lived my life guarding my heart and my feelings. Opening up to few ,as not to be hurt. Still ,I always had friends. I was a good listener and a compassionate ear. I knew what it was like to have problems.

As I walk through the second half of my life I find it freeing to have no expectations. Each day is new and I can make it what I want. Even when work or other people put up road blocks,I can choose to walk around them easier. I don't have time to let things bother me. It's freeing!