Focused at Fifty

90s Marc in my favorite club shirt (With Ritz-Carlton besties Grant and Serena) Do others mourn the loss of a favorite piece of clothing? That favorite shirt gets bleached and we have to toss it. A favorite sweater gets an unmanageable pull and it can't be salvaged. That pair of sneaks which are so old and worn, they may walk away themselves. Or sometimes it's as simple as a favorite shirt getting washed so many times it has shrunk down to where it no longer fits. (Um meee and ma belly! LOL) I had to "retire" a favorite shirt a couple weeks back. I did so with a bit of sadness as I have enjoyed wearing it these last couple years at work. I tend to favor blues in some form or another. It has sort of become a signature color for me. This one lasted way longer than it should have. It "served me well" you could say. The picture to the below right is it's replacement "blue shirt." I still have a another fav blue shirt from way back in...

I was walking into work one recent Monday and decided to cut across the smoking area of our government parking deck. It's a small triangular shaped overhang area, no bigger than a 10x10 kitchen. No one was smoking at the time, it was just me trying to save a step or two. I wasn't running late, just moving into work at a pretty decent clip. I diagonally crossed through the area when at that very instant a large drop of water fell from the concrete parking deck and landed exactly between my glasses and into my right eyeball! I screamed to no one, "WHAT THE HELL?" I quickly took off my glasses and wiped the bong water from my right eyeball as its remainder was dripping down my face. I am sure I caused a corneal abrasion from wiping my eye with my shirt sleeve. It had rained the evening prior. This large drop had perfectly navigated air currents to drop at the exact space between my eyeglass lens and my eyeball! I was freaking out. I rushed into work blindly scr...

Here are the quotes associate with my 4th podcast "A Great Friend, Mom, and Career Woman", my interview with good friend Becky Kitchmire. I also included a direct link to the podcast episode. http://frazzled.projectentertainment.libsynpro.com/frazzled-at-forty-episode-4-a-great-friend-mom-and-career-woman If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.  - Katharine Hepburn (actress) I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to said my ship. - Louisa May Alcott (author, Little Woman ) I have learned over the years, that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. Rosa Parks (civil rights activist) Favorite quotes from my friend and guest Becky: Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker. - Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka (actor) Time is a precious thing. Never waste it. - Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka (actor)

( Photo by Simon Robben from Pexels ) This is a topic I know many of you can relate to. I know you are out there with me, in the deep dark night. We wonder together who among us, who is awake? I see you online late at night. We commiserate together, sleepless in that silent house on that dark street in that quiet town or city. We send sad and frustrated messages back and forth, "ME TOO!" 😡 I can usually figure out why I can't sleep. Last night, I worked out late but I'm usually OK with that. I can still fall asleep at a decent hour after exhausting myself at the gym. Some people recommend that you shouldn't work out so late, gives you too much energy. I've never had a problem. I sleep like a baby. Last night was different. I stared at the ceiling for an hour. Closed my eyes for an hour. Opened them and then BAM! It was already 2:30 AM. I got up, hit the head, checked the house, petted the cats for a bit, then got back into bed to try again. I know I...

(Pic courtesy of Pexels.com) I want to comment on something that I see happen fairly often. I was riding as a passenger in my buddy's car this past weekend when he was inching out to zoom across a busy intersection where there is no stop light. Friends from Schuylkill County will know this intersection. It's the one with Ken's Tires and Hoss's Restaurant on the corners at the Cressona Mall. You have to pretend you are in the 80s video game "Frogger" and zoom across the busy road to the mall area. I HATE this intersection. It's rather nerve-racking on an average day. You look right and left and repeat several times to avoid traffic driving through as well as traffic from ALL directions turning in and out of the shopping complexes on both sides of the roadway! If you get a time where there is no traffic coming from anywhere, consider yourself lucky because that is a rarity. He had inched out, looking to make his move. Someone was driving up to m...

If you are going through Hell, keep going. Sir Winston Churchill

Alice laughed:  "There's no use trying," she said; "One can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."