What I Learned in May

June is here!  Since I awoke to a new month, it is time to share a miscellaneous list of some things I learned as I reflect back on the month of May.

My love for Poppies continues!

1. The best place to pick up baby-sitting jobs is at your Mom's place of work. That is, if your Mom works at a baby store. My college daughter was visiting me at Charlie Barnes one morning and she now has quite a few jobs lined up for when she returns to the Harbor after her summer school session ends. That particular morning a bunch of mommies I know (who know my daughter) came shopping so they were able to connect and share contact information and dates.

2. Sip and See. What a fun idea that I'd never heard of! In the south, as an alternative to a baby shower, women host "sip and sees." Friends stop by to sip on tea (or wine?) and to see the new baby. I think this concept can be adapted for SO many things! Come see my (you fill in the ____________.) I'm sort of having one Wednesday! My friends are coming over to see my nose bandaged and we just might sip some vino.

3. I won't be serving that one particular bottle of French wine. 

While on vacation with my husband during his Palm Springs business trip we went to dinner at a French restaurant.  Glancing at the wine choices, we checked out glasses vs. bottles. One particular bottle cost a mere $12,750. Really? Perhaps that price-point  isn't shocking to some people who live or vacation in the desert, but this Mom-of-four-who-often-shops-at-Grocery Outlet, thinks that amount of money could be spent in so many smarter ways to help others... I'll stick to my $6-$12 wine budget at Trader Joe's. 

4. Perhaps Trader Joe's needs to hire me. I brought some of my favorite items that I buy on my trips to TJ's to raffle off at our last MOPS meeting and gave my spiel about them. Afterwards, some of the Mommies said my enthusiasm was evident and perhaps I should be Trader Joe's traveling Public Relations gal. I like that idea!

5. When you only pay $10 for an online swimsuit it will arrive the day after your trip to the ocean. I won't be sharing my source because after I ordered it I actually began navigating the online catalog and found out their idea of dance clothes and mine were NOT the same. Ha! Anyway, the one-piece is OK and fits. Hoping the floppy little "skirt" keeps the eye off the 10 pounds I need to lose...

6. The Drought in California is another reason to give up bottled water. While on our trip, I didn't experience a lack of water. It was in the hotel pool, endless drinking water was available and golf courses looked green. The ways I personally noticed a lack of H2O were: ice was only available at the hotel if you requested it, water wasn't automatically brought to your table at restaurants, and the big Mormon church near my son and daughter-in-law's apartment has chosen to allow their lawn to die and go brown. The big topic to residents is bottled water. SO many companies that produce bottled water are right in the heart of the drought areas of California. I learned that many private labels are manufactured in lots of states all over the country. I'll just keep refilling my bottle with tap water (thankful the Harbor water is so fresh and yummy) and I think I'll start reading the labels to see where it's manufactured...

7. There is a tool to help us take better "selfies!" Have you heard of the new product for your cell phone? I walked by a whole display of them last week at Michael's.

I suppose it would help keep those awkward arms out of the way but won't it be awkward to carry around? How often do we need to take selfies? Here is an example of what NOT to do, followed by a selfie of my hubby and I enjoying the ocean yesterday.

My sweet friends & I in the dinner line. Notice the bunny ears?

8. Sometimes you need to keep the door open and stay standing (Literally and figuratively!)
My friend Andrea and I were given the task at the retreat of setting  up the lunch salad bar at the  house where we were staying.  After doing just that we sat down and had a lovely visit. After a bit we heard a noise so I thought maybe I should check the front door.

photo source: babble.com

Imagine our surprise when we saw all the retreat attendees (almost 100) waiting in a friendly line winding up the street.They were NOT grumpy like the nanny applicants in Mary Poppins, but that scene did come to mind.  I laugh just thinking about it! So sorry friends that you were hungry and kept waiting for lunch Saturday! Please knock next time!!

I learned SO many things about becoming FREE over the weekend at retreat. Our guest speaker was amazing and my housemates were a blast. I'll have to share some tidbits in a future post.

It's always a bit hard to return from a sunny "mountaintop experience" back to the ordinary and gray skies. And yet...
God is good, all the time!

I'm linking up with Emily P. Freeman at Chatting at the Sky.
What did you learn in the month of May?

In His Grip, 

Jane

xo

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