Short & Sweet (just like Tara)

I could tell everyone about all the rudeness I've encountered this week from drivers, shoppers, and customer "service" employees, but we all have plenty of those experiences to frustrate us, don't we?  So instead I'll share the one experience from the week that I've chosen to remember and remind myself of when I feel that rudeness is taking over our society.

A few days ago, I was in the parking lot at the children's hospital. Hannah was already in the car and I was struggling to get her stroller in the trunk. The woman in the next parking spot asked if I needed help. I thanked her and declined the help. I got the stroller situated and turned to see my neighbor. She had been kind enough to interrupt what she was doing to offer assistance; that was already enough to make me feel grateful and uplifted. But then I saw what she was doing: she was trying to transfer her toddler daughter from a car seat to a medical stroller without getting the girl's colostomy bag and catheter drainage bag tangled up. Seriously? She stopped THAT to make sure I was okay with MY stupid stroller? I thanked her again for her kindness and drove away thinking, "I'm going to commit this to memory and let it wash over all angry memories of the drivers who cut me off on my way here and people who literally pushed me out of their way."  I can only hope that I will have the opportunity to brighten someone's day the way this stranger did mine.

That's all for now. Like I said, short and sweet (just like Tara.) Love you, Tara. You inspire me every single day.

A Seed is Planted

A few days ago, a friend gave me a baseball cap that says "Advice from a Rose."
It has a picture of a rose and reads:

Make someone's day

Enjoy the sunshine

Remember your beauty stems from within

Be colorful!

Look past the thorns

Make new buds

Bloom!

Be scent-sational!

She received the hat as a gift but never wore it because . . . well, she's on the cutting edge of fashion and the hat is as described above. Enough said. But on me the hat seemed funny because my last name is Rose. Somehow the pun made the hat acceptable for me (that, and the fact that I am nowhere near the cutting edge of fashion.)

Over the next couple days, I experienced something that happens often: I mention to a friend that I have discovered a website, product, shortcut, cleaning tip, financial tip, or other helpful information, only to have my friend exclaim, "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this sooner!"

From time to time, I have toyed with the idea of a repository for learned information (not necessarily a blog). I came the closest to actually creating something when I was without health insurance and learned all sorts of helpful ways to obtain medical services at low or no cost. But I never found the time to commit this information to paper and share it with friends and family.

My friends know that I am picky about quality, value, and safety in products and services and that I usually do a lot of research before making decisions. So I often end up being the go-to person when friends or family members need to buy a car seat or find a dentist or decide what type of life insurance to buy.

All this has been swirling around in my head for the past week and tonight I suddenly decided "Maybe I'll start a blog." I'm not completely comfortable with the concept; I feel like it's arrogant to think anyone would want to read what I have to say. But that's the beauty of it, I guess. No one has to read it. And honestly, I won't be hurt if no one does. We are all busy. The only way to survive is to prioritize and strategize. If I don't make it to the top of your to-do list that is totally fine. We can still be friends. I won't be mad -- I promise.

I'm not exactly sure what will end up being in this blog. I'm hoping it will be useful information about finding ways to save time and money while still getting quality products and services for yourself and your family.  I've also been looking at ways to save time on chores and errands so I can spend more quality time with my 4-year-old daughter, Hannah. Not to mention free or nearly-free fun things to do with said daughter. One thing I don't want to do is vent. Those who know me well know that I could have a lot to vent about. But I want to try something different -- I want to try to focus on the positive, to minimize time spent doing what I don't like and maximize time spent doing what I love. Time is flying by and I want to make sure I stop to smell the roses. And I'd like to encourage the people I care about to do the same . . . even if that means I need to start a blog.

UPDATE: This blog out turned out to be not at all what's described above (with the original title "Advice from a Rose". Oh well.