They say that scents trigger our memories. This is true for me. I started reading this book on Friday. It is a memoir of a man who grew up in my hometown during the same time I did. It was fun to see my town through his filter. It's not the same as mine but close enough that I can see myself. It got me thinking about what I remember of that time. I remember the smell of Play-Do when you open the lid. It has almost a flour smell that makes me smile and think of hours spent creating great works of art only to roll them back into a ball. Dry Kool-Aid and Tang bring back summer days when we mixed up batches to drink and fill into paper Dixie cups to freeze for later. I can close my eyes and feel the sticky cold treat run down my fingers. The smell of damp sand ,kind of a dirt tang , and the feel of it stuck to my hands and legs. Still miss my sand box. Lol.

The smell from a thousand campfires. My childhood was one grand camping adventure. During the summer we would go to the parks and pitch the tent midweek. Dad,Gram amd Gramps would commute till Friday night and then Aunt,Uncles and cousins would all join in. We had huge groups of people around big fires. Food was a community project and the smell of roasted marshmallows still make my mouth water. A smoky wood fire still brings back a feeling of love and family. Every week my Great Uncle would have a few beers and recite The poem Face on the bar room floor. One night I put my chucks to close to the fire and the smell of melting rubber is another fond memory.

I so glad that I had those special times and it is even better when a stray scent comes my way and I can again recall those days and family. So many are gone now and it is up to those left behind to cronicle those times.

Been a busy week. Because of our early close on Tuesday I spent the next 3 days working 12 hours a day to make up the time I lost. It snowed every day and finally stopped on Saturday. Ended up with 14 inches. I am in the middle of a 3 day weekend so I finally got caught up on the snow removal. Looked like the abominal snowman yesterday. Had snow every where. Lol. Tomorrow more snow is due but no idea how much. Oh well winter is just gonna hang around.

Had a lovely chat with my bestie yesterday. Amazing how similar our lives are right now. Still never get to spend any time together.

Finally got to see the movie One for the Money. Kind of disappointed. I love the Evanovich books and the movie missed the mark. Spent the last 48 hours trying to catch up on all the shows I have clogging my dvr. Up to date on Arrow,Person of interest,Necessary Roughness,Body of Proof and Vegas. Got to stop trying to watch everything. As I say this I am taping Vikings and getting ready to watch Rd Widow. ;P

Spent part of the day writing. Pretty free form stuff. Partly story ideas but also childhood memories. Might try to post something later.

Adam needs to rethink touring in winter. Not sure California Tommy is able to tolerate cold weather. Lol

Last week's snowstorm turned out to be a bit of a dud. The weather turned warmer so it melted nicely then today's storm hit. They said it would start afternoon and I was stuck working the night shift. Another manager called in sick so I decided to go in a couple of hours early. Good thing cause it started to snow by 10 am and by noon we had a full blizzard. Visibility was low and schools let out by 1pm. I lost most of my closers because they were warning people off the roads. Finally the mall closed and every store around us and they let us go home by 5:30. So I need to work longer hours to make up the time I lost but I am home safe. This is a wet heavy snow so we lost power for a bit but it is all good now. I got stuck in my driveway and had to shovel. My snowblower refuses to start. The main roads are ok but the side streets are an icy mess. Should be an ugly commute tomorrow. Three more days and then I have three days off. Yeah!

It seems we are due for a bit of a snow storm tomorrow. I guess since we have had a mild winter mother nature decided we should get a bunch at once. They can't decide how much snow we will get but 7 inches seems to be the common answer. So since I finally got my much needed day off I went grocery shopping. Me and lots of my closes neighbors went shopping. Lol. Grocery store was packed. I was proud of my self snagging a 50 pound bag of ice melt. I used the last of mine trying to get the sidewalk cleared. I am hoping to get home before the storm starts tomorrow and I have Friday off so I plan to snuggle in and watch all the shows I have clogging up the dvr.

Yesterday was my Aunt's birthday and we couldn't celebrate with her. She and my bff and her bff went out to lunch on Monday but I felt bad that we couldn't spend time with her. So I picked her up and took her out to lunch. We had a fun girl's day out shopping and talking. Nice.

Just got home from work a few minutes ago. Took forever to get the car cleaned so I could drive home. We had an rain/ice/snow mix this afternoon into evening so it was an ice skating rink driving home. The wind is howling and there are intermittent power outtages. We lost power for a few minutes at the store tonight. The door to my house was frozen shut so I ended up pounding enough to wake mom and she opened it from the inside. I work tomorrow night no I guess I mean tonight. Lol

My last day off was last Tuesday. My next day off is Wednesday. Really need it. It has been a crazy few days. Worked late on last Thursday. Got home way after midnight and I was due back to work by 11 am Friday. Dad had us up at 3 am so I got about 3 hours of sleep. My boss called at 7am and said could I please come into work right away since his grandmother had been left in Iowa City and needed a ride. That's about an hour from here. His Gram was coming for a visit and her friend thought Iowa City was the right place. Lol. So 80 something lady was stuck at a resturant waiting for him. He was freaking out. So I made it to work in 45 minutes and it takes 25 minutes to drive to work. Ended up working from 8 am to 6. Came home and went to bed cause I was due at work Saturday morning early for another 9 hour day. Won't go into how stressful it has been for days cause my other boss was on vacation and metrics were sucking. When the Assistant general manager is gone I get all the crap to make numbers since they keep telling me that is my job soon. Yeah they don't pay me enough. Anyway my boss took Saturday off to spend with his grammy and then he stops in to tell me I need to work Sunday so he can take her back to Iowa City. There went my day off. Oh and did I say we had a store meeting on Sunday night too? So that was a 12 hour day without a lunch break since we were so short staffed. Had a woman scream at me. Fun day. Today was an easy day since I am already over on hours it was only 8 hours. Yippee. Only good thing is my boss owes me so I got Friday off. As tired as I am I will probably sleep. Wish I could go to sleep now but to wound up from my scary tri home.

Had the day off so I got up and made pancakes. Fat Tuesday tradition ya know. Who am I to spit in the face of tradition. Spent the rest of the day waiting. Seriously I spent the whole day waiting for Dad to get a haircut. Then I waited another hour to get my own haircut. Glad I had nothing major going on.

Worked the late shift last night. Heading home my low tire light came on. Have you ever tried to find a gas station open at 11:30 at night with a working air station? Well I went to 3 stations and finally found one open in a less than optimal part of town. So here I am in the dark corner of the station at almost midnight bent over ass in air trying to fill my tire. What a perfect way to get hit over the head and have your car taken. Not a highlight.

Cold rainy day here so I am wrapped in a fuzzy blanket watching the Grammys. Well actually I am waiting for Mumford and Sons to perform cause that's all I really want to see. I am over on Twitter making snarky comments. Ah the fun of awards shows. I enjoyed my 2 days off. Went shopping yesterday with the family. Dad ate his first chocolate shake in 10 months. He only choked a little. Big moment for all of us. Today I did something rare for me. I spent money on myself. Lol. Bought a new purse and wallet. Sad that I have no money to put on it but I look stylin.

Hope everyone is doing ok after the big storm weekend. Warm hugs to you all.

Whew, I was so scared to set up my new internet modem/wifi. I have had it sitting here mocking me for my fear for the last 4 days. So with my time running out on the old provider I finally bit the bullet and installed it. Luckily it is designed for the computer idiot and I was able to get it set up with no problem. So yeah me. Lol.

I opened Sunday and worked till 6pm so I decided to bring in Sloppy Joes for the employees. I wanted to have a Super Bowl party since I was gonna miss our usual pig out. Had a great sales day and we all had fun. Monday was an early open day for me which means I need to be up by 4:30 am to leave for work no later than 5:20. Monday I woke out of a sound sleep to my clock reading 5am. I freaked and ran through my wash up and threw my clothes on. I need to get the dogs u and out and eat something. As I put on my watch I realized my alarm clock was wrong and it was actually a quarter to 4. I went back to bed but I was so scared I would over sleep that I stayed awake, To make yesterday even suckier I had a eye that was red and blurry all day. I have eyes that get crusty and too dry often so this isn't new but yesterday was so bad even the tear solution felt like I was shoving a razor blade in my eye. On top of that it was mandatory manager's meeting day and we had an hour long meeting. Which meant that my already extra long day went another 45 minutes longer. Glad to finally get home but I went to bed by 10 pm and slept for 9 hours. Lol. Wish I had a normal schedule instead of this crazy thing. I never get enough sleep. Well enough whining. Hope everyone is doing great.

Dear Nita nitawolfkin I hope you have a fabulous birthday and you get to see your grandkids. May the coming year only bring good health and happiness for you and your family, furry and not so furry.
Love and hugs