don't mind me...

life is good

ainlee — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 07:20:57 +0000

Friday, March 26, 2010

After a mention on a friends blog I realized I haven’t written anything in quite a while.
Why might you ask?
I have no clue. I could be lazy, busy or just plain unimaginative you can take your pick. I would like to think I’ve just been busy and I think I can officially claim workaholic status so that helps my case.
Other than that I just haven’t had much to write about. So much is going on right now I barely have time to catch my breath!
My store had a phenomenal year end in January and we have started the New Year running. Because of this I won $1000 AND a spot on my company’s incentive trip which is a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in mid April. I’m hoping soon I’ll be able to move out of Albany and potentially out of the state…I’m open to suggestions anybody know a good place to live?
To top it all off I got to meet one of my best friends Melanie for the first time AND see one of my other best of friends get married this month. All in an amazing trip to Colorado that will always hold some of my best memories.
Wait that doesn’t top it off there is more!! That SAME week I got to see my favorite musician Matthew Good three nights in a row in a trifecta of Matthew Good! Two Seattle shows and one Portland show each one as unique and individual as if they were separate tours.
I moved into the world of Apple and got an iphone, I had a Levian Event in January and purchased two new Levian pieces…so much to do in such little time! I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting!
Anyways maybe I’ll start writing a little more. I have two new employees who are just hilarious and I’m becoming a better manager and even learning more about myself every day. In the end I’d say life is good. I leave you with a small photo montage of the last few months. Enjoy!

return service requested

ainlee — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:12:03 +0000

Dear Sarah’s Immune System:

I need a favor. I know. I understand. You’ve been stressed recently. We successfully fought off all in the same hectic week the germies from my Dad’s flu, Peter’s head cold and Swine Flu back in October. We’ve also managed to avoid any other kind of sickness through November and well into December and still work with the public. Though with the help of more hand sanitizer than I care to admit.
However. It’s December 17th. The week before Xmas. The busiest and biggest week at my store. My job. My livelihood. My chance at an 8 day cruise with a bunch of my friends. My opportunity to make a ****load of money. I really need to be at the top of my game this next week.
So. I’ll make a deal with you. If you push for one more week to keep me healthy I will let whatever germies have decided to settle here run their course and you can take a vacation. On December 25th you have full permission to knock me on my ass and keep me in bed for a good week. I will not complain. I promise.
Please consider my proposal as I think it’s a valid one that would benefit us both. I would appreciate an immediate response. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Sarah

six years later

ainlee — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:12:07 +0000

So much has happened.
So many things that you have missed.
But more importantly, you have been missed.
But more importantly, you will never be forgotten.
And today, December 16th we are all part of a group that remembers.
People who were once very close and are now spread across the country all stop and remember.
We remember you.
We remember memories that bring tears to our eyes and a smile to our face both at the same time.
Thank you for those memories.

Nathan Nakis
Hometown: Sedro-Woolley, WA
19 years old
Died in Operation Iraqi Freedom
December 16, 2003

December 5, 2008

ainlee — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:51:28 +0000

I spent a good portion of this evening reading past journal entries. See I don’t post everything I write here. A lot of it is just too personal to put out into cyberspace. And the rest of it is just me whining, which nobody really wants to read too much about anyways.
Well I found what I think is my favorite journal entry. It’s straightforward and to the point. Both inspiring and depressing all in the same sentence. It can be taken as good or bad, glass half empty or full.
I choose tonight to take it as optimism. However, ask me tomorrow about it and you might get a different answer. My favorite part? I don’t remember if I wrote it as encouragement or out of desperation.
It was written on December 5, 2008 and it says simply: Today was better.

December 7th

ainlee — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:47:18 +0000

68 years ago today Pearl Harbor was attacked. 2,388 people were killed. For that generation Pearl Harbor is what 9/11 is to my generation. I wonder how long it is until we forget about 9/11 as well. I hope we remember before then because if we forget history we are forever doomed to make the same mistakes.
The attack on Pearl Harbor led us into WWII and into some of the darker parts of American History. Unfortunately we forget the Japanese American internment. Over 100,000 Japanese Americans removed from their homes and sent to live in camps. I remember when I was little I asked my mom if they did that to people of German descent during the war, like our family. The only figures I could find online are not reliable or confirmed but range maybe around 10,000 German Americans were interned in camps. Nowhere near the number of Japanese Americans who suffered the same fate. I guess German Americans blend into the foliage a little better. Including my family as none of them were sent to live in camps.
I do have to add that my second generation German descent maternal Grandfather was Navy in the Pacific Theatre and my Canadian born paternal Grandfather was Army in the European Theatre. Unfortunately any stories my Grandpa Howard had of his experiences in the Navy are with him in the next life but I have heard some of the stories from my Grandpa Torgerson’s Army unit. And I will never forget those stories. Someday I will make it to Europe and I will stand outside of a Nazi Concentration camp and I will remember those stories.
Let us not forget the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I have been to Hiroshima and while I cannot be a judge on whether the decision to drop the bombs was right or wrong I can say that it was horrifying. I can say that I wish the decision had never had to be made. That the world was never put into such a position that the only option was to cause such destruction. In all aspects of any war I guess that’s true.
My point is not to say that any war is right or wrong or fought for the wrong or right reasons. Let’s just not forget the horrors and tragedies of war. And not to forget that the point is to stop these things from happening again.

al genina

ainlee — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:58:31 +0000

Leave a light on. I wrote that last year, it doesn’t seem that long ago. But I think of this entry so often, probably more than any other entry I’ve posted. I now think not only of the people who can see my light but those who can’t as well. It is comforting to feel that there are people out there others just as distracted and lonely as me.
It’s like airplanes. When I was little whenever an airplane would fly over my parents house when I was playing outside I’d stop and look. Sometimes I would wave but always I would wonder if there was someone in that airplane looking down at me. Maybe it was a little girl like me who was curious about my life, just like I was curious about hers.
Maybe she was traveling somewhere different from everything I know and that everything I know is as foreign to her as her way of life would be to me. As an adult I find that I have the same curiosity about people, yes still in airplanes but also more broad. People who like me who sometimes have trouble sleeping at night.
It seems now not to be a bad thing. I find I treasure this time alone. The quiet. I find I wish I had somewhere where I can lay outside and watch the moon and the stars and really feel the quiet of the world. Like that would make my night complete. Then maybe, just maybe. I could sleep.

clean

ainlee — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:56:03 +0000

I’ve decided there are 6 different levels of clean.

1. Every day clean- Whoops I forgot to vacuum this week.
2. Little Sister clean- You pick up the things you don’t want her to see…the empty condom box in the bathroom and the bank overdraft statement on the counter.
3. Big Sister clean- This is the first step where actual cleaning is involved. You clean but don’t pay too much attention to what you’re doing.
4. Mom clean- You actually clean and you pay attention to what you’re doing but you don’t clean under the fridge. She won’t look there.
5. The President is coming over for dinner clean- Refer to Mom clean but clean under the fridge.
6. Mother-in-law clean- This is a level of clean that can never be achieved. But we still try. Right up until the last minute.

Happy Turkey Day!

North Pole, AK

ainlee — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:20:32 +0000

So I hired a new employee about a month ago. He rocks. But aside from that I did get a laugh on his resume as it states that he’s from North Pole, Alaska. Now I do know that North Pole exists, I have known someone from there. My new employee seemed surprised as apparently not many people have heard of it, er or I guess the proper way to say it…not many people believe in it?

Anyways Melanie sent me this article and I had to bring it up to him.

Long story short they are potentially discontinuing the program that sends replies from North Pole to children who write letters to Santa and address them to the North Pole. I guess postmarks from North Pole, AK are what convinces most children that Santa truly does exist and answers their Christmas wishes. My employee has informed me that they hand out the letters to the local students and they do the replies to many of them, not Santa himself.

Maybe it just reinforces that Santa is more a spirit and a feeling than an actual person who flies in a sleigh with 8 reindeer? Personally whatever gets people in the spirit of giving works for me. A little fantasy never hurt anybody. It’s sad that a few bad elves will potentially ruin the entire program for so many around the world who do enjoy it.

anything for this guy…

ainlee — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:35:04 +0000

i am who i am

ainlee — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:52:55 +0000

because I have beautiful hair.
because of my loving and gentle nature.
because of my willingness and need to help others.
because I acknowledge that my body is not perfect and I don’t let it control my life.
because of my confidence.
because I picked myself up after my divorce and chose to learn from it.
because I have an amazing career and I am succeeding at it.
because I had the courage to move to somewhere completely unknown.
because of my independence.
because I was unafraid to get my tattoo.
because of my honesty.
because of my patience.

I know who I am. I like who I am. Sometimes I think we all need the reminder. So why are you who you are?