Earrings…I Never Leave Home Without Them ~By Gabby Angel

I admit it…I am hopelessly addicted to earrings! 🙂 What prompted this thought and this sharing? Well, I set off with several errands to do earlier today and I had forgotten to put in a set of earrings! I have this quirky thing, I don’t feel completely dressed without a pair of earrings. Boring me, I am one of the few who have only one hole pierced in each ear.

Autumn and I had our ears pierced by a favorite Aunt who was a nurse by pro fession. We were 15 years old, a little bit older than some…But our parents wanted to be sure we were old enough to be responsible. Can’t blame them for that…But the beast they unleashed when allowing me my piereced ears! I will confess the twinnie isn’t quite as bad as me with this earring addiction. Even having 3 holes pierced in each of her ears. Me, I am always on the lookout for a new and interestingly different and unusual pair.

I own so many, maybe close to a hundred and fifty last count… way too many to count  for this writing. My husband Dave also was good at finding unusual earrings for me. He sure did add to my collection over the years! Well, as I mentioned I never leave home without my earrings in…I was in a rush earlier and did forget. How does this affect me? I feel not quite pulled together and slightly off. I was only traveling 8 or 9 miles and making only a few stops…I would be OK wouldn’t I? Silently still berating myself for forgetting the earrings I walked into the post office, needing to pick up a package and some stamps. Luckily the postal clerk working was a girl I know, like a guy would understand my tale of woe. 😉 Jan was close to my age, so we had a little chat about my forgotten earrings. Thankfully she knows me, someone else would have thought me completely unbalanced perhaps. Jan reassured me it was going to be OK, but admitted she always looks forward when seeing me of what my earrings of the day would be. They are after all, a signature look for me…I left still feeling unsettled.

I drove up the road for several miles, when off to my right I noticed my favorite craft/gift shop was opened! I would just go in and browse and maybe find a pair of earrings. 🙂 Oh my, am I just slightly neurotic sounding? I hope not, anyway I can’t seem to help myself. 😉 Natalie’s is a cool shop with a little bit of everything and one of my favorite places, run by a very sweet person who I always adore seeing. The bell on her door signaled my arrival and she smiled brightly and we greeted each other with a hug. It had been several weeks since I had stopped in, a bit longer than usual. I told her of the earrings forgotten and she chuckled, Natalie knows well my obsession.

She laughed  saying a pair of earrings had come in the day before and had made her think of me and she had been tempted to call me about them. I must see them of course I said…happily walking with her to the earring display. Before Natalie could point them out, I spotted them…Those were meant for me and calling my name! Long strands of sterling silver with tiny pieces of rose quartz and several hearts, I loved them and must have them and they obviously were destined to be mine. Well within my budget, too…so I put them in my ears immediately and paid for them. Natalie and I chatted for 15-20 minutes and caught up a bit on things happening in our lives. Not exactly a planned stop for me, but I was now calm and back to my serene self. We hugged goodbye and I was grateful to have found Natalies shop open earlier than usual and to have gotten to have a lovely chat with her. As well as picked up my destined earrings!

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Back to my car and off to finish my other errands. The rest of my little trip went fine and I was back home before I knew it. Now, I must end this post…I have to go count my earrings! 😉 I am kidding, but by now you are possibly  thinking Autumn is perhaps the more normal twin of the two of us twinnies! 🙂 😉

The Day After Christmas…Gabby Angel

Who is out there shopping? It happens, December 26th all the Christmas items and more are on sale! This is another one I could never understand. Who wants to go out shopping the day after Christmas? Many people do, all the years of retail and later retail management taught me well.

Lots and lots of people just cannot tolerate passing up a good sale! I am  not finding fault, honestly I am not. It’s just the usual wondering and ponderings. I remember while we were busy marking down the Christmas merchandise, we were also busily putting out Valentine’s Day items.

Then, of course you hear the complaints of…But Christmas is just over. Why are we seeing Valentine’s Day things? That’s the magic world of retail, that’s the way it goes. Like I said, this one just something that crossed my mind.I know certain people in my own family that will be out there, too…Not Autumn or me! We are sensible, we will be doing the usual holiday things.

The question for the day is…Will you be out and about shopping today? Come on, you can share with us…The twinnie and I would love to know, as always. Some of you will need to be back to work. Others will be enjoying this holiday time in your very own way, so which will you be doing? We won’t be judging, you know us twinnies better than that!

Oops, on second thought…If you are indeed shopping you can’t answer this question. Maybe the temptation to find a good sale will be calling? That’s means  you won’t be reading this, well that’s OK…Let us know when you return from that fun shopping! 😉 🙂

Snow Globes… ~by Gabby Angel

I always found snow globes  rather fascinating, so does Autumn. Wonder who doesn’t like snow globes, after all…They are just magical fun. If you don’t like snow globes, feel free to say so. Even if it will totally crush us twinnies! Kidding, we are all grown up…At least most of the time. 😉

What got me on the subject of snow globes? Wandering into my favorite local craft/gift shop. Trying to finish up the minor little details of the shopping for Christmas gifts. Never have I seen such a child so intrigued with a snow globe. I have many friends and family, seen happy and awed reactions…But this little boy was smitten with this snow globe. I stumbled (not literally) upon him sitting on the floor in the back section of the shop. His mother had wandered off to look at something else, not a good thing to do. I mean, come on now…Kids can move fast, can do unpredictable things and all that. Plus, it’s just not safe!

But, this little boy was quiet and lost in the magic of that snow globe and really behaving. I didn’t think he even noticed me, so I was surprised when he gave me a smile. Holding up the  snow globe (be careful cute little boy, it’s breakable!) he proudly announced “Look Bambi is inside here and it’s snowing“. That was so darn cute, I had to laugh. Of course I admired the snow globe, Bambi and all. The little boy told me his name was Tristan and we had a nice little chat for a few minutes and were joined by the shop owner and the missing mother.

Seems, Tristan’s mother had paid for her purchases and oops, forgot Tristan and realized he was gone when she reached her car! A very hectic time of the year, I felt sorry for her she was so embarassed and also quite teary eyed. The shop owner and I reassured her no harm was done and Tristan was safe after all. They paid for the snow globe and got ready to leave…Not until she apologized again. They left with friendly goodbyes, but she had a strong hold of Tristan’s hand!

Snow globes can be mesmerizing, that was one point of my relating this shopping adventure. Second point, please don’t get so busy, harried and worried about your shopping that you leave your child behind by mistake! Last but not least, third point…Let’s please do remember the reason for the season!

Who Loves to Wrap Presents? ~ By Gabby Angel

I know…A strange question, isn’t it? Sometimes, it seems that’s what I’m here for! It’s another weird thing Autumn and I were talking about earlier. We really do have some odd conversations, trust me …This one was fairly normal compared to some! 😉 We twinnies can get carried away with our array of subjects and topics.

Autumn, as well as me kind of enjoy wrapping presents from time to time. But…Big confession, we also have been known to resort to those handy gift bags whenever possible! Autumn gave me this idea for a “blog/survey/let’s share” latest writing, so here we go!

Would you kind readers like to share your thoughts? Let Autumn and I know your thoughts on wrapping presents? Do you have fun and relish the task? Or do you like us resort to those lovely and ever so handy gift bags? You really can quite jazz them up you know! Perhaps some of you pay to have those gifts wrapped? I know, some stores do offer that alternative. I could never do it for a living, it would drive me somewhat crazy…Too much pressure! Never would I judge, either would Autumn…Because everyone has to do it their way after all.

So, if you do opt for the store gift wrapping, I say go for it!  We twinnies have our reason for not taking that route. Why, you ask? Well, because they look so perfect everyone knows you couldn’t have wrapped it yourself! 😉

Come on, let’s do be real they will know…Unless you are like our one sister! Hers look perfect, always…We fondly call her the Martha Stewart clone, too. In a nice way of course…She is undisturbed by it, honestly she is. So, if you would like to share your gift wrapping thoughts…We twinnies would appreciate it. 🙂

Oh yeah, if anyone thinks this was a dumb blog idea…Blame it on Autumn! 😉 🙂

Chai Tea Delivery ~ By Gabby Angel

Earlier in another blog I had mentioned my new greek yogurt addiction. Now…It’s time to talk about Autumn’s chai tea addiction! I did ask my twin’s permission before I wrote this. See, anything goes with us twinnies because we share immensely…Maybe too much at times? If nothing else we are honest! Perhaps we make you nice people reading ponder and wonder about the pair of us?

Getting back to Autumn’s addiction…She is very seriously addicted to chai tea. I like it, too but not nearly as much as she does. She is prone to panic when running a bit low, which is why it’s a good thing I keep it on hand. This happened one day last week, the grocery stores had closed and I get a pitiful telephone call from her.She followed up with a frantic e-mail, too in case I wasn’t able to answer the phone by the way.

Oh, Autumn is addicted to her chai tea…Need I say much more? It was kind of just plain pitiful, but she was really upset. Turns out she thought she had an extra box, she didn’t. So, I had to make a late night chai tea delivery to her…Thankfully we only live three miles apart! Besides, I knew she would have done this for me…At least I would like to hope so!

Chai tea a unique taste and either you love it or hate it. I was thinking about all the people I know who drink this and love it. I need to add, none are quite as enamored of it as Autumn is though.Then, the other side of the coin other people are happy to say they simply detest it.

Wonder how many of you reading of this like or love chai tea? Wonder how many of you totally dislike the stuff? Anyone want to share? No pressure, I bet Autumn most people may find this a wacky topic and wouldn’t be interested to say either way. She says people would love to respond.

Hmm…Well, we will see which twin turns out right. I am curious after thinking of how Autumn just can’t function properly without her chai tea. She will be the first to admit it, go ahead and ask her…Autumn isn’t shy about sharing. 😉 🙂

The Christmas Ornament… ~ By Gabby Angel

The source of many arguments and downright fighting occurred over this particular ornament. This Christmas ornament memory of mine, I had to share it with Autumn and see what her response was. It’s a story of the favorite Christmas ornament that started in our early childhood. When I asked her what some of her  memories and thoughts were, we both laughed so much! Recalling how fights between certain sisters of ours started over this certain ornament. What kind of ornament is it you ask? It was an adorable Rudolph the red nosed reindeer ornament.

Our Dad and Mom had purchased it for one of their first Christmases together. Before even Autumn and I had come along, certainly before our younger sisters were born. Wonder if they would have banished poor Rudolph if they knew the arguments that were to come?

Autumn and I were were more than happy to take turns over placing Rudolph on the tree. Which ever kid got to place Rudolph in the spot of their choosing, the other one got to place the angel tree topper on the tree. With Dad’s help of course, all our trees were at least six feet high.

After the next two sisters came along, all of a sudden fights broke out! Looking back it seems so silly, why out of all the ornaments was Rudolph the source of such trouble? Well, it was a cute ornament I do have to say. Worth arguing and all over…No, it was ridiculous.

Yet it happened, those two middle sisters got downright horrible to each other. Every year without fail, they had a memory lapse and insisted it was their turn! One year I remember the fight over Rudolph escalated in other ornaments being tossed around and some minor skirmishes breaking out. It just was not a pretty picture at all. Again, this is a story they would be mortified to know I was telling.

Poor old Rudolph, he was much loved and it was a miracle this ornament stayed in one piece at all. Happily the other two younger sisters were pretty dignified over this certain ornament. Perhaps, because Autumn and I would offer them our turns. We were in fact accused on several occasions by the two middle sisters of spoiling the younger ones, imagine that! As a matter of fact, the very youngest sister now has this much loved ornament in her possession. She, along with her husband are taking good care of  good old Rudolph. I am pleased to report their two little boys have never had a battle over Rudolph either!

Oops, I really hope those other two sisters aren’t reading this…They may not know where Rudolph got to. It will be our secret…Shh! 😉

Black Friday Looms… ~by Gabby Angel

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday arrives. My many years in retail, the mere thought of it all exhausts me. For most of us Thanksgiving is such a lovely day, family, food, fun and all the good stuff. A day for relaxing, giving voice to what we’re thankful for. That is something that was always important in our family growing up, it still is.

Anyway, the next day and Black Friday arrives. A few of Autumn’s and my sisters still carry on their shopping tradition. They hit those stores at such an insanely early hour and just keep rolling the whole entire day! Last year rumor had it, the one sister was still shopping until she dropped at one mall and it was 9 at night! She had been out shopping at the crack of dawn, too. Youngest sister said her eyes were glazing over at all the fine deals she had uncovered…But was it all worth it? The other sisters finally had to literally drag her to the car and get them all headed home. Clearly she was on a shopper’s high and they did the best thing for her! Well, upon hearing this I kind of thought it was funny and laughed…So did Autumn. You won’t catch us out there in the marketplace shopping on the dreaded Black Friday, ever!

Seriously, how can anyone endure the traffic, the crowds, those long lines, the bickering shoppers and all the rest? How many of you reading this actually shop on Black Friday, how many of you avoid it like the plague? I am always curious, it’s my nature…But I’m not nosy. Just comment on this subject either way, but only if you wish to. In my humble opinion only, does anyone really get a bargain and is it all worth the stress? It really is a retailers best and worst day, business is booming but the day is long and also exhausting. In my retail experience, the day is just plain scary, it really is!

People shove each other, argue over the merchandise, try to butt  ahead of each other in line and just get so ugly and nasty. As they race through the stores on the quest for a wonderful bargain, it all is just so stressful. Again, these are just my own thoughts, observations and opinions. For all of you who enjoy the craziness of this day…Have fun and do get enough rest the night before if possible. Because it really is a jungle out there, gear up and do be careful…Just a word of caution.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot…Happy shopping! 😉

Things You Overhear in Public… ~By Gabby Angel

What a title and trust me, I heard a few things I didn’t need or want to hear. Innocently stopping into our local drugstore, just needing a couple things. Sounds simple, quick and not very traumatizing or upsetting, right? Wrong, whatever are people thinking and is nothing sacred?

Upon wandering down the headache/ pain meds aisle to pick up some tylenol…There is some guy chatting on a cell phone. That is one of my personal pet peeves, cell phone chatting loudly in a public place. I really tried not to listen, but this guy was seriously loud. Apparently not happy with his wife on the other end of the phone…A few choice words and not very nice sounding. I quickly grabbed my tylenol to escape this bad vibe stuff going on. His poor wife, I thought to myself and got myself away from that aisle. Why oh why wasn’t Autumn with me? She handles this kind of thing so much better than I do, sometimes it’s hard travelling without that twinnie!

My one consolation was exchanging a look of disgust with a fellow shopper. Moving along, I head to the nail polish remover aisle. A mother and young teenager arguing like crazy! Do I really need the nail polish remover, yes unforunately as I was down to my last few drops. I sighed and decided to make it quick and exchange no looks. No use getting involved in, even to smile and perhaps get them to lighten up. I may be a dreamer but I’m not stupid! I am almost home free, I grabbed the bottle of polish remover and ready to roll.

The mother of teen stops me, for real she grabbed my arm. She is someone I don’t know, who grabs somebody’s arm like that? Mother of teen is determined to get my opinion, pretty darn nervy. She asks me if the polish said teen is demanding is too off the wall and inapropriate…Why does she need my input? I nicely say, something to that affect and smile politely. She gives me a disgusted look as I  turn away and make a quick retreat to the checkout, fast.

Turning around I come face to face with another shopper. She is also looking nervous at the mother/daughter spat, I feel sorry for her. Braving this aisle is just not the place to be! I give her a warm smile of reassurance and walk on my way. Hopefully she won’t get pulled into the drama. Just like my title states, the things you see and hear in public never cease to amaze me.

Yay! The checkout is in sight…I made it! I quickly get checked out, happy the young clerk was friendly and nice. Was I ever glad to get to my car, rip open the tylenol bottle! I take a couple and head for the sanctuary of home.

Next time, I am not venturing out unless Autumn is with me!

Shopping Adventures… ~ By Gabby Angel

Autumn and I set out for a shopping trip a little earlier today. Being twins it’s fun this way and shopping really can be an adventure when it’s the two of us. We were just going to a little mall about 20 minutes away and visiting a couple of the stores.

I have a tendency to drag out our shopping a bit too long sometimes. Luckily, Autumn is not shy keeping me in line and twinnies don’t get insulted with these things.

Our first stop was a little clothing boutique we both love. We were in and out of there rather quickly, it’s a small shop and we both had a good idea what we were after. A sweater for me and some rocking boots for Autumn. The girl is addicted I tell you, like I have room to talk. I am almost as bad as she is. I can almost hear Autumn saying the same is true of me with sweaters, among other things of course. We twinnies do love our fashion.

On we went to everyone’s favorite Wal-Mart, they have just about everything you need at that store. The one near us is open 24 hours, it comes in handy for those of us with insomnia doesn’t it? OK, here I am digressing again…Back to the twinnie’s shopping.

We didn’t argue over who pushed the cart by the way, we used to when we were younger sometimes.( I bet she loved me sharing that bit of information.). 😉 We were cruising through the aisles, picking up our odds and ends.Debating long and hard over how I did/did not need a cute little clock, of course Autumn was right. I have more than my share of clocks, I’ve written a couple blogs concerning this matter.

As Autumn asked me, how did we end up in that aisle anyway and promptly took over steering the shopping cart. We meandered over to the greeting card aisle, we need cards for a couple birthdays. Causing a bit of a stir, cracking each other up with some of the musical cards. We twinnies can be quite silly at times, but it’s fun…Even when we attract attention by mistake. Autumn and I tend to forget we are not alone and need to refrain from the amusing “twin stuff” between ourselves.

The nice lady shopper we startled with the one blasting song “Celebrate” in the musical card, nicely forgave us our rudeness. Last stop was the laundry basket search… Yay! I had found a nice wicker one to replace my aging one. We got through the checkout in good time and headed for the car. Autumn was pushing the cart and I was carrying the wicker laundry basket. All of a sudden I fell, tripping over somebody’s soda can I hadn’t seen…How embarassing. My luck, some guy came running over to see if I was OK. Autumn and I had gathered a small audience, well only a handful of people were staring, but I was mortified.

I quickly got up, Autumn assuring me I had fallen gracefully by the way (how comforting) and we sent the caring guy on his way with thanks. I limped the short distance to the car, not hurt badly but my left knee was smarting a bit.

The good news was the wicker laundry basket was unharmed!

Time Is A Four Letter Word… ~ Written BY Gabrielle Angel

Time, I seemed to be preoccupied by it. That thought occurred to me the other day when I made the rounds of AA battery replacing in my many clocks. Yes, it is kind of quirky but then so am I. Thankfully, I am not alone…My sweet twin sister Autumn is, too. Quirky can be fun! 🙂 I am not sure when it started exactly, but I kind of started collecting different clocks and watches. For myself as well as other people, wonder what that means?

Something, maybe nothing…I just got to thinking about it when changing the batteries. Four different clocks needed new batteries and I realized I only had two clocks that didn’t take batteries. I also thought about it when talking to Autumn and our Mom earlier today.

Mom was saying how much she loves and wears the angel watch I had gotten for her years ago.She was saying how she just had the battery replaced the other day. That  got me telling the battery changing thing with all my clocks. Then I got on the subject of why did they have to stop making wind up watches? Autumn and I had been given one of those as our first watches as kids. The same with clocks, why do so many of them take batteries? When did the plug in clocks go by the wayside? The alarm clocks still plug in though, don’t they? But whatever happened to the wind up ones?

The truth is I do have quite a few clocks throughout my house. It can be time consuming when changing batteries and also when the daylight saving time changes. It takes me forever to get all those clocks in sync! They are all never really in sync, always a few minutes off they all are. That used to irritate me, it no longer does. My thought was it really didn’t matter, I have other pressing things to concern myself  about. But, I do seem to have a fascination with time. The funniest part of that is I am usually late for things, how embarassing to admit that. Well, I am being honest as always. It was why I picked the title of this blog, a light take on my being on time!  Wouldn’t you think someone with so many clocks and watches would be on time…Think about it. 😉

One of my other memory is Dave and I joking around “about freezing time”. He put a wind up clock we had in the freezer, it cracked us both up and we laughed like crazy over that one. That is until the next day, we discovered the clock in the freezer! We had forgotten to take it out, oh well these things can happen. It was in the very first years of our marriage and we did get sidetracked, I will say no more. I bet nobody who is reading this has ever done such a thing. What are the chances? It says a lot of Dave’s and my sense of humor perhaps.

Back to my clocks, I will admit to having over a couple dozen clocks or maybe more…But some of them are really small. 😉 Like that matters, right? Watches, well about the same amount.

Anyway, time is relevant  and time is of the essence, there’s no time like the present. Just think about how many phrases there are about time, too! Now, that will give you all something to think about for the day! 🙂