Flamingo Party Hat Pink Saturday

Happy, happy birthday dear Beverly and Pink Saturday. It's the fifth birthday of Pink Saturday and when I saw these folks on Broadway last week I knew I'd found just the right party hat.

I'd never seen flamingo hats before and I'm not sure if I'm missing a major trend. I did some research and came up with nothing. But I do know the hats are just the festive wear for a Pink Saturday celebration. I've really enjoyed being part of Pink Saturday and here's a tip of the flamingo to Beverly and the Pink Saturday participants.

It's been a nice day -- grocery shopping, a quick stop at the bank and "Ann" at Lincoln Center. I really enjoyed the play and will be doing a post about it tomorrow. The only downside has been the weather. It's been rainy and actually cold. It was fifty degrees and I needed the gloves that have been put away in my top dresser drawer. It didn't feel like Memorial Day weekend.

Happy Pink Saturday Wishes! 

At This Time Next Week...

...Seven Days and not quite 168 hours I will officially be a retiree. I got off the bus tonight and as I was crossing the street I thought, "At this time next Friday I will be retired." I can't say I've just been going through the motions. I've been to meetings, worked on a major project -- which will be nowhere near where it should be, but I've done my part pushing it along -- and have just about cleaned out my office and files. I've left time on Sunday and Monday to go into the office and get things done. I've got to wrap up my snow globe collection...

...clean out two more drawers and write a number of email notes. I know I can probably get it all done later in the week, but I'm feeling a need to be organized and not think about filing, shredding and sorting things I need to take home. I think I can get everything I want to do completed on Sunday and then I can really relax and enjoy spending time with my friends at work next week.

One of my colleagues reached out to a friend about a long-term volunteer idea for me and I've been quite tickled at the thought. It's very preliminary, but I love the idea. He remembered some of the conversations we've had over the years -- we've worked together since I started my job nineteen years ago -- and it's his goodbye gift to me. I will reach out to his friend over the weekend and hope to set up a meeting for the beginning of June. It's too soon to be more detailed, but it's a wonderful place, and incorporates a number of my interests. I will keep you posted. I have an orientation for another volunteer opportunity on June 10 and will report back after after that program. I've taken Susie's good advice to not waste a minute of retirement and I am moving ahead with plans.

Today was rainy and dreary and tomorrow doesn't look too much better. Happily I have a theater ticket and will stay warm and dry inside Lincoln Center. I also have a fun Pink Saturday post, so please come and visit.

Wishes for a Wonderful Weekend!

What's My Line?

One of my memories from childhood was watching "What's My Line?" The original show was broadcast from 1950 to 1967 on CBS and there was a later syndicated version. The basic premise of the show was to guess the profession of the show's guest. The celebrity panel was witty and even as teenager I enjoyed watching it. One of the pieces of trivia I discovered was that the phrase "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" was first used on this show by Steve Allen.

This came to my thoughts when I got an update from LinkedIn. I will be retired in nine (!) working days and the title -- my line -- that I've had for thirteen years will no longer be my title. I spent some time on LinkedIn this morning perusing titles and work descriptions. I haven't formed any business yet, so that didn't seem a way I could go. I am most comfortable with "blogger" and that's probably how I will describe myself. I've said blogging was my second job for the last several years and now it will be my first job, and quite happily so. I'm almost ready to say, "Hi, I'm Buttercup and I'm a blogger/author/social media consultant, and it's great to meet you." Did anyone else think about this issue as you retired or moved to a free-lance status?

We have a winner for the wristlet/gift certificate giveaway.  It's Laura'sloves. Laura, I'll be emailing you and your wristlet will be on it's way for your military ID and ATM card. I wish I had one to send to everyone who entered the giveaway.

I'm enjoying my quiet Sunday morning. My coffee is just about ready and the New York Times is waiting for me. I'm a happy blogging Buttercup, and I hope you're having a relaxed and happy Sunday morning, too.

Wishes for a great week!

Fun Time Pink Saturday

We've had glorious spring weather this week. I've tried to add as much walking as I can and in order to enjoy the no-humidity days and it's been blissful. My routine has been to leave the subway earlier than my stop walk. Last night I emerged at Columbus Circle and this perfect Pink Saturday vision was waiting for me.

Soft ice cream is a great favorite of mine. I didn't indulge last night, but I will have to return to Columbus Circle to be part of Fun Time.

I like the yummy photos on the side of the truck. It's tough to choose just one, but I'm leaning towards the cherry bonnet. 

I'm loving my productive Saturday.  I've walked, grocery shopped, done a little decluttering and now I'm happy to be blogging. I've got a few errands for this afternoon and I'm planning to see "The Great Gatsby" with Mary. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow and then I'm looking forward to meeting a blog buddy and her husband who are visiting New York. You know there will be pictures. 

Wishes for a sweet pink Saturday!

How We Can Help

It seems at least once a week I hear of someone close to me or close to a family member or friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. We wait for biopsies, results from scans and surgery. Besides the sadness and tears and I find a huge sense of frustration. How can I help? How can I help not just my friend who has been diagnosed, but how can I help do something bigger? At one time I regularly donated platelets at Sloan Kettering, but that isn't possible now and I wanted to do something that would help. I'm not a scientist, but I got an email that showed me a way I could join with three hundred thousand other people to help prevent cancer.

Two weeks ago I went to Roosevelt Hospital, just a mile from my home, and became a participant in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study-3.  This is a twenty-year study that will include 300,000 people between the ages of 30 and 65, who have not been diagnosed with cancer. Having squamous or basal cell skin cancer does not preclude people from joining the study. The initial visit involved an hour of my time and a donation of blood and I spent another half hour at home filling out a questionnaire about my health. We will receive follow up surveys as the survey progresses, which should take about forty-five minutes to complete. That's it. That's all I have to do to help prevent cancer.

We won't see the results quickly, but I think of it as a gift to the younger people I love. One blood draw and ten or twenty surveys is a very small price to help make our world a healthier place for them. If you go to the link above you will find details about how you can join this study.

This post is for those I love and their loved ones who are in my prayers for healing, and for our dear Tim.  

Glossy or Matte?

I love my digital camera and I love my cell phone camera. If anyone had told me eight years ago when I first got my digital camera that I would carry it everywhere and take pictures almost every day I would have laughed. I'd had my own camera since college, but I was pretty much a vacation and "times of your life" photographer. When I first heard about cameras in phones I was perplexed. Why did anyone need a phone with a camera? Obviously I'm not the technological visionary. Someone saw the future and I came along for the ride, happily so.

But one drawback to going digital is not having photographs. I haven't made an actual copy of a photograph in three years. I have two pictures I am carrying around to make copies and I keep walking past every drugstore. In my pre-digital days I loved developing film. I got so excited to pick up my pictures -- or check my mail for the package of photographs -- and I always chose a second copy of the prints as my bonus. It was expensive and often half of a roll of film was laughable, at best, but I always found one picture to treasure and display.

Two things spurred these thoughts. This afternoon I went to Tim's wake and there was a wonderful slide show of Tim and his family. I'd never seen a slide show at a wake, but it was terrific to see pictures of Tim beginning with elementary school and going through last year. There was Marine Tim in Vietnam, Tim and Dot's wedding photo, Tim holding his first born and retired Tim and Dot relaxing in Florida. Dot told us that she loved photographs and many of the photos were ones she had on display in their home.

As I clean out my office I've also been going through photos. I've got a lot of recent pictures of my work friends on my computer, but the actual photos end around six years ago. We took a lot of pictures over the years and I've so enjoyed looking at our younger selves, and not on the computer.

It's time for me to start developing pictures. It may even be time to start making albums again, actual physical albums, and looking at the people I care about most in actual physical pictures. Glossy or matte?

And just for fun, to get the memory processes going I'm going into my first picture folder on my computer and picking one picture to share.  

  Santiago de Compostela, Spain, June 2006 

Goddaughter of My Heart

I meant to do a post this evening about Mother's Day. But I got sidetracked with a call to my goddaughter, Jess, and then I spent time watching cute cat videos on YouTube -- Jess' recommendation -- which could turn into a second career for me once I am no longer working full-time. 

As I wrote in my Mother's Day post three years ago:

Jessica is not actually my goddaughter. Her Aunt Maureen is her given godmother, but Jess is the goddaughter of my heart. Jessica went to college an hour from New York and I visited frequently. We tried to find the right description of our relationship and friend and friend's daughter just didn't describe it, and so I became a godmother. What a joy! No one could have a sweeter and lovelier goddaughter or daughter. Jess is beautiful, accomplished, intelligent and funny, but more important she is one of the kindest and most caring people I will ever meet.

It's just as I wrote then. Jess is kind, thoughtful, beautiful and tremendous fun to spend time with, whether we're discussing movies, books, English history or cat videos. I am so looking forward to the week I'll spend in August visiting on the St. Lawrence.  

One of the best gifts that Jess has given me is blogging. If it wasn't for her it's much less likely that I would be blogging and Buttercupland might not exist. Jess' blog inspired me and I thought I'd give it a try. That was over four years ago and I am grateful to her every time I blog. It's hard to imagine my life without blogging and harder still, to imagine my life without Jess. I'd be one lonely Buttercup!

My good wishes to all for a happily spent Mother's Day and thanks to my sweet Jess and all of my blog buddies for your affection today and every day of the year.