the human note pad....or the word of the day....

maybe if you know me, you will notice a few things about me....well, maybe you'd notice a lot of things about me, but for the purpose of this blog i'll mention a few. if you are in my car or house, you will always find a bottle (or 4) or purell or other alcohol based sanitizer. why?? well, partly cuz im sorta freaky about germs and sorta for another reason. you will always find a pen on me or near me(in the car, etc) on the days that i work....more on that later, and finally, you will always see me wearing a long sleeved shirt at work. on the hottest of days, i will have on a long sleeved dress shirt at work all the time. i like the classic look that a pressed long sleeved shirt has, i will have the sleeves cuffed up, rolled 2 times, and thats it. the shirt will hit me close to my wrist at the forearm.

that being said, im not a note kind of guy. i always thought it was a sure sign of aging. writing notes to yourself?? come on, i can totally remember all that stuff....im not old....well....you know, things change. even so, i still cant write myself a post it and stick it in my pocket for later. so what ive been doing for a few years now is writing myself notes, but on my person, usually on the left hand/wrist/fore arm area. see pic...today i needed to remember that there was a sale, and i needed waffles, a priority mail box, and to drop off some drugs on the way home. simple, as i get them done i cross them off(thats why i need a pen) and after they are all done i "erase" them with the purell(it works great for that!) so if you see me at work or after work often you will see some writing on me, and to me, thats better than a note in my pocket getting lost in a sea of receipts, dollar bills(only singles, as i dont carry cash) notes about work and a whole lot of other junk.

i mentioned i wear long sleeves all the time. the people who i work with ask me if im hot, i always say no, even though i am. so just wear short sleeves. i cant. im not disfigured, well i guess thats up for debate, but i have this thing i do. it all started after my mom died a few years ago. i went through a lot of stuff, and honestly, it wasnt fun, but thats a blog for another day...but the thing is this, the reason i cant wear short sleeves, other than the fact i think its a fashion no-no is that in addition to the notes i write on my hands/wrist daily, to remind me, i also write something further up on my forearm, always covered by my shirt, for just me to see...sometimes its just a word, sometimes its a small saying or a line from a song, or sometimes its a name. for a long time it was my mom's name or initials, JLD, so i wouldnt forget her. i know it sounds silly, how can someone forget their mom, even after she has died. i dont know how, but i started to, so i put her initials there and would on occasion look at them. it would remind me of the good stuff that she did and the great person she was. lately, its been the name of a friend, who in my opinion, just needed a break or two. i would look at the name and send some postivity to the owner of that name, and things have been going great, so i think its working...
today the word for me was "remember" pretty vague i know. im the kind of guy who needs to be reminded alot, so this word, esp today, reminded me to remember stuff. what stuff you wonder...well...remember my mom, its been a while, and i miss her. remember my job, not just the job that pays me, but my job as a person, a human being. remember to be grateful for my family and friends.

here is the thing, in the past few months i've made a few really great friends, and i've ended some really long freindships, they were too toxic to me as a person. i have to remember how blessed i am for my new freinds, and i have to remember why im no longer friends with my past friends. its too easy to take new friends for granted and take old(bad) friends back because you have a lot of time invested in the friendship.

i always have the word of the day on my left arm, partly cuz im right handed and its easier to write it that way, and partly because i think its closer to my heart, and the word i write is usually something i know in my heart, so i want it to be close. this word, up until today, no one has ever seen it other than me. it would be gone in the car on the way home, removing it was always a trick when the weather is below zero and im bundled up with layers and layers, but i always told myself, this is just for me to see, and no one else, so i had to have it gone before i was around other people. the word of my day, well, its always been for me, just me. until now, i didnt think anyone would really even get it, so i kept it hidden away. but now i have a few friends who i KNOW will get and i want to say thanks for letting me share it with you.