Lauren Reagan

Guest post from: Bruno Smith

Last night I did my once a week routine of stopping by my grandparent’s house to have dinner with them when I got off work. My grandfather is now 81 years old and he still goes to work every single day. Papa has been practicing law for 60-something years, and when he talks about his cases and the people he is able to help, his eyes light up. My grandmother was a nurse while Papa was in law school, and shortly after he graduated she retired from the working world forever. These days Grandma spends the majority of her days at Kroger hunting a deal for dinner or admiring the tomatoes in her garden and wishing they would ripen more quickly. Papa heads home from work around 3:00 each day. He spends a few hours playing around on his computer while Grandma prepares their nightly meal. The food is always simple, nutritious and prepared with love. The best part of the meal is always the conversation. Papa eats quickly while sharing long-winded tales of wilder days, and no matter how interesting they are, he always cuts them short in order to watch Gunsmoke on his http://www.expertsatellite.com/. At times these dinners are inconvenient, but I know that in a few short years, I’ll be thinking of them as some of the most precious nights of my life.

I’ve heard much about the Walden University’s online degree programs that are helping so many people get their degrees which ultimately enables them to make the “big” bucks. In these past few darken years of being stuck right smack dab in a major Depression the “big” bucks is what we are all striving for. In order to learn about Walden I spent some time checking them out online, I found that at WaldenU.edu that they have a very intensive website that took some time for me to absorb. You gotta remember, I just barely made it out of High School. College was never really in the picture for me, back in those days. All my mother wanted me to do was to become a secretary and marry the rich boss, she never really got over the fact that I ended up in the food and beverage industry, a bar wench.

Anyway, I’m thinking of getting into the Social Services field since I have a good heart and know how to talk and deal with people. I think that I am a compassionate human being that enjoys assisting people in any way that I can, been known to literally give the shirt off of my back to some one that needs it more than I do. Anyone that is dealing with people in need most definitely require a HUGE dose of compassion and unfortunately what I have found from personal experience and from thousands of horror stories that I have heard from friends, family and my bar customers, is that the majority of these “professionals” are seriously lacking any type of compassion along with a lot of other qualifications that I think are necessary for this type of career. I think anyone that chooses a career (any career really) should enjoy it to a certain extent and not in it just for the money.

I like to think that I help a lot of people while tending the bar, but the tip jar is rarely flowing over from them all. Knowing that I could be doing the same thing and was guarenteed to go home on payday with a sum that would not only pay the rent on a house of my own as well as the utilities, insurance premiums, taxes, and keep gas, oil and decent tires on the car, well it would be awsome. But at the end of the day if I look in the mirror and like what I see because of what I have done for somebody that day that really effected their lives that day well that is just be the ultimate high.

This was such a clever ad campaign. I have seen variations of this billboard all up and down the East Coast for years. I do like Chick-Fil-A and I love their sense of humor, too.

I forgot about the water ants that arrive in my house this time of the year. Thank goodness they are only attracted to water and not food and sweets, that can be a real pain in the ass, all year round. These little black ants are always found hanging out in the kitchen and the bathrooms and are a real challenge to get rid of. I’m so glad that they don’t bite either.

Sometimes I wonder why I tell people that Spring is my favorite season!

I have always enjoyed the dried Ocean Spray fruits that they have been pumping out for a good long time now. And I’m so happy that they are continuing to put out new flavors. My newest favorite is the Pomegranate and the Blueberry ones. If you haven’t tried them yet I suggest that you give them a try. The are good and sweet, but a healthy snack that you can eat by the handfuls if you care to.