Anna M. Aquino

            A few weeks ago my youngest and I were in a grocery store parking lot and there was a guy in a car with the windows rolled down smoking a cigarette. His car happened to be parked right next to mine. The whole scene looked like something out of a 1970’s street movie because there was smoke billowing coming out of the car.  My youngest shares something with most outspoken children; she has no filter for these things.                           Loudly as she walked over to our car she exclaimed, “Mommy!  That man is smoking!”  As if she was the damsel in distress in a cheesy 1950’s horror movie.  Maybe I’m exaggerating a tad but it certainly felt like it.  Sure I’m glad she knows that smoking is bad for the health of people, however I wanted to crawl into my trunk and close the door at that moment....

              Yesterday Dan and I went to a Ross store and we were waiting in a very long line to make our purchase.   I love Ross stores and will miss them when the day comes we move away from them.   However they can be very congested on the weekends and yesterday was no exception to that.   The lines were long, and sadly anytime you pack people into a store promising them a good deal they can act less than their best.   While we were in line waiting I had noticed a young boy who could have been no more than five.   He was sitting down playing around the line.   I was sure that somewhere near were his parents, and didn’t think about it until a store worker appeared to take him to find to whom he belonged.   The boy was playing with some toys near the line, and it appeared the parents/guardians had left him there.   When Dan and I finally got to a register was when the explos...

  For my American readers this week marks Thanksgiving; for my Canadian ones sorry I know it was in October and for the other ones around the world humor me for a moment.   I’m an American girl (grin).   In the US, Thanksgiving kicks off a month of holiday fun and parties that leads into CHRISTmas (oh yes, I said it, grin) into the New Year.   This means a month of twinkling lights, Church specials, indulging a tad too much, and a load of gatherings that most likely will at least make you want to smack a few people once or twice (I always say family can bring out the best and worst in people).   I will only be writing one blog this week.   Enjoy your Thanksgiving.   However,   I must add a couple disclaimers here before I proceed in this blog: 1)   No we don’t celebrate Santa Clause in my house (ie the picture) it’s a personal choice and I really don’t need a dozen emails disagreeing with this picture that was very fitting to this topic...