Margret Sloan

So many people drive to work as a mindless exercise every day. They back out of their driveway and take the same route to work, sitting in rush hour traffic and stressing until they get to their office. The drive to work is a dull, boring routine.

I can’t do that. I’ll drive to work a different way at least 2 or 3 times each week. I really don’t like to do the same thing over and over. I like variety and I like to enjoy my drive to work - not just endure it. Every morning I see new flowers blooming, new pets in the yards, and new cars sharing the road with me. I love starting each day as a new adventure!

Chocolate has always been a treat for me and we weren’t allowed many sweets as children, so perhaps I’ve over compensated as an adult. I used to be happy with just any kind of chocolate bar - something you grab at the drug store or convenience store for 25 cents. If it had extras, like almonds or coconut or caramel - that was a nice bonus. I loved Almond Joy, snickers, Baby Ruth and Heath bars.

Then our receptionist gave me a birthday present that changed my view on chocolate forever. She gave me a ballatine of chocolates from Godiva. Now there is not much that compete with Godiva. My favorite piece is the dark chocolate leaf with the rasberry filling. Heaven!

Have seen the tenant build out underway for a few months and finally a banner announcing that a new Mexican restaurant would be opening in a little neighborhood shopping center. And finally last week they changed the banner to say “Now Open” and todays was our first opportunity to stop in and try them out.

There were only a few customers in the restaurant, but at 2:30 it was getting late for lunch - I hope they had a larger crowd during the 11:00 - 1:00 prime time lunch hours. We were seated immediately and a server took our drink order as soon as we were settled in. The menu was well done and had many selections, the food turned out great, and we’ll be going back to La Terraza again soon.

When I was a girl, my father would drive to the service station and an attendant would come out to the pump, fill up the car for you, wash the windshield and offer to check the oil for you while the gas was flowing into the car. If your tires needed air, he would refill the tires. All of these services were free with the price of the gas. If you needed the oil changed, a flat tire fixed, or a new headlight, the mechanic in the service bay would take care of it for you and not charge much for the little bit of time it took to put in the new parts as long as you bought the parts from the station.

Nowadays you do all of that yourself. Which is fine if you are handy with tools and have someplace like a covered and lit garage to work on your car. The rest of us have to resort to our own devices. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t afford to take my car to Firestone every time a little happens to my car when they are going to charge $100 for every little maintenance job. Last week I took in the car and asked for an oil change and a new air filter. The bill was $100. That’s absurd - I was expected to pay $35, tops.

I’ll have to find someplace else to take care of these routine maintenance issues for me, because I can’t afford the excessive Firestone charges.

For years I would dodge the cosmetic counter saleswomen at the department stores, but while shopping with some friends a few months ago, we stopped at the Clinique counter and I ended up buying a lipstick. I love the shades, but more importantly, the lipstick lasts for a long time without staining or burning my lips like some the drug store lipsticks might do.

Now I see Clinique is offering a special gift of a pretty yellow and white tote bag with the purchase of their fragrance. I had tried the “Happy” fragrance tester while I was shopping with my friend and thought it was pleasant. I might stop by the department store this week and try that fragrance again - if I still like it the second time it would be nice to have a new fragrance and a new tote bag for spring.