Arg! Why is it so impossible to find a good, reasonably priced pedicure place in South Bend?!?!?

Help! Any suggestions? Remember: two things – 1) good (that means I don’t want to see ladies with masks covering their faces in there!) and 2) reasonably priced ($45 - $55 is NOT reasonably priced!!).

Oh, and she also made this great piece of art work to go above my bed to perfectly match my new bedding.

• She breaks into my house when I'm out of town to defrost my freezer (and fridge)


• She cleans my house when I'm gone


• She decorates my living room for me


• She inspires me


• She fits right in with our family
  
  
• She is a LOT of fun
  


• She will eat cake for breakfast with me


• She meets me for lunch during the week

• She talks with me endlessly


• She does photoshop for me
  


• She gives me her old phone(s)


• She listens to me


• She gives me fun stuff like Ex-Boyfriend Body Lotion (to help moisturize the bad break-ups)
  


• She's a good buffer when Andy & I fight (yah, we still fight...)
  


• She's brilliant

• She's dedicated
  

• She's fun to travel with


• She's fun to go shopping with


• She takes just as many photos as I do


• She shares her family with me


• She lets me tag along to a Gourmet Pancake Breakfast for her bday


• She shares things with me like coffee
  


• She crimps my hair for Friday Fun


• She has the same name as me


• She likes Notre Dame

• She hosted a birthday party for me at her awesome apartment


• She encourages me when we're both doing South Beach


• She lets me kidnap her and take her to Angola and Lansing


• She laughs with me
  


• She made me an awesome banner for Administrative Professionals Day


• She can be silly with me

• She keeps my brother in line
  
  
• She is patient with me
  
  
• She is wise
  
  
• She has fun catch phrases that I like to imitate ("Awww", "SO cute!")
  
  
• She makes good brownies
  
  
• She introduced me to Aldi
  
  
• She gives me flowers
  
  
• She's My Sissy!!!
  

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about goals and accomplishments.

I take pride in accomplishing things, even little things. Here are a few recent examples:

Last night I watched “The Way We Were” in memory of director Sydney Pollack (who, by the way, grew up in South Bend). I had rented it once in college because I felt I should be familiar with this “classic” and of course didn’t remember anything about it.

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! If you don’t want to know anything about the movie, stop reading now. If you don’t care, keep reading.

There’s these two people (Barbra Streisand and a very handsome Robert Redford) in a relationship that just doesn’t work. Time after time they try and they try harder. They even try marriage and moving to a new location. But their love isn’t strong enough to cover their many differences. It’s tragic. At the end of the movie they run into each other years later. And you can see their tender, yet passionate, love for one another is still there. But life has now taken them down different paths. They’re both with other people and moving on with their lives. But you see the unspoken bond between them, knowing it will always be there.

The viewer has to wonder if they were better off together even with their many differences. I also wondered if they would have been better off if they had never gotten together. But then I realized that they both benefited from being together because they both learned from one another. He was influenced by her, and he changed his way of thinking. She too realized a few things thanks to having him in her life, although I think she was a bit more stubborn than he.

It’s a good reminder that we can learn from those who differ from us and what we consider “the norm.” But we have to be willing to learn. If Barbra & Robert’s characters wouldn’t have been open to learn and open to change, it would have been a waste. Think of all the turmoil; that’s all it would have been.

The theme song of the movie plays off and on throughout the 118 minutes, and it’s beautiful and haunting at the same time. Look at these lyrics:

Memories