Welcome

I love being a woman.

I’m a woman who has experience being a wife, a mom, a student, a teacher, and a degreed business professional. I’ve traveled throughout the U.S. and have been to Europe, too, but am greatly fond of western Michigan and its beaches, and the entire Midwest region. My journey is relative to my time, of course. I’m a straight-laced conservative when it comes to education and career, yet a child of the 60’s; a hippie you might say, when it comes to enjoying life. It’s been quite a ride!

My favorite things are my grown children, Ashlee and Krystal, my Colonel hubby, Scott (retired from the military after nearly 30 years but continues to work a civilian job), my mother, Kathy (a pioneer for women who worked in the factory at General Motors from the early 60’s until retirement 27 years later – but who is first and foremost a gentle woman with a strong soul and my forever role model), my pets (Japanese Chin dogs Jake and Lucy, and my kitties, Bliss and Salem), beaches, dragonflies, hummingbirds, and other nature. I might seem complicated at times but truly love the simple things.

My little place in the world, that’s my blog. I’ll be sharing my thoughts about my life, my family, my pets, my job, and how I view the world. I hope you enjoy my stories, my sense of humor, and my insight. This is a chance for us to share that cup of coffee or tea in the morning or afternoon, and reach across the miles that might separate us, and gather close together to catch our breath and a laugh or two. Life is busy. And so are we! So let’s dive in together. And smell the roses, too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Just Peachy

"Did I ever tell you that I invented the peach strip on the maxi pad?" I mentioned to my friend Margaret the other day, as we carpooled to work.

"Did you invent the post-it notes too?" Margaret joked.

"No, I saw that movie though. And it was pretty funny, but I really did invent the Always pad peach strip," I told Margaret.

Margaret seemed amused as I told her that the feminine hygiene company had brought a focus group to Holy Spirit School way back in the 1980's, and as a young parent, I took part in trying out many products from the company, and providing feedback.

Ironically, the week I was testing the feminine hygiene products, I was in the Meijer grocery store on Alpine Avenue, and waiting in line at the courtesy desk. Why I was waiting there, I can't recall, but what happened next changed my life.

It was summer time, and a few feet in front of me was a rather large women in cotton white slacks and a sleeveless white blouse. This I recall most vividly, because wedged underneath her very thin cotton slacks, to my horror, was a BRIGHT BLUE strip maxi-pad, for all the world to see!

At that moment, I couldn't believe my eyes -- or my luck -- since I was doing the focus group on that very product! And as I stood there, I couldn't really shout over to her, "Hey lady, your blue strip is showing!" or "Excuse me, ma'am, we need to talk," well, you just can't say that stuff to strangers. But there was something I could do . . .

So, in the interest of every menstruating woman in America and beyond, it was at that very moment that I had the great idea for the nude or peach color strip, and brought that information to the focus group at Holy Spirit School on Lake Michigan Drive in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Now you might be thinking, gee, did Marie receive a patent for that, or perhaps great financial gain? Well, not exactly. Besides the satisfaction that I helped improve the product, my reward from the company was a 3-month supply of the newly developed product with the peach strip. And, I do have this fun little story to tell for the rest of my life.

Yeah, the money would've been nice. 

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