Who Cares What I Think?

Thanks, Claire. Me too. Love, Mindie <-- who ...

2012-02-17T13:35:33.194-05:00

Thanks, Claire. Me too.

Love,
Mindie <-- who shouldn't be looking at this blog right now. :)

If it weren't for "the last minute",...

2012-02-17T13:33:05.047-05:00

If it weren't for "the last minute", nothing would ever be accomplished.

I live by these words!

Claire H

Thanks, Pam. It's nice to know a neighbor occ...

2012-02-09T11:31:50.131-05:00

Thanks, Pam. It's nice to know a neighbor occasionally reads my blog. :) I love Marion Station too.

Thanks, for the nice words. They most certainly d...

2012-02-09T11:31:19.149-05:00

Thanks, for the nice words. They most certainly did come from the heart. <3

Linda, can't believe I never replied to any of...

2012-02-09T11:30:51.986-05:00

Linda, can't believe I never replied to any of these comments. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and reply. It's nice to have friend that are native to the Shore.

Maryland fishing ... my husband loves you!!!

2012-02-09T11:30:15.231-05:00

Maryland fishing ... my husband loves you!!!

Thanks Patrick. We all learned a lot from Hal did...

2012-02-09T11:29:52.893-05:00

Thanks Patrick. We all learned a lot from Hal didn't we? I think he taught me to look for the "connectivity" of a place.

Thanks, Annette. There's room for everybody. ...

2012-02-09T11:29:09.648-05:00

Thanks, Annette. There's room for everybody. Lots of space here.

Thanks, so much Rosie. I love and miss you guys. ...

2012-02-09T11:28:38.782-05:00

Thanks, so much Rosie. I love and miss you guys. Blessings to all of you in your Indiana home this year.

very nicely put Mindie......also describes why I a...

2012-02-09T09:37:11.997-05:00

very nicely put Mindie......also describes why I also love living on the Eastern Shore but mostly Marion Station

The Calhoune MEBA Center hosts all kinds of events...

2012-02-09T08:12:10.256-05:00

The Calhoune MEBA Center hosts all kinds of events and conferences. Perry Hall is just one of the overnight options in their complex. They are serious about renting to businesses, but I'm not sure if they rent to groups of friends. You'd have to check with MEBA.

Sounds like I would love to spend the night there....

2012-02-09T08:09:34.210-05:00

Sounds like I would love to spend the night there. Can it be rented for overnight conferences? If so a bunch of us should get together and rent it. I know I'm in for a night,anyone else brave enough to stay?

I did have my ID. In the car. By the way. If I ...

2011-12-26T10:01:31.074-05:00

I did have my ID. In the car. By the way. If I collapsed in Boscovs, my credit card would be enough for them to trace my personal information. Otherwise, I'd be all ID'd up once I got back to the car. And wow! - three exclamation points in your comment!!! Feeling strongly about this?

I dont carry a purse ever but i do carry my id u n...

2011-12-24T23:16:23.452-05:00

I dont carry a purse ever but i do carry my id u need it everywhere even if u have to go to the emergency room!! deal with it!

Kahil Gibran was such a mystic. Love the poem, Ma...

2011-12-19T06:04:20.864-05:00

Kahil Gibran was such a mystic. Love the poem, Maura. Love your line .... "We are never apart from our loved ones, they just go on a different path to us for a little while."

Sometimes we need a little help getting our arms around the concept of life and life after death coexisitng.

Happy Christmas.

I love this poem by Pablo Neruda (translated by Br...

2011-12-18T12:40:42.722-05:00

I love this poem by Pablo Neruda (translated by Brian Patten)
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/so-many-different-lengths-of-time

I think it really sums up our links between life and death. We are never apart from our loved ones, they just go on a different path to us for a little while, and are always around to help us.

Both my brother and mother passed suddenly. Four of his closest friends, and four of my school friends also passed suddenly An aunt and uncle lost five of their children before the children were 20.

Its hard sometimes, especially at Christmas, to deal with it. However, another lens to view it is to see it as its part of love and loving people, part of lifes tapestry. I love this piece by Kahil Gibran
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

"Some of you say, "Joy is greater thar sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed". Kahil Gibran

Great post, Mindie ... loved the O’Donohue quote. ...

2011-12-18T09:52:17.867-05:00

Great post, Mindie ... loved the O’Donohue quote. I never thought about it that way.

Oh Maura.. how true. I love the image of your Dad...

2011-12-16T17:28:15.758-05:00

Oh Maura.. how true. I love the image of your Daddy crying because Santa found him naughty. Hee hee hee.

I've often prayed, "Lord don't let me die at Christmas. It would affect all future Christmas job for my loved ones." But the outpouring of kindness generated by those who love us is also a fair memory in its own right.

So glad I've gotten to know you through Facebook, Maura. What a gift!

Very true Mindie. Thinking about it my childhood ...

2011-12-16T17:22:48.496-05:00

Very true Mindie.

Thinking about it my childhood memories are not of the commercialism, but maybe thats because out in the Irish countryside there wasn't much to be commercial about! Abiding memories include:
my mother plucking the feathers off the turkey in the shed - with me avoiding eye contect in case she asked me do pluck or gut it instead (I did do it eventually)
coming home from school during December and forgetting said turkey was hanging (by its claws) from a high kitchen cupboard. When you banged the back door back, it bounced off the turkey, which swung round the door, and you got smacked in the face with its cold beak / feathered head -arrgh
my father making a fuss about hanging up his stocking, opening the stocking on Christmas morning, then pretending to cry when there was only bits of turf in it and my mother exclaiming "you must have been bad, Daddy, for Santa not to bring you any toys!"
Many other memories, too many to write here. Poignant ones too, my mother died suddenly at Christmas, and I remember the wake, with 1500 people coming to the house. So many people gathering to support us - as communities do at good times and bad.
And above all, I think Christmas is a time of great change and new beginnings. Time to reflect and remember

I used to tell my business clients to only post on...

2011-12-09T21:33:46.229-05:00

I used to tell my business clients to only post once or at the most twice a day but then I began to manage (am admin to) a lot of pages and I was able to see how often those 1 or 2 posts actually made it through EdgeRank (FB's algorithm) to the fan's newsfeeds and I was horrified. People think that anythings that's posted automatically ends up on a newsfeed but that's not true. Edgerank has a formula for what you see and don't see and business pages seem to suffer the most IMO. I now tell my clients 2 to 3 times with large spaces/times between the posts and that seems to work out best based on their page insights and the fact they they are never 'unliked' and often engaged. Just my 2 cents.

my grandfather owns this hotel.. he loves it &...

2011-12-09T20:43:09.640-05:00

my grandfather owns this hotel.. he loves it & talks about the spirits that fill the place. he said that they have good energy :)

Thanks, Dana. He's special like his mother. ...

2011-12-02T09:44:28.605-05:00

Thanks, Dana. He's special like his mother. :)

mindie what a wonderful way to remember the birth ...

2011-12-02T09:41:50.019-05:00

mindie what a wonderful way to remember the birth of your grandson! this will be something for him to read when he gets older, and sees the love you have for him, to write a wonderful piece about his beginning in life and after. hes a lucky little guy. i have always kept baby books for my kids, beyond the age they stop in the book. my kids are teenagers now, and i still write important things down in their books, so later when theyre older i can pass the books on to them to show them about their beginnings in life, as i will do for my grandkids when theyre born. this is something my mom did for me. i wish more people did this for their kids/grandkids. such a wonderful way to preserve memories and pass them along. more like a family history if you will. please continue to write, you have such a wonderful way of writing that def. captures attention and makes you feel like youre there when reading the stories.

As an economic development professional, I make my...

2011-12-02T09:09:33.494-05:00

As an economic development professional, I make my living helping rural businesses. And like you, Sue Beaman, I do most of my shopping on line... though I'm embarrassed to say so, because I want to help local businesses - even the big box stores because our "local" people work in them. Those jobs are important.

But it's exciting to see how many of the big box stores are facing that competition of "one click" shopping, and making it easier (and fun) to shop - like the ones mentioned in my post. I actually enjoyed my shopping at Macy's and stayed longer and bought more than I expected to.

Kathy (Clough) mentions above that Marshall's and Lord & Taylor - (like Boscov's) are still clinging to policies that make sense for decreasing loss ratios - but drive customers to their desks where online merchants roll out convenience out like a red carpet spattered with discounts, freebies and no shipping charges.

All I asked of Boscov'e was to allow managers to use common sense. Clearly, I offered some good proof that I was Mindie Burgoyne, and I was only spending $42. Also ... I DID mention and prove via my iPhone that I had 4 blog sites. Wouldn't that be a red flag? Do you really want to offer a blogger more material?

And, of course Tony Russo makes a valid point. Fraud is still an issue. In most of these stores, anybody can use anyone's credit card. Kids steal their parents' cards and run up bills, and the new "convenient" systems where the clerks don't touch the cards makes fraud easy. But somehow the stores that are making it easy are growing and adapting. Boscov's and their ilk should learn from them.

Sadly Mindie, after too many years of more than pa...

2011-12-02T05:17:56.506-05:00

Sadly Mindie, after too many years of more than painful,'big box store' shopping experiences, I have learned that online shopping coupled with 'overnight shipping' if needed, are the way to go for me. That, or wind up having to take extra BP meds and risking a night in jail (very unbecoming for an old woman). The exception, of course, is shopping in your hometown - where they already know your face!