Cookie Cutter Wednesdays

      There was a clatter of cookie cutter shapes in varied forms and sizes as they hit her kitchen island countertop.  The granite surface shone brilliantly in the morning sunlight and Sally’s weekly mission to do her therapeutic baking was now at hand.  Today, regardless of what happens, at this moment in time, I am happy!

     The sugar cookie mix was her favorite and they only sold it around Christmastime.  In the box, was contained six bags of cookie dough mix and she bought as many of these boxes every year.  She added the melted butter and the egg to her mixture and since she was going to roll it out flat, she added two tablespoons of flour to stiffen it a little.

     She recalled her conversation with Bradley a few months earlier…

     “Why are you pouting?” he had asked.

     I had then answered, “Because the dog ran away with my young neice’s  rag doll and halfway buried it next to the thorny rose bushes.  Guess who they’ve asked to help dig it out?  That’s right, yours truly…Also, because there was a hurricane in the midwest and now guess whose plane trip to pick up a shipment of antiques for the store, has been waylayed?  You guessed right, if you guessed me.  Plus because my bank account is nearing nil, my last day at the Antique Shop is tomorrow and I have no immediate job prospects.”

     Bradley then said, “I see that you’re having a pity-party, you’re just feeling sorry for yourself.  First off, you have a lot of responsibilities that need tending to, and you know that keeping yourself busy always does you good.  Now go get cleaned up and wipe the tears off so we can take a walk around the park.  How’s that?”

     During our walk around the park, he had then asked, “Why did you buy that pink scarf, when you said that you had to buy a gift for you mom?  Let me guess, you lost sight of your shopping goals and now you’re panicking because your mother’s birthday is tomorrow.  If you hurry, you can buy her something from the store still, they don’t close for another hour…and don’t forget to get a birthday card for her too.  Now, what has happened to your finances?  Time doesn’t stand still for too long you know, eventually you’re going to have to pay off your credit card balances….That makeup you’ve got on, was just too bright for earlier.  You should apply those colors for when we go out to dinner tomorrow night.

     Rolling out the cookie dough with her favorite rolling pin, she even recalled the conversation they had a year prior on her twenty-ninth birthday….

     “Why are you pouting?” asked had Bradley.

     I had then answered, “They needed to make some cut-backs in the budget at the office, and I’ve been asked to leave….  I somehow have lost the drive to work full-time and I’m afraid that you’ll no longer see me as the go-getter that I used to be.  Plus, I don’t have a resume ready to submit to potential employers at the job faire.

     Bradley had then advised…

     “You should re-group and take an over-all look at where your life is heading.  I think that it’s going pretty well, in a pretty decent direction.  However it’s up to you, to create an environment for yourself that will be self-supportive.  Only when you can truly take care of your self financially, can you really truly feel independent about yourself, and you have it in you to do just that.”

     I was jaded about the world around me….and Bradley was concerned and had asked….

     “What has become of world politics, that’s got you avoiding it like the plague?  It’s not meant to be a soap opera, it’s not supposed to be an exciting event all the time, but you should care about what’s going on, regardless.  When was the last time that you went to the gym for some exercise, because according to my calendar, it’s been about a year.  You and world politics obviously don’t mix.  People are talking about world events as they happen, and you…well, it takes you about two to three weeks to read about the same things, because that’s when you’ll do your research.  You seem to feel like current events should be left alone to stew while you get used to what’s just happened, a sort of siesta out of life….that goes on for weeks at a time.

     Since those days, Bradley and Sally, have become a happily married couple, yet just this morning he asked, “Why are you pouting?”

     “….because I ordered the wrong lipstick, and now it’s too late to order the right one because not only has it sold out, but it has also been discontinued.  Plus, I got orange marker on a new top, and I’m just hoping that because the marker was the washable kind, that it’ll just wash off.

     Sally was jarred back to reality.  She rolled out the cookie dough some more and went to work busying herself.  This was Wednesday after all!

     Her collection of cookie cutters could rival that of any baker’s in town.  She had cookie cutters that were shaped like hearts, bunnies, rainbows…you name the shape and if it was a cute one she probably had it.  Her heart sang as she continued to roll out the cookie dough to its proper thickness. 

Sally then used the cookie cutters to create the adorably-cutely-shaped cookies.

     Bradley then entered the kitchen for a cup of coffee….

     “What’s really got you worried, what do you want to address?”

     “Bottom line, I’m not exercising…”

     Sally was wearing her fluffy pink and purple sweater, with her red tee shirt underneath for extra warmth.  Bradley thought she was in good shape.  He gave her a kiss on the cheek…

     “Gotta go…”

     Sally knew exactly what it was that was bothering her.  Bradley’s boss’ wife had been asking her and Bradley to double-check all the preparations she was making for an upcoming party and it was simply eroding into her time!

     Upon arriving at work, Bradley had a pile of reports he had to sift through.  He called upstairs to the information desk and asked for the year-to-date number of reports that had been sent to his office since January.

     “52 sir,” was the answer and how many remained on his desk currently?  This he could answer himself – 13 reports.   Bradley was compiling facts and figures for a forecasting report that he would turn over to his boss Clyde.

       A little while later….

     “I’ll be at Silver’s Athena,” he said.

     “Okay, Bradley,” Athena replied.

     Silver’s Dry Cleaners was just down the block and Bradley knew his 15-minute break would be stretched a little bit in going there, but he had accidentally picked up the wrong suit the other day.  Bradley stopped off at the trunk of his car, took out the suit to be returned and then went on the eight minute walk to Silver’s.

     At the Dry Cleaner’s…

     “Hello Mr. Silvers,…..I’m returning this one for my own suit.”

     “Oh yes, Bradley, I meant to call your secretary and tell her about the mix-up…..I’m so glad you noticed it on your own!” Max Silvers said.

     “….it was an honest mistake Max…”

     “Here’s the correct one Bradley….thanks for your patience,” Max said gratefully.

     “See you next time….,” with that Bradley double-timed it back to his building garage, while carrying his suit over his shoulder.

     As soon as he had his suit in his car, he took the stairs two at a time back to his office, and was just rounding off his break in 20 minutes flat.

     His boss Clyde looked in his door and couldn’t help himself, “….five minutes too late…..Bradley?”

     “Ah…..h..h.…actually I’m working through lunch today Mr. Roberts,” Bradley concluded.

     “I was just kidding Bradley…..” Clyde could be such a busybody sometimes.

     At the catering facility, Cathy was busy tallying up a customer’s order when Bradley called in.  Clyde’s wife Elaine had asked Bradley to double-check her tracks – mainly to make sure she had correctly planned her and Clyde’s silver wedding anniversary celebration.

     This had been their conversation earlier that morning…..

     “Bradley, I called the caterer’s and asked them to have the ice sculpture of the name ‘Roberts’ to be done in calligraphic letters, would you please double-check that I put in the request correctly?”

     “Of course, Mrs. Roberts…”

     “Please call me Elaine…..also the floral arrangements must have little ribbons tied to the stems of every other pink rose.  Could you double check that I made that request properly, as well?” Elaine had asked.

     “Of course…” Bradley said as he jotted down all the particulars.

     “…one last thing Bradley, the champagne….you know that I myself am a teetotaler….could you make sure it’s Dom all around?  Every table should have a bottle…with a spare,” Mrs. Roberts instructed.

     “Dom Perignon it is ma’m….”

     “…and the after-mints, make sure they’re the chocolate kind…” Elaine requested.

     “Yes ma’m….”

     “I’ll be in touch with soon to make sure everything else gets double-checked….bye for now Bradley,” with that Mrs. Roberts hung up.

     Bradley hadn’t known Clyde and Elaine Roberts that long, but he knew that they were his two favorite people.  Clyde had hired him recently and was always ribbing with him.  Plus Elaine trusted him and Sally to keep things running smoothly with her social gatherings and humanitarian projects.  He immediately called Sally to hand off Elaine’s list of requests to her.

     Sally was on her way out the door, headed for the market, when Bradley’s call came in to ask her for help with Elaine’s preparations…

     “You know that I love both Clyde and Elaine dearly, as if they were my own parents, but I can’t always drop everything for their sake,” Sally pleaded with Bradley.

    “It’ll just be till their party dear…that’s all!”

     A week went by and it suddenly became the norm once again to bake cut-out sugar cookies for herself.  In previous years it had been a het and miss, but that day was the fifth Wednesday in a row she had done this for herself, and she began calling them, Cookie Cutter Wednesdays.

     Elaine’s list had to be double and sometimes triple-checked, yet it somehow all got accomplished!

     It was the night of the big gala gathering to celebrate Clyde and Elaine’s 25^th Silver Wedding Anniversary and everything was beautiful!

     Elaine had fashioned a hand-made scrapbook for the happy couple to store their anniversary memories.  In the card, inserted in photographic corners were four different business cards of professional even planners. 

     The note read, “In Case You Can’t Get A Hold Of Bradley Or Myself, Don’t Hesitate To Call Any One Of These People….”

     Sally valued time to herself, yet she dearly loved Clyde and Elaine.  Her mother didn’t raise her to be rude, so her note to Elaine was her way of standing up for herself….yet doing so in a proper manner.  Cookie Cutter Wednesdays had that way of giving her clarity….

Earthly Neighborhood

      Madelaine was inundated with phone messages. Where was Victoria? This business of theirs was supposed to have been a partnership, not a sole proprietorship. Here she chanted her mantra: Promoting physical fitness establishes daily hope.

     Creating the memory databanks for WorkingOut.com had been mainly Madelaine’s forte, but once everything had stabilized in their day to day business cycle, both she and Victoria were supposed to have been evenly manning the office. Circuit training, aerobics, hip hop dance, strength sculpting, all types of exercise had been converted into 3D animation exercise videos for their business.

     Eighteen actors and actresses with exercise training had been hired and choreographed to do the stomach crunches, the pull ups, push-ups, calisthenics, weight lifting and dancing to make all the moves look effortless. They had all been hooked up to sensors as they went through all the motions of choreography and had been electronically attached to the advanced computer equipment to capture their movements.

     Where was that bagel tray with all the fruit juices and protein supplements? they had all clamored in unison in an effort to get through one of the days during the 3-week filming. Again the mantra: Promoting physical fitness establishes daily hope.

     The different characters had been rendered, using computer animation. It came out as a virtual dance studio with a cast of participants with catchy-sounding first names who were there to motivate, stretch and uplift the clients of WorkingOut.com.

     How come the computer driver interface to this dance video is no longer working? The software interface from the WorkingOut.com website was meant to act as a driver interface complete with password permissions so that each client user could download the workout videos. Once they were on the client’s hard drive, they could burn them on DVDs and watch them on their DVD player at their leisure. Of course, once the most recent popular computer operating system came out, the driver interface became antiquated. Needing the updates, that newest driver at this time, was not yet available on their website.

     When were the lawyers going to get back to them? She recited her recurring mantra here: Promoting physical fitness establishes daily hope.

     That had been the question on Madelaine’s mind the following day.

An elderly man had injured himself doing one of the strength sculpting videos and was threatening to sue their company, if he couldn’t come up with some kind of agreement with them.

     When one signs up with the website, there is that obligatory disclaimer stating that one should get the okay from their doctor before performing any of the exercises. Bernie, the elderly man had produced the written note from his doctor stating that he had indeed been fit enough to go through the rigors of the trendy routines. However, while doing one of the squatting moves, he pulled a hamstring and because of his advanced age, was now having a hard time recovering.

     Both Madelaine and Victoria had told the lawyers they were going to go so far as to pay for physical therapy for Bernie, in order to avoid litigation. Physical fitness was, after all their business, and getting Bernie set up with a therapist was definitely within their realm of influence.

     Why were the reviewers so harsh? In Victoria’s absence and while procrastinating for getting to her other business tasks, Madelaine read some of the reviews since the launch of their new website: Another Internet Exercise Fad, read one review; Not Such an Original Idea, read another one and the one that really hurt the most was; Do They Really Think They Can Compete? However, as startups go they were in the same league as the most current of websites. The only truly rosy review was one written by a website reviewer who had been a relative of Victoria’s.

     Promoting physical fitness establishes daily hope, she wrote spontaneously on a handy piece of paper.

     Let’s have amateurs rate the DVDs, was Victoria’s thinking. She had taken copies of the exercise DVDs to the local men’s and women’s sporting clubs and had different groups try them out. They were of different age groups and she encouraged everyone who liked the products to go ahead and rate them on the WorkingOut.com website, emphasizing that they were free to leave comments.

     Let’s advertise on free social networks. Tell a friend and spread the word, that had been their message when they spammed the networking websites with ads promising a better leaner physique from trying out their exercise animation products.

     In the meantime, a retired scientist who no longer believed in the powers of exercise, was secretly cursing the spam he was getting in his inbox from none other than WorkingOut.com. Where had they gotten his email address? Warren was working on a project that entailed writing articles about the planets of our solar system. He really believed in directing his mind to discovery and exploration of other worlds, and he paid very little attention to anything to do with diet or exercise. He was consumed with scientific facts.

     One of those facts was the circumference of each of the planets. Another fact was the number of moons orbiting each one. In fact, the laser light show at the planetarium was one of his evening highlights once a week.

     Then a scare for him . . .

     Warren’s cholesterol and blood pressure readings had suddenly gone through the roof. Urgently he had to think about the here and now – about his health as opposed to distant planets and future explorations.

     He remembered the website WorkingOut.com from the spam he received earlier on and he had a myriad of questions for them. So, he clicked on the ‘Contact Us’ button at the bottom of the website and typed this away on his computer keyboard . . .

     How much water should I be drinking?

     Will my health insurance cover your fees?

     How do I get started?

     What about nutrition?

     In fact, his email to them was composed entirely of questions. Madelaine that faithful day, which was the third one that Victoria had gone missing, fielded Warren’s questions.

     Victoria had apparently taken a vacation without leaving word because she had been over-wrought with stress. She eventually came back after two weeks.

     At hand, Madelaine wanted to ease Warren into the exercise mindset by telling him about the targeted body parts of each of the videos. From the elevated levels of his health scare, she recommended that he do some of the stretching and yoga moves first, followed by some of the easier dance movements.

     She explained that WorkingOut.com was there to offer a unique home service with the goal of getting everyone fit and healthy. Warren felt so much at ease with the rapport that he had established with Madelaine, that he sampled some of their exercise video animation packages immediately.

     “Supplement the exercise videos, by taking a brisk afternoon walk around the block,” Madelaine suggested in a later email, “ . . . and don’t forget your water and to reward yourself for all this exertion.” Did Warren need his own health mantra at this point? she wondered.

     At first, Warren couldn’t muster enough energy for the extra walks around his block, and he remedied this by hurling a myriad more of questions towards Madelaine.

     How will I know if I’ve improved my physical fitness?

     Can you recommend a dietary supplement for extra energy?

     Is there such a thing as not making enough progress?

     Their rapport by now included pictures of Warren that he sent in as attachments with his emails. In fact Warren became the first official case study for WorkingOut.com. Madelaine in their latter communication, allayed his fears of him seemingly showing no improvements, by saying that based on his pictures, he indeed was looking happier and healthier.

     Four months down the road, his bad cholesterol level had gone down and so had his blood pressure vitals.

     “How can I thank you?” Warren asked.

     “Just keep up with the exercise videos in order to stay healthy,” she replied.

     To Madelaine’s credit—Promoting physical fitness in this case, really did establish daily hope.

     Warren had a revelation . . . . He felt that although the study of planetary exploration was one of the first things on his list, keeping tabs on his health also meant appreciating his own Earthly backyard!

Karen Sylvester

      Karen Sylvester was materialistic. She graduated as a marketing student from the University of Redley last June. She would eventually work for a marketing firm that catered to the average and plus size woman. Her other jobs in the past included taking depositions for a friend’s dad’s law firm, as a photographer’s assistant checking lighting numbers and delivering newspapers from the back seat of a Honda motor-scooter.

As a photographer’s assistant, it was her job to check the light meter in between shots. The lighting director would then adjust the luminosity according to what the photographer preferred it to be. When it was her job to take depositions, she would gather information from the lawyer’s clients and each client’s friendly and neutral witnesses. In delivering newspapers in the early mornings, she rode on the back of that motor-scooter and slung newspapers on each appropriate doorstep.

     She loved to go to the nail salon to get acrylics on her fingernails and a traditional pedicure on her toe nails. She loved brilliant colors atop the acrylics, bright oranges, purple-lavenders and even yellow. Her pedicure color was always a hue either just darker or lighter then her nail color. Her natural hair color was brown, but she had it done in black from time to time as well. She always had her hair cut in long layers, keeping her hair long, shiny and sleek. The dark color contrasted and added a sparkle to her blue eyes. She often put a balm on her hair that melted into an oil in between the palms of her hands. This she put on, from the roots to the ends. Whether her hair was nourished enough, she didn’t know, but as long as it was shiny, she thought that that was important and to her liking.

     Her face makeup foundation, she did in a light beige color to bring out her eyes. She moisturized excessively and reaped the benefits of softer, smoother skin than what she was born with naturally. She usually smeared her face foundation on and blended it with a makeup sponge, then added a sweep of gray-black eye shadow, just to the contours of her eyelids, then dusted her whole face with face powder, swept her cheekbones with a dusty rose color, and applied two generous coats of mascara on her eyelashes.

     Her taste in clothing was club wear, even to work but she tried to dress down her style so that is always fit the conservative atmosphere, like donning a light weight shrug or fitting a blazer over her ensemble. At specific nights, she loved to go club hopping, preferring the retro disco scene to the hip hop or overly grunge scenes. She was there to party and spend most of the night just dancing. She didn’t feel comfortable dancing alone otherwise she would have, so she had a list of single eligible guys to call upon to be her disco dance partners. As you would agree by now, Karen was somewhat materialistic. She always needed funds for her hair balm, club wear, matching high heels, makeup to get that “approaching to natural look,” not to mention the manicures, pedicures and timely hair appointments to keep her hair in silky long layers.

     She was oblivious to everything, but the sights of the city of Harlem in New York tugged at her conscience. Many of the young mothers there were on welfare, struggling to make ends meet. The point was that these women were trying for a better life, and the turning point for many of them, was when they had children. At that point, it was not only themselves of concern, but also the lives of their children.

     Karen decided that she was no longer going to have different jobs. She would keep the marketing job she had currently. Her job at WebPrints, Inc. was to create the web page ads sent via email representing several of the department stores as well as specialty stores.

     What finally landed her the job doing marketing work via web ads through email for WebPrints, was a chance meeting with their department supervisor. Karen was having coffee at a mall café during the noon rush hour, when seating was limited. She had an empty chair at her small table. David Henner from WebPrints, looking exhausted from back to back meetings, asked if he could sit down at her table. She graciously said yes, and eyeing the job application she was filling out for the retail department of one of the stores he represented, David in return for her kindness, inquired what position she was applying for?

     “ . . . for the women’s clothing department, in sales,” she answered.

     David went on to ask her if she had a college degree, hoping to coach her on some of the questions she would encounter on the application. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that she held a Business degree in Marketing from Redley. He immediately gave Karen his business card. None too soon later, his pager went off, with a text message calling him to another meeting. His coffee in hand, became coffee to go. He reminded Karen to please call him in the morning of the next day. His card read Marketing Supervisor of WebPrints, Inc.

     Her days after getting the job with David’s company, was to sort through a virtual bin of background graphics and apply them to the dynamic web ads sent out. She played with Photoshop all day, cutting, pasting, overlaying and creating web print ads for these various department stores and shops.

     Having just broken up with her boyfriend, she tragically felt an overwhelming need to pull herself up from her sorrows, by helping others live the dream, which was to provide an escape, by going out once in a while. So she wrote a business proposal and collaborating with five of her closest friends, secured a loan with First National Bank.

     They opened the Basement Store. Karen literally found a basement in the building of one of the department store’s corporate offices. She took all the extra or overstock clothing from the stores she designed web layouts for and filled the Basement with them, making sure that the room of course was air conditioned and clean. She even consulted with OSHA for the safe handling practices of the merchandise, and also to ask what the temperature and cleanliness level of the basement should be.

     The modeling shoots for the outfits often had numerous photographic shots, that would never make it to the print sheet, so she bought these at a discount, usually straight from the photographers. She made an online catalog and populated it with all the overstock fashion. She used her sense of style to pick out only the clothing that she would wear herself. Her five friends did all the fulfillment orders and regularly organized the rapidly changing merchandise.

     Initially, she had to work to maintain her shiny hair with innumerable products, her flawless “natural-looking” skin through facials and make up and of course, those all encompassing club wear of hers. Sadly, those were the very reasons she lost her one serious boyfriend, because she was going nowhere, except clubbing. If her ex-boyfriend could see her now, he would see how resourceful she’d become.

     She stayed on with WebPrints and with her supervisor David’s permission, programmed in a code on various webAds sent to internet addresses of less affluent residents, giving them the option for huge discounts. The Basement overstock web store catered to residents who were close or were at the poverty level. She sent a survey out to assess the incomes of those below 10K and those were the recipients of the discount codes and the club wear line from the Basement. This was her pet project. And after searching for the right job and overall lifestyle that would give her happiness, giving people down on their luck the inside scoop, gave her a sense of purpose.

     She continued to go to clubs, dancing to retro disco music. The Basement became the disco ball in her life. Outside of the Basement, she was the all-consuming responsible adult. No more job hopping and all boyfriend relationships were handled like a mature adult.

     She had in mind to vary the club wear with Pasadena Rose Queen Judging wear, but after careful deliberation with her colleagues, they decided to keep it simple and just provide an escape for the struggling women out there through club wear.

     Life was short, Karen reasoned, so escape once in a while. Offering overstock club wear to the less affluent was her way of nudging everyone, who may not have experienced the “club scene,” to do so.

     Her life was once a mudslide, now the weather has cleared and her motto is: If you can’t dance regularly to the beat, then it’s best to bring that disco ball’s ambiance into your everyday life!