Greg’s Salad

As I cleaned Greg’s keyboard that was blackened from dirt, grime and time, I realized how I stand out from my competition–I am willing to go the whole nine yards.

It’s not that I’m here to be taken advantage of; I truly enjoy helping people and allowing the opportunity for them to have simpler, easier lives. So when Greg, a diabetic, began rambling on about something and I asked if he had eaten lunch and he said no, I raided his refrigerator for salad fixings and created a gargantuan multi-layered salad that he loved. 

Making salads, cleaning keyboards, helping with much-needed office work, walking and taking care of your animals, being a companion to your elderly parents–these are all thingys I gladly assist clients with, in my service. I’m here to make your life easier and more playful/joyful. How can I help you, today?

Aloha World!

My favorite clients are Maya and Kramer. Maya is a black Lab-Doodle who looks more like a hefty standard poodle and Kramer is a Jack Russell who looks more like a hefty Jack Russell. As soon as I can get the two to pose for me, I’m going to take some shots of them. Meanwhile, here is a head shot of our very own Cookie girly.

the face only a mother could love!

A year ago, my daughter and I fostered a Greyhound named Dusty. I suppose it was for his greyish coat, yet we didn’t like the name and renamed him Dustin Pooh Bear Hofmann, Dustin for short. Here are photos of the guy in our living room, as Hayley mimicked him. 

Lounging

Dual stretches

Dueling Tongues

Then there’s the latest shot of Sexy Cookie, who is peeking around the bathroom corner–this is her fave spot to lay, on the cool tile, where she can bark her head off at the slightest provocation and still be protected inside the bathroom.

Sexy Cookie Peeking Around the Corner

Next client visit my camera will travel with me to be with Maya and Kramer so that maybe I can get that prized shot of Kramer hanging off Maya’s ear, mid-air…

The Wisdom of Age

 

Modeling the Hat

 

Lovely, Fashion Queen Nona

Much too often in life we ignore and/or dismiss the elderly. We say that we are too busy, too engaged, too into other things to spend time with them when in actuality there is much that they can teach us. With their years of experience behind them and especially noticing how swiftly this earth is changing, the elderly have seen and continue to see things that either we are blind to or that go right past us. We are impatient and don’t take the time to learn about the wisdom, the jewels that the elderly have to offer us. Driving Nona to the modeling agency was an honor, as she is the spunkiest eighty-plus-year-old that I know. She can dance most people under the rug. Her sense of humor rivals the general public, who mostly just doesn’t “get it.” Nona gets it, though. It’s a pleasure being with her, as we can talk about anything and her heart is open to sharing her own experiences and wisdom of pearls. 

 

Nona, the Fashionable Gypsy

 

 

Another elderly I spend time with is Jack. Instead of running around like crazy, he sees the serenity and completeness of gazing at Cheeseman Park, listening to various musicians as their music wafts up to the 13th floor, up on the covered lanai. Although Jack doesn’t have much to say, in his own way, he gets it, also. Sometimes life is meant for just sitting, listening, gazing and contemplating. What a peaceful life this could be, if everyone took some time to spend with the elderly—be it a relative, a neighbor or a friend; to stay still, to enjoy one another’s presence and to just be.

The Worthiness of Being Worthy

Lovely, Fashion Queen Nona

Yesterday, my friend Nona called. She needed a ride to the modeling agency, John Casablanca. Here I was, sitting in the car at Whole Foods; I had just finished doing an errand (part of what I do for my business) and Nona calls asking for a ride; it was perfect. Nona is one of the most adorable women you would want to meet. She’s absolutely the most fashionable one! Her outfits are more hip, colorful and flattering than most people, models included. At the age of eighty, she stands no taller than four-foot-something and her sparkling blue/green eyes lure you right into her sweet, smiling freckled face.

When I picked her up, she was wearing short black leather boots with skinny Italian heels, shoes that I would fall flat on my face wearing. Her silver-grey gauze pants were understated yet elegant, her top maroon-colored with a ruffle at the bottom edge and puffed satin sleeves and a pink/maroon scarf thrown casually around her neck. She looked the bomb.

Sitting Pretty

We decided to eat at Whole Foods for dinner, since I told her we could have freshly cooked food for a realllly reasonable price. We ate at the pasta bar and afterward it was time to do some “cake walking” or whatever it’s called (at the model agency).

Nona wowed them, of course, and afterward she excitedly talked about having a “purpose, a meaning in life.” I understood completely. All my life I wanted to have a life’s purpose, to know that I am here for a reason, to live my life with meaning. At Your Service gives me that sense of purpose that I came here for (other than being blessed to raise a beautiful, spiritual daughter); helping out Nona made my day not only because I was able to pick her up and take her where she wanted to go, it was also because going to the agency gave her a sense of purpose. Nona isn’t sure whether or not she is going to model for Casablanca’s. Yet it opened her eyes to a whole new path that not only she would enjoy and be good at, she would thrive as she discovers a whole new Nona. And that is worthy of the worthiness of service.

Aloha, World!

My favorite clients are Maya and Kramer. Maya is a black Lab-Doodle who looks more like a hefty standard poodle and Kramer is a Jack Russell who looks more like a hefty Jack Russell. As soon as I can get the two to pose for me, I’m going to take some shots of them. Meanwhile, here is a peek of our very own Cookie girly. 

Sexy Cookie Peeking Around the Corner

Lounging

A year ago, my daughter and I fostered a Greyhound named Dusty. I suppose it was for his greyish coat, yet we didn’t like the name and renamed him Dustin Pooh Bear Hofmann, Dustin for short. Here are photos of the guy in our living room, as Hayley mimicked him. (Again, I don’t know where these will show up–somewhere around here…)

Then there’s the latest shot of Sexy Cookie, who is peeking around the bathroom corner–this is her fave spot to lay, on the cool tile, where she can bark her head off at the slightest provocation and still be protected inside the bathroom.

Next client visit my camera will travel with me to be with Maya and Kramer so that maybe I can get that prized shot of Kramer hanging off Maya’s ear, mid-air…