You probably think I’m talking about your amazing stamina at your health club. Right?

Wrong.

I’m talking about trips to Publix or Target or Wal*Mart.

Wherever. You know the drill.

You’re at the store. Finally you're checking out when suddenly everything grinds to a halt.

Scanner in hand and eyes glazed, the cashier says, “Where’s the barcode?”

Grabbing the bag of dog food, you turn it up, turn it down, turn it around. Who knew you could juggle 50 pounds?

People behind you are growing snarly. You've become "a line holder-upper" - no better than those who still write checks.

You smile apologetically, sweat pouring from your brow until at last you find it.

You big silly.

It was there all the time. Right there. In that teensie, weensie, little crease on the bottom of the bag. Clearly visible to anyone with a magnifying glass.

Looking back at your cart, you groan.

Do you really want that water?

Maybe manufacturers have a conspiracy. Bags weighting over 20-pounds are required to have barcodes cleverly hidden.

For their entertainment hidden cameras could catch us as we struggle because they couldn't be that dumb. Could they?

At any rate I'm fighting back.

Lately I’ve begun asking store managers to request that manufacturer’s place the barcode on the top of the product.

After all, they’re buying 10,000 bags of whatever so they must have some clout.

In the meantime, you go to your fancy club for a workout. As for me, I will don a back brace and go to the store.

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Is your house so filled with extra furniture, paper and junk that walking through it is like walking through a maze?

At first I said, no way. Not me. Then I thought of the mountain of mail I always have waiting to be opened.

Don’t’ be too surprised if you are because according to the latest stats from the national organization, Clutterers Anonymous, one out of every three of us are clutterers.

Ginger and her husband Tom recently started a Clutterers Anonymous support group in Delray at the Crossroads Club at 1700 Lake Ida Road. Since it’s an anonymous group, the two facilitators asked me not to use their last name.

The group meets on Friday nights at 7 p.m. (Ginger wants to thank Crossroads for generously donating the space to them.)

A $1 donation will get you into the meeting.

Ginger says the 12-steps for clutterer's is faith based and similar to the more famous 12-step program.

Ginger knew her husband was a clutterer but much to her chagrin after she took the 20-question test put out by the non-profit organization, she learned she is an even bigger one.

If you’d like a copy of the test, you can contact the Los Angeles based organization at 310.281.6064 or visit www.clutterersanonymous.net.

Or you can ask yourself – do you find it difficult to dispose of anything, even if you haven’t used it for years?

Ginger says psychologists think that the emotionally-based disorder appears in people who didn’t have much as a child and what they had was taken away.

Obviously there are vastly varying degrees of clutterers.

Ginger says that for the first time in her life, her closets are orderly and she knows where all her clothes are. That goes for her drawers too.

Clutterers tend to have three or four of everything because they can’t find what they want in the midst of the clutter. So decluttering saves money too.

Here are a few tips to begin the process:

. Make your bed first thing in the morning.

. Remove one item of clutter per day.

. Everything in your house should have a purpose.

. Anything you take out, put back.

. When you buy something new, get rid of something else (sell, donate, or toss.)

Ginger says clutters are invited to bring mail that needs to be shredded to the meeting.
She giggles when she says, “We have two shredders and we shred enough to keep two guinea pigs comfy."

To get started decluttering call Ginger at 561.733.1438.

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Are you as sick of reading about bad guys (and gals) as I am?

I want to hear about people who work to make the world a little bit better too.
I can see the headline - Random acts of kindness rampant in Delray Beach.

From my experience that would be a fairly accurate snapshot of Delray. There are many among us who go the extra mile. The problem is they get very little press.

It might be the always patient and pleasant man who works behind the deli counter at the grocery store. Or the little girl who sells lemonade to earn money for the no-kill animal shelter.

Maybe it's a neighbor, a co-worker or even a family member.

Day after day these people quietly perform acts of kindness with no expectations.

So every now and then I'm going to write about some of the everyday heroes I encounter. I invite you to do the same.

Maggie Locke is one such person.

Maggie, Lollipop and Bark

The self-described "dog nanny" has a smile for everyone and often a joke.

She provides oodles of tender, loving care to the pets she watches when their families are away - something rare, as any pet owner will attest. Yes, she has watched Bark and Lolli.

But Maggie's love of animals extends far beyond her professional life.

All of us have seen a frightened and confused lost dog desperately looking for help.

Lucky the strays that Maggie comes across. She drives these unfortunate pets to the vet and attempts to locate the owners. If necessary, she'll take the animal to a no-kill shelter.

When she finds an injured cat, dog, bird, or any creature needing help, she does her best to find it some aid. I guess you could call her white Altima an animal ambulance.

Any costs come out of the retired woman's pocketbook.

The animals she has rescued can't give a public "thank you." But her kindness has been noticed.

Maggie makes the world a better place to be in so many ways.

Thanks Maggie!

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On Tuesday night City Hall was packed with lots of unhappy Delray folks.

Most of them not even in the chamber.

When the public was finally allowed to speak, the mayor and commissioners were asked why meetings are held in such a small space when they are aware the topic is a hot one and many people will attend.

If there was an answer, I didn't hear it.

Currently the first 150 to arrive are seated. The rest (of the voters/taxpayers) have to stand out in the hallway with the doors to the chamber closed.

Talk of banning bikers from driving on Atlantic Avenue and a proposed development - or as those of us who love the area call it, over-development - of Blood's Hammock Groves off Old Germantown Road were the big draws.

The bikers were a colorful group. And there was no doubt they weren't happy making the residents who live off Old Germantown seem, well, tame by comparison.

But opposition to the Blood's project runs deep and has united residents who previously didn't know one another, up and down the road.

For decades the 10-acre site was home to a citrus grove and a charming fruit and vegetable retail store. After it was sold area residents knew development was inevitable but didn't see this coming.

One-hundred and sixteen, 3-story townhouses and a 3-story medical building will be built on the once bucolic site. Traffic on Germantown Road will be a nightmare.

Sandwiched amidst the traffic is a school and a fire station.

Before voting, the commissioners and mayor had their say. One commissioner talked about "Germantown Avenue."

And one (who lives in the area) talked about the high rises already there. He failed to mention how very deep the set backs are and that they exit on to Congress Avenue or Homewood Boulevard, not Germantown.

Fortunately for the bikers, the outcome was positive.

I was happy for them. Not because I'm a biker but I don't want to see quirky Delray turned into a sterile, perfect “Stepford Town as in “Stepford Wives.”

Commissioners decided bikers have 90 days to clean up their act and to pass the word that roaring up and down "the avenue" is not nice.

Bikers left the meeting smiling but those who came about Blood's left concerned.

Unless they find a legality to prevent it, one of the few area's in Delray that still retains much of it's original character will be bulldozed away forever. It really is a tragedy.

If you've never been to a City Commission meeting, you owe it to yourself to go.

But don't forget - bring a chair.

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A big hello to all of you!

In the future I hope we have lots of fun talking about goings-on in Delray Beach.  Everything from local politics to favorite restaurants.  Things you love about Delray and things you just can't stand.

You get the idea.  This is the place to make yourself heard.  Later I hope some of you will be guest bloggers…so speak up! 

Before we get down to business, I’ll tell you a little about myself.

Having lived here for 7-years by South Florida standards, I’m practically a native - but my Midwestern ways give me away.

For instance, I don’t drink soda. I drink pop. Where I come from, soda is a syrupy, flavored, seltzer water with ice cream in it.

Another difference was made obvious to me during a recent visit back to what is often called “flyover country.” I mentioned to some flyover friends how frequently people in So. FL run red lights.

I was greeted with looks of pure disbelief.  Mind you this is coming from folks who instead of racing through stop signs, motion for others to go on ahead of them.

And I still can’t get used to the idea that there’s not snow on the ground for Valentines Day or Thanksgiving or New Year’s.

Alright, I’ll admit it. The only holiday many Midwesterners are sure will be snow free is the 4th of July.

But some things are very familiar. In my Delray Beach neighborhood, many evenings just like we did up north, we gather in front of one another's homes and talk.

The weather’s warmer but the heart of the holidays is the same…celebration of deeply held personal beliefs and the love felt for family and friends.

And although I am more familiar with nature's monsters coming in the form of blizzards and tornadoes than hurricanes, neighbors helping neighbors is the norm - both north and south.

Before I get all sappy on you, I’ll quit.
Hope you make a habit of stopping by and I'm eager to hear your comments. Mary  

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