Digging Out My Happy Ice Cream Driver Feelings through Journaling!

 A kind sweet person from one of my email gratitude lists, sent me these questions to help me get back to better feelings. As I said it is my nature to be optimistic and this mailing list helps me stay in that mood and attitude. I felt sooooo much better after generating these answers today, so I wanted to share them with you all.

You know what? Some of the same questions were asked by the interviewers from both Q13 and The News Tribune, but I was so far the other way I couldn't even get to these memories a few days back. I am slowly working my way back to the real me. :o)

Edit-- 01-10-2012--

I been playing around with a site called tagxedo.com and came up with this using this posts url.

What do you like best about your ice cream truck?
What I like best about my truck is the feeling I have when I drive it.

• I feel free.
• I feel wonderful.
• I love every minute driving down the road.
• I love the way the kids look for me as I come driving down the street.
• I love seeing their sweet smiling faces.
• I love the power and control it gives me to always have some cash in my pocket.
• I love the way I get to do decide how much ice cream and what flavors the to buy the next day.
• I love having the resources to give a child who is short on change an ice cream and light up their world.
• I love the feeling of sunshine on my head and shoulders.
• I love to listen to my stereo, and sing along to my favorite uplifting music as I drive between neighborhoods.
• I love the waves, smiles and attention I get from everyone that sees me in my cute little truck when I stop at red lights.
• I love the comments others say when they hear what I do, they reply, "That must me a really fun job!" it really is, most all of the time.

Where do you go with it that you enjoy most?

• Since the best sales are in the poorest neighborhoods, they are my favorite areas. I have several culdesacs where I have regular kids, I know by first name and they always smile and say__

•  Hi, "blue jeans ice cream lady?" where have you been, we miss you!" you are are favorite ice cream truck?
• I like the little kids who are patient and quiet and wait until everyone is done and say, I don't have any money, when it is only one or two, and all others have walked away I give them one of my cheapest ice creams, and love to see their smiles of appreciation.
  
• It is a feeling that cannot be imagined unless you have experienced it.
• I get asked all the time  for free ice cream from kids, but I really love to give it free to the ones that don't expect it.

 What kind of encounters/relationships does doing business in it bring you?

• I have met so many kind wonderful people. I have lots of regulars who stand and chat with me. We talk about our kids and all sorts of other things.
• I have got to watch little babies grow into toddlers and little kids to preteens.
  
• I have one neighborhood where one of my little kids that bought from me is now over 6 feet tall, way taller than me (I think he is now a junior or senior in high school) and he smiles and lights up every time he sees me.
• I enjoy shooting the breeze with my supplier every morning, sharing my sweet stories and watching his kids grow up as well.
• I even enjoy chatting with the other vendors while waiting sometimes in line on busy days at my supplier.
• I enjoy the jokes my supplier makes about me driving around in a pair of dungarees.
• Writing all of these memories brings joy and a smile to myself, I don't want to think about all of this being gone now.
• I park at several schools for about 10-15 minutes waiting for the bell to ring,
• I have received so many thank yous of appreciation from my kids who are really grateful I am there almost every day.
• I have actually given some of them a day or two credit, and they always remember they owe me and pay me the next day. It lets me see the best in these bright young minds.
• I love the compliments I receive on how unique and creative my truck is.
• I use to joke with older kids and adults who laughed at themselves for getting excited to see me that "I sell ice cream to kids of all ages."

If you could make absolutely any refurbishments and modifications to the truck, what would you do, and how would this affect your operations?

• I had made a lot of refurbishments. 
• I painted it to look like blue jeans.
• I have the little family sticker of my kids and I on the window.
• My sticker magnets looked like blue jean pockets.
• I had scanned the dollar items in a faded pocket frame different from the other frame so the young kids could tell the difference easily.
• The seat was longer and I had an extra seat belt so I could bring along one of my children occasionally.
• Of course I had covered my bench seat cover with denim fabric.
  
• This extra seat came in very hand because a few winters, my ice cream truck was the only vehicle I had for transportation.
• I used it then to run my errands instead of getting groceries on the bus I could get them in my ice cream truck.

If I couldn't get it back and money wasn't an issue, (I mean in a dream world) this is how I would want to replace it.

I would buy one of those new SMART cars and get the people that paint the ads on the side of buses to customize it with pictures of various blue jean patchwork.
(update on Jan 9, 2012, what this dream car actually looks like)

• I would have my website, facebook page and twitter printed on it.
• I would also own a smartphone :o)I would have a customized freezer and another compartment for cold water, soda, snacks and candy. 
• Even if that meant pulling a tiny little trailer with it.
• I would have it set up so I could switch from the music box on the outside to my car stereo on the inside. 
• I would have a microphone speaker worked into it so I could interrupt the music with a "Hi its Laurie the blue jeans lady" or any other comment I wanted to make anytime I felt like it as I was trucking through the hood.
• I would order a customized ice cream music box with some of my favorite songs digitized to be ice cream music. 
• There is a company online that does this. One of those songs would be "Raindrops keep falling on my head" I would play that on rainy days, and it would be unique to my truck and everyone would chuckle and comment about it when I came down the road.
• I would also digitize some of the kids favorites like, "I want candy" "Me Love"
• Actually before I ordered the specialized music box I would survey my ice cream kids and ask them what songs they would like to hear the most. 
• I would mix it with some from every generation over the last 50-60 years so there would be songs for my kids of all ages.
  

What are your best moments of working with it?

I would have to search through my gratitude journals to find the best stories, but I think I covered a lot of these in the questions above.

I am so appreciative for these questions. I was trying to get to this feeling where I am today, right now, last night and I didn't quite reach it. 

His questions have helped me jump right up to those feeling where I want to feel. I am going to print this out and carry it in my hip pocket to read during these days of discouragement and frustration that I am currently dealing with. I know rereading it will help me keep my spirits up.

I am feeling so much better and well this afternoon,

Laurie