Conversations With A Woman 2.0

Looking back...

I'm kinda on a nostalgia kick right now. On JC's blog we've been discussing all sorts of stuff that included toys and my aversion to blonde haired/blue eyed Barbies.

I was talking to my friend A today. We have been friends since I was 8. I'm now a month shy of 37. That's pushing 30 years of friendship!

When we were kids, we both liked to sing. It was the mid 70's at this time so we were really into Heart and Fleetwood Mac. My parents had this big ass stereo in the living room and we would put the Fleetwood Mac and Heart albums on and take turns singing into a spoon or a brush or some other microphone shaped thing. Now, A is blonde and I have dark brown hair. At one point we decided that I would sing the brown haired girls parts and A would sing the blonde. However, it never worked out that way. A wanted to sing Ann Wilson's songs (who was a brunette) and she wanted to sing Stevie Nicks' songs. (who was a brunette back then)
Even when we were kids, A was always able to get her way.

A was absolutely fascinated with "The Wizard of Oz." I spent the night with her one time when it came on TV and the whole family crammed into the front room of the mobile home they lived in to watch. By the end of the movie, we had too much togetherness and we all went outside to get some air. Before too long, we had filled most of the principal parts of the Wizard of Oz with A's brothers and sisters and we were reenacting the movie. A was Dorothy (a brunette, I might point out) I was Glenda the Good Witch, V was the Wicked Witch, C was the scarecrow, M was the cowardly lion, R was the Wizard, and T was Toto (she was 3) We had dual roles playing the other parts as needed. We all knew every word to every song in the movie, most of the dialogue and even most of the choreography! By the time we had finished, A's Mom had cut up a watermelon for us and we sat on the porch eating it and laughing about our rendition of the movie.

Another favorite thing A and I did was playing "Charlie's Angels." Finally I was able to be exactly who I wanted to be without A trying to horn in on the part. I was always Sabrina (the Kate Jackson part). A was Jill or Chris (the Farrah Fawcett or Cheryl Ladd part). Kelly (the Jaclyn Smith part) was always with us, but she was invisible to the naked eye. We reinacted shows we saw on TV, or we made up our own plot. Inevitably it ended up with us meeting the "boys" at our apartment for a date. The "boys" in our minds were David Cassidy for me and Donny Osmond for A. Our apartment could have been A's room, or a fort we built or some other imaginary place.

Those were really good times. Do kids even do stuff like that anymore?

What did you used to play when you were a kid?

Update:
I read this blog to my friend A. She said that I made her sound like the bossy friend. I said, "But you were the bossy friend!" She replied, "Was I the bossy friend, or were you the doormat?" Only friends that have known you for 30 years can give you that kind of truth! ;-)


|

Yeah, I am pretty cheesy...

Tipping my hat to JC for this one!


Cheese Test: What type of cheese are you?

|

Life is too short, so...

Shower the People

You can play the game and you can act out the part,
even though you know it wasn't written for you.
Tell me, how can you stand there with your broken heart ashamed of playing the fool?
One thing can lead to another; it doesn't take any sacrifice.
Oh, father and mother, sister and brother, if it feels nice, don't think twice,
just shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel.
Things are gonna work out fine if you only will do as I say, just
shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel.
Things are gonna be much better if you only will.

You can run but you cannot hide, this is widely known.
Tell me, what you plan to do with your foolish pride when you're all by yourself, alone.
Once you tell somebody the way that you feel, you can feel it beginning to ease.
I think it's true what they say about the squeaky wheel always getting the grease.
Better to shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel.
Things are gonna be just fine if you only will what I’d like to do to you.
Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel.
Things are gonna be much better if you only will.

Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel.
You'll feel better right away.
Don't take much to do, sell you pride.
They say in every life, they say the rain must fall, just like pouring rain, make it rain.
Make it rain, love, love, love is sunshine, oh yes,
Make it rain, love, love, love is sunshine. Everybody, everybody.

Thank you for such simple & profound words, James Taylor!


|

If you need a good laugh...

...check out Natalie's post from 5/18/04 entitled, "Who shot who in the what, now?"

and/or

...check out Sam's post from 5/17/04 entitled, "U-Scan, U-SUCK!"

These people crack me up!


|

Those of you that know me will not be surprised...


You're My Little Pony!! Sweet and innocent and
happy, you make people want to spew burrito
chunks. Even a Care Bear could kick your ass.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
|

Reflecting on Sunday

OK...I must admit - I thought more of you would ask me questions than the three who did. I'm thankful and appreciative for the 3 that did, but I kept checking thinking someone else would have jumped on the questions bandwagon! OH well! It was still a lot of fun.

This afternoon I went to a friend's house to check on his cat. I left there and headed back to my house and it started to rain. I made it into my house and sat down in front of the computer. I looked out my back sliding glass door at the rain falling. It was really beautiful. There was thunder and lightening, but not the threatening kind. It was very peaceful.

I watched "Extreme Home Makeover" tonight and cried, yet again. It was so cool watching this sweet family be overwhelmed at the beauty of their new home and how thankful they were. Man, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

Lately, I've been feeling a pull coming from the West. Texas is calling me home. I love the ATL, but I'm missing the wide open spaces, windmills, cowboys and generally, just the place I spent the first 29 years of my life.

Probably about 5 years ago, R and I made a road trip to Texas. It's a straight shot from ATL to DFW - you just hop on I-20 until you get there. It was interesting seeing R discover Texas for the first time. The thing she was most fascinated with was the clouds, if I remember correctly. She took 87 million pictures of clouds.

Will I go home to Texas? Who knows. I am realistic enough to know that the challenges I have here will follow me home. However sometimes it seems like they would be easier to bear in the wide open spaces, with the windmills, the cowboys and being in the place I spent the first 29 years of my life.



|

I'm tipping my hat to Sam at Madlife for the following. Seemed like a pretty interesting thing to do!

Ask me three (or more) questions (by e-mail or the comment box). Ask me anything you want and I will truthfully answer. Then, go to your blog and copy and paste this, allowing your friends to ask you three (or more) questions.

Looking forward to your questions!

From Sam:

1. If you believe(d) in Hell, what's one thing you've done that you think would send you there?

Luckily I don't believe in Hell, however if I did, I feel a lot of things I did would be Hell-worthy. The first thing that comes to mind is when I was in college, I stole some money. I have never been more ashamed of anything that I've done than that.

2. What's one thing you were taught as a child or a teen that has affected your whole life?

Many, many things, but the first thing that pops up is "Just say NO to drugs." Seriously! My parents (especially my Dad, God Bless him!) showed me by example that drugs can really screw with your life.

3. Name one situation from the past that seemed horrible while it was happening, but in retrospect you believe you've learned something valuable from.

Living with my Mom while she was dying and her subsequent death. There were many (including myself!) who thought that when Mom died I would go to pieces, but I didn't and I think for the most part, I'm a whole lot stronger!



From my Seaster:

1) If you were a man, what would you be doing in your life right now?

What? You wanted a brother? ;-) I think I would have become a successful business person and would be married and with kids now.

2) If you could invite 3 people that were famous for any reason, to drinks and dinner who would you invite? (They can be living or dead... but of course the dead wouldn't show up dead..ewwwww!)

1. Mom 2. Jesus 3. Oprah. WHAT A COMBO!

3) if you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation where would that be?

There's a place I heard about on the Travel channel that's off the coast of Africa and it starts with an "M." Very small and beautiful and tropical. OR...that place in Tahiti where you have to walk out on a dock to get to your hotel room that is OVER the crystal blue water.

From JC:

1. Do you believe that people vote for the good of their lives or the good of the nation? Why?

Actually, neither. I think people vote for the name they recognize favorably. If the election were to happen now, I don't think people would vote for Bush because of the Iraqi Prisoner abuse debacle. However would they vote for Kerry, either? He's got the whole, "I'm just a normal Joe, even though I married into the Heinz fortune" thing going on. I know there are people that actually do the research and make a decision based on their beliefs about what they discovered, however those people are very few and far between.

2. If you had to choose would you like to be invisible or know how to fly?

Fly! Definitely! The ability to travel is what I want!!

3. What is your favorite part of your body?

Can I say my hair? My hair is not actually a part of my body, but I like it. I even like it now that the grey is becoming more prevalent. That's why I'm really reluctant to color it. As far as an actual part of my body, I'd have to say my eyes. I think it's cool that I have hazel eyes that change color with what I'm wearing and how I'm feeling. Mood eyes! Yeah, that's it!



|

Tonight I got to talk to my friend...

...and it was really nice.

It's amazing how people come into your life and the lessons that they teach you! My relationship with my friend is one of the most complicated experiences I've ever had. I look back on how things happened, and I can point at many, many mistakes that I made and I wish I could do differently. I'm sorry for my mistakes. I truly am.

However, being wired the way I am, I tend to only think about the good times, and despite what it may have seemed, there were a lot of them.

My friend has one of the most beautiful smiles, and when my friend wants to, can give the warmest and most comforting hugs. My friend has helped me through several life altering events and I can't imagine having gotten through them without my friend at my side.

When I'm driving down the road and a good song is on the radio is when I miss my friend the most. Sometimes it even brings me to tears. Despite what my friend thinks, my friend has a good singing voice and I loved to sing with my friend.

Despite our "complicated experiences" with each other, please don't forget that YOU have a friend in me, always and forever.

I love you, my friend - and I really, really miss you. However I know you are happier where you are and I'm happy for you.

Thank you for talking to me tonight.


|

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there! I hope you have a wonderful day!

:-)
|

Should we be alarmed...?

I live not far from Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Lately, I've been hearing really fast sounding planes flying overhead. The last time I heard this was when we were "officially" at war with Iraq. It makes me wonder...should we be alarmed?

One day last week, the siren they use to a) let us know that we are under a Tornado Warning and b) let us know that the end of the world is coming, went off like 3 or 4 times. The skies were cloudless. I turned on the TV to see if indeed the world was coming to an end and there was no mention of it. It was kinda weird because if they are even testing the sirens, they usually run something at the bottom of the screen that says the alarms will be tested. So I sat on the edge of my couch and thought to myself...should we be alarmed?

I saw the pictures of the female soldier that was a part of torturing the Iraqi prisoners. I looked into her eyes and wondered, "What the hell was she thinking?" At the risk of being very politically incorrect, you expect the behavior she exhibited from men, not from women. The behavior of everyone that was a part of that situation was absolutely heinous. From the soldiers that inflicted the torture all the way up to Rumsfeld who basically said, "Oops! I didn't think it was that big a deal! Sorry!" I have always felt alarmed by Rumsfeld. That's one scary guy and there's no telling what other "Oops!" may be out there.

Just think - anybody who is currently a POW in Iraq or will become one - their chances of coming home alive are now almost nil thanks to this whole debacle. Did that thought cross the minds of those soldiers hamming it up for the camera with the naked Iraqi prisoners? Probably not, and that, gentle reader, is alarming.

Please know that I realize that 99.9% of the soldiers that are fighting for our country are good decent upstanding people. I appreciate them and will continue to appreciate them. However it just goes to show you how the actions of a few can affect and taint everyone.


|

What a nice weekend!

After having exiled myself for a couple of weeks, I finally got out and mingled with the masses. It was fun!

Thursday night I had choir practice and S bribed us with adult beverages if we would go to see one of our fellow choir folks singing for tips at a Mexican Restaurant. We went and had a grand ole time! I had a Peach Margarita and some chips and queso, we sang, we talked, we laughed....it was fun!

Friday I met G for lunch before I went to Birmingham to see the Indigo Girls in concert! L and I left town about 2:30 and met up with S and D in Birmingham. We had a lovely dinner at a place called "Up the Creek," and then off to concert we went.

D had gotten us great tickets! We were 5th and 6th row on Amy's side. Shawn Mullins opened for The Girls, which thrilled me because I haven't seen him in so long and it was just him and his guitar which is my favorite way to hear him.

The Girls then came out and they were "band-less" too, which I love. They did a lot of songs off the newest album of course, but they reached back some, too. I hadn't heard "Watershed" live in a long time and they did a kick ass acoustic version of "Go." Of course you had your sing along songs of "Galileo," "Closer to Fine," and "Power of Two," and Amy looked especially pleased with the crowd's singing. Amy did a rather subdued version of "Chicken Man" and Emily did a guitar solo on that song that was AWESOME. They ended the show with "Kid Fears" and Shawn did the male voice. I think he outdid Michael Stipe! (who did the original version of that song)

S, D, L and I think that there should be a "Queer Eye for the Queer Girl," for Amy and Emily. God love 'em! They make some bucks...couldn't they get a stylist or something? I will say that Emily looks like she's lost some weight and looked good in that respect, and we all agreed that Amy's hair looks best long, as it was a couple of inches past her shoulder.

L and I made the trek back to ATL late Saturday morning and were BLOWN AWAY when we got a call from R!!! We had called R several times the night before to ask her the name of a musician that we couldn't remember the name of. She not only called back with the answer, but she talked for a few minutes too! WOW! Will wonders never cease?

THANK YOU S & D! Without you I wouldn't have gotten to go and I had SUCH a good time and enjoyed your company so much!!! I wish we could have hung out longer!!! I love and MISS you both!!!

Saturday night I met S, P, T, R and S at the Drive In. We were all very excited that it looked like the weather was cooperating as it was predicted to rain. We had our camp chairs and coolers set up and we all brought food to share and had a nice meal before the show. We saw "Man on Fire" with Denzel Washington. I think all thumbs of our group were up on that one. I thought the cinematography was really interesting, too.

T, R and S left and S, P and I stayed for the 2nd feature which was "Taking Lives," with Angelina Jolie. I saw lightening, but didn't hear thunder or smell rain, so I didn't think much of it. Then I felt one drop of rain fall on my face, I told S & P about it and as we started to get up to put stuff away, the sky opened up. It went from 1 drop, to a torrential downpour in 1.5 seconds! We scrambled to put everything away and got into S & P's truck totally soaked to the bone. We finished watching the movie between passes of the windshield wipers. I think we all thought "Taking Lives" was OK, but that's about it. But hey! Our rain adventure makes for a good story, huh?

Now it's Sunday and I sit in my very quiet house with kittys at my feet and the day ahead of me. How wonderful is that?

I hope you had a good weekend, too!


|