Conversations With A Woman 2.0

Are you lookin' at me?

Ralph and Norton and a School of Rays
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Whale Shark

Pink Jelly

Tube leading into the Big Tank

Diver in the Tropical Fish Tank

Grouper with an Entourage
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Beautiful Yellow and Blue Tropical Fishies

School of Rays

Are you ready for your close up, Mr. Turtle?

Beautiful Beluga

Blue Jelly

Hammerhead Shark

More to come tomorrow...!
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I just got through watching "Elizabethtown" on DVD. I had heard that reviews for the movie were not so good, but I still had an interest in it.

Let me stop right here to interject that I think Orlando Bloom is one of the most handsome men I've seen in a long time. My God he is a gorgeous specimen of man! Whew!

...But I digress...

I enjoyed the movie. I could relate to a lot of it. The part that stuck out to me most was the concept Kirsten Dunst's character brought up of "Substitute People." A person who is wonderful and all, but is just a substitute for someone else - maybe someone that you settle for.

When she said that, there was a resounding "click" in my head. WOW! Someone has finally verbalized how I have felt my entire life. It as both exhilarating and sad at the same time.

I take responsibility for my feeling that way. I know I have downgraded myself so that people naturally put me in the "substitute person" role. It comes from years and years and years of my having the self esteem of a gnat.

However now that I am knocking on 40's door, I've finally taken a look around and decided that being me ain't so bad - in fact, it's pretty cool. In addition, life is too damn short (case in point, my previous post) to be allowing myself to be anything other than the one, the only Joan!!! Substitute, hell! I am the original and I am fabulous - today - just how I am - in my pajamas in front of the computer with my hair going 87 different directions and my fingers orange from eating Cheetos! I AM JOAN! HEAR ME ROAR!

From this day forward, I'm going to shrug off the shroud of being anyone's substitute person. From this day forward, only those that love and admire the original person I am will be given room in my heart and mind.

...and it's about damn time, huh?

:-)
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I got a call from Jonathan this evening. I didn't hear the phone ring because I was watching a movie. I checked the messages and he mentioned that he was in Ft. Worth visiting his sister and meeting his newborn niece and had I heard that Shauna died?

Shauna? Dead? No!

Shauna Suggs was one of my best friends in high school. We shared a locker. She was President of the Drama club and I was Vice President. We were the one's the demanded that Drama have a letter jacket!

When cable television and MTV finally made it to Granbury, TX, Shauna was one of the first people I knew that had it. We would plan parties that required that everyone bring a steak and a bathing suit and we would watch MTV, grill steaks and swim in the lake. Sometimes on cool Sunday afternoons we would get a group of people over at my house and play M&M poker.

After graduation, Shauna went with me and a couple of other girls on a grand adventure to Port Aransas, TX for a week of fun in the sun. Shortly after that, Shauna seemed to have disappeared and I lost touch with her, but I never forgot about her.

Last summer when our 20 year high school reunion was going on, I really hoped Shauna would come, however I was saddened to see that she was on the list of missing people.

After listening to the message that Shauna had died, I went immediately over to the computer and pulled up the Hood County News and my heart sank when I found her obituary. I had really hoped I had misheard Jonathan's message, but I hadn't.

I googled Shauna's name and found her obituary in the Austin American Statesman which included a guest book that you could sign. By reading the entries in the guestbook, I found out that she married a man named Ron and they had a little girl 3 years ago named Rebecca. In addition, she was extremely well loved by her family, friends and co-workers. Everyone commented on her smile and how at ease and included she made them feel. It was comforting to me to know that had never changed about her. She always made me feel at ease and included as well.

Shauna - rest in peace, my friend. I love you and I miss you.
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Tagged by the lovely and talented Beastmomma!

Four jobs I've had:


Newspaper Inserter

Asst. Manager of Polar Bear Ashburn's Ice Cream and Deli

High End Handbag salesperson at Foley's Department Store

Manager of the Music Department of Hastings Books Music and Video


Four Movies I can watch over and over:


When Harry Met Sally

Legally Blond (I think this is because it's on TBS every friggin' day!)

Rent (OK - I've only seen this movie once, but I will see it over and over when it comes out on DVD!)

Monsters Inc. (KITTY!)


Four Places I've Lived:


Granbury, TX

Atlanta, GA

Rodessa, LA

Flower Mound, TX


Four TV shows I love:


Gilmore Girls! (love, Love, LOVE!)

Web Junk (My new FAVORITE show)

2 and a Half Men

Reba


Four places I've vacationed:


Camp Fire Camp at El Tesoro, TX

Colorado Springs, CO

Ft. Myers, FL

Key Largo, FL


Four of my favorite dishes:


Tex Mex

Tex Mex

Tex Mex

Tex Mex


Four sites I visit daily:


Dooce

Cult of Jef

Lost...Where am I?

Ramblings of a Redhead


Four places I would rather be right now:


In a big comfy bed having hot, sweaty sex - with someone else!

On the beach of Sanibel Island having hot, sweaty sex - with someone else!

In a tent near the Grand Canyon looking up at the stars having hot, sweaty sex - with someone else!

Somewhere in Italy having hot, sweaty sex - with someone else!


Four bloggers I'm tagging:


Red - My sister. Does she still look at my blog?

The Flower - I know she occasionally looks at my blog!

Cylithria - My new blogging friend!

yaya - my favorite Louisiana Ex-Pat!
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I know that in New York you can have anything delivered any time of the night or day, but why has that not caught on here in Atlanta? You can get pizza and you can get Chinese and only between 11 and 11. There used to be a service here called Webvan.com where you could order groceries and then there was kozmo.com where you could order snack food, condoms, cd's or movies along with a lot of other things. However both of those services have gone by the way side. Why? I used the services! Why didn't anyone else?

The reason this comes to mind is because I was sick last week. I left work after 1/2 a day on Monday and later found out I had strep throat, a sinus infection and the beginnings of an ear infection. Of course it coincided with the fact that my fridge and cupboards were quite literally bare. I live "OTP," which in ATL-talk means "Outside the Perimeter" so it wasn't that convenient for any of my friends to come bring me anything.

Monday evening, I ordered pizza, which was no good for my ailing throat. Tuesday evening I just wanted something to make the pain in my throat go away, so I put on a bra, and drug my carcass to the Walgreen's. The Pharmacist was very helpful but you could tell that he was having to use the years of training he had to not look repulsed by my sickly self. I passed through the snack food aisle at the Walgreen's and suddenly felt that I must have some Easy Cheese and Ritz Crackers for dinner - nothing else would do. This was not only because it sounded tasty to my hungry self, but also because it meant I could go straight home after leaving the Walgreen's.

Wednesday I was still feeling like ca-ca and so I gave in and took myself to the Doctor. I got there at 9:45, and after seeing the doctor, getting caught in traffic, stopping at the store to fill my prescription and get some food, I was finally home at 2:30. I was so tired, I almost slept through Oprah!

Thursday I still had food leftover from my trip to the store, so I was happy as a clam, however on Friday, I had run out of that food and this time I stopped at the QT just so I didn't have to go to the grocery store. (For those of you not familiar, QT's, or Quick Trips, are like 7-11's, except cleaner.)

So now it's Sunday, and I'm feeling a whole lot better, but still not keen on the idea of going out into the cold, windy day in quest of food.



Pizza, anyone?

// posted by Joan @ 12:06 PM

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