Two Posts in One Day? What Gives?

I had the bestest day. A really, really awesome day at work, no less! I don't really know why. It just felt good. Everyone was in such a great mood. Lots and lots of laughter. Maybe it was the cool air that smacked them in the face the minute they opened the door. Maybe it was my witty and charming self (not!). Perhaps it was simply because today is Friday. I don't know why, but it rocked!

My friend, The Stalker, is in town for a few days. She'll be attending her high school reunion tomorrow night. She graduated a year before I did, so basically, we know a lot of the same people. But I don't "reunion".

Evah

I just...well...I don't care. I'm not out to impress someone with my resume, which is strangely lacking due to all the years of momminess. My nearly non-existent writing career isn't much to write home about and I'm fat. My hair is turning gray. My greatest accomplishment is my children and the fact that I'm still married to the same guy nearly twenty-two years later really doesn't mean much if you're trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Cept, I'm not. Cause I don't care.

But, I've gotten off topic.

Sorry.

Anyway, Stalker is going to her reunion and when a lady at the gym mentioned that she was supposed to attend her reunion tomorrow also I couldn't help but ask which high school.

You guessed it, she and I did attend the same school. Weird huh?

It wasn't until she brought her yearbook in from her car that we could truly place each other.

Man, I totally had Farrah hair back then. Wavy, big, brown, Farrah hair.

Somehow, I think Farrah would be proud of my rockin' big hair.

Everyone at the club had a good laugh with the two of us as we compared notes about who was married, divorced, or still mean after all these years.

Other ladies started sharing about their reunions or lack thereof. It was fun to listen to their stories and I think everyone felt the way that I did: uplifted.

I still don't know why really. What I do know is that we live on a small rock in a huge universe. You just never know who you'll run into.

Somewhere Between Here and There

A former classmate of mine has been posting scanned pages from our yearbooks on Facebook. When it first started happening I cringed knowing that sooner or later my face would appear. But it didn't. Not for a long time. Until a day or so ago.

There I am, front row, frizzy BIG hair, sitting next to my best friend with her BIG glasses. It was shocking. It really was.

And I could only think of one question: "Where was my mother?"

I mean seriously! How could that woman let me leave the house looking like a Q-Tip? All this time I thought I was pretty cute in high school. Ahh how the mind deceives!

Granted, it was the 80's. Big hair, big belts, short skirts, lip gloss, air guitar, new wave, punks, stoners, preppies and dudes with eyeliner (and you thought Adam Lambert was the first...snicker).

The 1980's was a strange time. I thought different. I was a LIBERAL. I thought the grown-ups and Reagan were going to blow us all to kingdom come. I even wrote a play about that topic that won a national award.

I recently found that little bit of dribble and re-read it. Scary. Not that the topic is scary, but that it WON an award! Who judged this piece of tripe? Uggh.

Anyway, the 1980's brought us movies and music that we will not soon forget. Oh, that we could!

Top five movies from 1985 (the year I graduated):

Back to the Future
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rocky IV
The Color Purple
Out of Africa

But wait! Where is The Breakfast Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (my mother let me watch this??), or Sixteen Candles?

Top albums for the 1980's:

London Calling, The Clash
Purple Rain, Prince
The Joshua Tree, U2
Remain In Light, Talking Heads
Graceland, Paul Simon
Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen
Thriller, Michael Jackson
Murmur, R.E.M.
Shoot Out The Lights, Richard and Linda Thompson
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman


Now, granted, I copied this list from a pop culture website, so maybe these aren't THE top ones, but I'm willing to bet they are pretty close. Unless you were a headbanger. Than these did nothing for you.

Top ten heavy metal albums from 1980's:

Ride the Lightning/Master of Puppets (1984/1986)- Metallica
Life After Death - Iron Maiden
Live Evil - Black Sabbath
Among the Living - Anthrax
Holy Diver - Dio
Balls to the Wall - Accept
Blizzard of Ozz - Ozzy Osbourne
Power and the Glory - Saxon
Theater of Pain/Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue
Appetite for Destruction - Guns n’ Roses

Strange times my friend. Strange times. The year I graduated my best friend got pregnant. The staff tried to force her to quit school. She wouldn't. The kids were cruel to her and called her dirty names. I stuck by her. No one applauded when she walked up on the stage, six months pregnant, and took her diploma. Which is so different from today when young girls are encouraged to stay in school and no one blinks when they waddle up on stage.

Like every generation before us, we struggled to find who we were and to somehow avoid turning into our parents. We thought we were better, smarter, stronger. In reality, we turned out to be humans simply trying to survive on this little rock we call Earth.

The Sting of Death

Micheal Jackson

An adorable, gifted child, a handsome, talented young man, insecure man, bizarre individual, sad, sad, sad.

I watched the movie, The Wiz (I loved the Wiz!) almost as many times as I watched Gone with the Wind. I owned the album, Thriller. Who didn't? It was the eighties baby and we danced.

Yet, he was a strange man, surrounded by accusation of inappropriateness in both 1993 and 2003. The first case was dropped because the victim refused to testify, the second was settled out of court to the tune of millions.

I wasn't there and neither were you. I have no idea whether or not MJ was a sick little man, or simply a man who adored children. I have no idea and frankly, it really doesn't matter today, does it?

He's dead.

I am shocked at the reaction to his death, just as I was shocked at the reaction when John Lennon was murdered. Sure, I think it's sad that he died, but I didn't KNOW him. I won't MISS him. He wasn't all that to me. I do not feel death's sting with the passing of Micheal Jackson.

Go ahead, pick up your stones and hurtle them my way. The passing of MJ will not leave a hole in my heart. My eyes will not fill with tears at the remembrance of him, as they do when I recall memories of my most wonderful MIL. I won't lay flowers at his graveside or honestly give him a second thought after the media frothing stops.

I feel sorry for MJ because I think he was robbed of his childhood. I think fame and money ruined him. My mommy's heart wonders if he was lonely, because to me, he appeared lonely. The kind of lonely that has sunk so low into a man's soul that it's raw and bleeding.

As a Christian, I wonder about the condition of his soul. Hey, it's my blog and I can say that if I want to. I can ponder where he may now find himself and that my friends, is truly worth grieving. It's sad. It really, truly is.

Because I am a heartless wench, I may have offended a few people. I know you are SHOCKED and DISAPPOINTED in me. I know you may have many colorful words to share with me.

All I can say is, "Whoa! Dude, I meant no disrespect..."

I don't build alters to people. I've built one for my God and He's kinda jealous about sharing His children. Funny that.

And yet, as I sit here and write this, I know someone who is grieving far more than the millions upon millions world wide.

His name is Jesus Christ.

This will conclude today's sermon.

Amen.

Thousand Word Thursday

Today is Thousand Word Thursday sponsored over at Cheaper than Therapy. My thousands words are just that. One thousand written words. I know it's supposed to be a PHOTO, but something in me said, "Write a thousand words in one sitting." So I did. Feel free to press the back button now...

After meeting with the Writer Girl for coffee and a verbal download, I rushed home to pick up Boy’s new cell phone that had been delivered while I was out. Since Boy does not live at home and won’t be home for several weeks, I decided to mail it to him…along with assorted other goodies.

Along with his spankin’ new phone, Girl placed a small tin of her chocolate-orange scones and a small note to cheer his heart. I added a few other odds and ends. There was cold medicine – the day and night version. I rustled up two small packages of peanuts, one salted, the other honey roasted and some jelly beans.

Last, but certainly NOT least I added one of those musical cards. Perhaps it’s just my family, but we find these cards highly amusing. I adore the ones with the 80’s tunes (sing along if you dare!);

I told you homeboy
U can't touch this
Yeah, that's how we livin' and you know
U can't touch this
Look in my eyes,man
U can't touch this
Yo, let me bust the funky lyrics
U can't touch this



The cards that feature lines from television shows run a close second. For Beloved’s birthday last year, Boy had found a Star Trek card that featured Mr. Spock saying,

”Total annihilation”



Boy had purchased the card early in the spring and hid it away for months, waiting for his father’s February birthday. There are two things I love about this; first, that Boy spotted something that he knew Dad would find amusing and two, that he managed to keep it squirreled away for over nine months without his father finding it. Not a small feat in this house!

No one would be too surprised to find that I packed a special card into Boy’s goodie box. Will he get it? I think so. He’ll probably roll his eyes a bit, mainly because his mother is such a nut, but he’ll smile. I found the card that sang,

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing



I know you are humming that tune. I can feel it. I just gotta wonder though, who writes this stuff? Seriously! Anyway, we recently watched the movie, Kung Fu Panda and although I don’t really care for Jack Black, I found this movie to be really fun. Thus, the reason for the card.

Yet, this was no ordinary box. Yes, Boy’s phone had arrived, but I really wanted to send him a cheery box, filled with goodies and things to make him smile. He’s having a rough week and even though he says he’s “fine”, being his (over-protective, let me do that for you, are you hungry? No? Let me fix you something), loving mommy, I think he needs this.

I know I could have driven down and delivered the phone in person. It’s only a two hour round trip drive, but don’t you think there is something special about receiving a box of goodies from home? I can only imagine how nice it must be (at least I think it would be nice) to have a box arrive with your name on it.

In my minds eye, I see Boy carrying box, perhaps shaking it a wee bit and walking back to his house. There, his roommates will gather round to see what goodies lie within. Last Halloween I sent a box that contained Darth Vader heads filled with sweet tarts. The roomies still have those little Vader heads displayed around the house.



I can imagine the guys wondering if he’ll share his haul and joking about “Boy’s Mommy”. They’ll tease him a bit because he’s the youngest in the house. Between you and me, I think they tease him because they are jealous. There I said it.

I don’t know if it’s because we homeschooled Boy or if it is just his personality, but our family has never suffered any of those child-parent estrangements. For the most part, unless I’m completely delusional (which is possible), we’ve all gotten along just fine. We didn’t suffer through much teenage anxiety with Boy or Girl. They’ve never given us a moment’s worry in regard to booze, drugs or the opposite sex.

Maybe that’s why Boys leaving and the upcoming departure (in a couple years) of Girl make me sad. I really like my children as people and I miss them when they are not here. Yet, as I stated yesterday, I do not want them to stay home! No. I want them to grow up and move on. It just means that I’ll miss their company when they leave.

I know I’m not the only mommy who sends special packages to their kiddos. Some are probably more creative. For me, I think it’s the random things that I toss in that make Boy smile. In retrospect, I should have added a picture of Boy and Best Friend. Please note in the picture below, taken recently, that these two boys have been goofy since day one.



With the box packed I headed off to the post office, forgetting that it’s December. Uugh. I stood in line for a very long time and finally got to my favorite postal clerks window. He greeted me with his usual, “Hi Mom!” phrase and we got down to business. I told him that yes; I did indeed have liquid and perishables in the box. I made certain he understood that everything was riddled with Anthrax powder and that he might want to pull on his radiation gloves.

“A package for boy huh?” he smiled.

“Yep. Just a few goodies,” I replied.

“There’s nothing like a box from home to add a little sunshine to your day,” he commented as he weighed the box.

I couldn’t agree more. Boy’s box will be delivered today. I can just see the text message now:

My mom is the greatest

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

The year? 1983

I was in high school and one of the things I really, really wanted was a T-shirt. Oh, but not any T-shirt. No. I wanted a Frankie Goes to Hollywood shirt. Sadly, I was a penniless teen from a family of six. The odds of my mother spending hard earned dollars on a silly white T-shirt were slim at best.

But I was a lucky girl. My boyfriend bought me one! I loved that T-shirt. Loved. It. I wore it and wore it…until it went out of style.

The sand passed through the hour glass of time. My boyfriend dumped me (I should write about that sometime), I graduated, married my Beloved, had babies. Frankie never crossed my mind again. Until today that is.

I took my sweet girl to Target so that she could purchase a new pair of pants and while browsing the T-shirts what should my wandering eyes spy? Why a Frankie Goes to Hollywood T-shirt of course! I couldn’t believe it. I showed it to daughter and even sang for her.

She was…unimpressed.

All I could say is, “Relax!”