How To Get a Sunburn...And Enjoy It

Planoamy
Has it really been since Tuesday that I posted? I don't want to start putting off my duty to update the world on life in Amyland. Thankfully no major disasters have occurred and Sweetie and I are peachy keen.
Bit, I received your card and letter. Thank you so much! I admit I got a bit choked up at the card. Thank you for your kind words. I'll respond to the letter soon. Thanks!

~~~~

Today was a lovely Saturday, and Sweetie and I got up early to go on a bit of a field trip. He works for his best friend's dad, who just got a new bike and was eager to try it out on a trail somewhere. So he asked Sweetie and I to bring our own bikes and go riding with him and his family. As the day approached we started to think we might not really want to spend Saturday with the boss. But we went and had the BEST time!

Along the Ohio River flood levee on the west side of Louisville, the county has built a beautiful winding bike trail that follows the top of the levee and affords some panoramic views. At different times of the year I am sure you can see the river, but today all the trees on the shore were green and there weren't many gaps to see the water. There are some lookout points along the way that we took in. We rode three and a half miles in a gentle southerly touring attitude, stopping every so often so the boss's grandson could take a water break. They bought him a new bike and he had just taken the training wheels off a day or so ago, so this was his first big biking adventure. His bike came with a little water bottle attached to the frame, and of course he needed to stay hydrated. lol Too cute.
For anyone familiar with Louisville, you will know right where we stopped next. The trail runs behind a restaurant that has been bringing in seafood lovers since the 1920's--Mike Lennig's. They serve the food inside but most people take their orders out to the picnic tables in a grove of trees. Before the flood wall was built, the owners closed the restaurant during the late fall and winter to go on hunting trips, while the grounds of the restaurant often took flooding from the Ohio. Now they have invested some cash in a pretty little bricked patio that winds off the bike trail and up toward the restaurant. Clever! Sweetie and I, not having to wait for everyone else, stopped to read the menu posted on a kiosk which also told of ice cream suppers and concerts, all of which were from last month. Finally we saw our biker buddies coming up the trail, so we headed on toward the Farnsley Moreman house, a home built in the 1800's and restored by the county as a tourist attraction. We didn't tour it, but the trail ends there so we rested, and looked out at the boat landing and the river. Then we headed back up the trail, stopping this time at Mike Lennig's for a sweet tea (oh was it ever good! real sweet tea!) and on toward our cars.

The whole excursion took about 3 hours, considering our beginning rider and the restaurant stop, and I wore sunscreen but I didn't put it on my shoulders very well because when I got home I noticed finger print marks on the top of my shoulders to the edge of my shirt. A nice little burn to remember the trip by. It was wonderful--and as the boss rode around to the back of his truck, he paused and said, who wants to go again? Right now? I think we will take him up on that sometime soon.

The Mission Continues...

Planoamy
I may have mentioned a little project that I was handed recently because I wrote a letter. Sometimes the old ball is started way off in the distance, and you just sort of get packed into it as it goes by...

This past weekend, I received my first round of donations of clothing and shoes for the village near my friend, who is stationed in Afghanistan. The first load filled my trunk. The second delivery was so big, the lady brought her husband and we made trips to our back deck with garbage bags full. I have been washing toddler clothes since Saturday and you can't tell I have made a dent! My mother's mentioned that her church might like to contribute on the shipping costs. That will be a big help as the time nears but right now I am so caught up in getting everything presentable! Last night I washed 23 pairs of shoes. With Soft Scrub and a toothbrush. Hey if you never tried it, Soft Scrub will put the bright white back in an old pair of sneaks. I even bleached the little laces. I kept thinking about a child with no shoes at all, getting their first pair of hand me downs. I wanted them to look as nice as I could get them. It was after midnight and I was leaning on the kitchen counter, polishing the sole of a size 3 Nike with an old fuzzy Oral B, and my favorite radio station was keeping me company. They started playing, "People all over the world, join hands! Start a love train! Love train!" And I bebopped my way out to the patio table to let the shoes dry.

Tonight I got them all back in, paired up with laces put back and tied together, and boxed in a corner of the kitchen. There are at least 2 more bags of shoes still out on the back deck. I don't know if I will ever see a picture of these children I hope to outfit. I may not ever hear how they received these little thoughts of kindness. But it feels so good to think that one child will have a lighter heart because they received something personal just for them. And who knows where that might lead?

Stuff I Like Right Now

Planoamy
Oh was it ever hot and steamy today! Sweetie looked like a wet cat today--he worked in our attic to install an electric attic fan to draw out the humidity as our A/C ductwork has been dropping condensation on our ceiling and now mold is coming through. Sigh. As much work as it is, I love our old house and all its crotchetyness. But he got that done and I spent the day washing and drying baby clothes. I didn't mind as there were no stinky diapers involved, just the donated items for my friend in Afghanistan. So that was our big Sunday.

Oh, I have a new favorite song! A blast it over and over from AOL Music song. This group, The Killers. They performed at Live 8 and did a song from their Hot Fuss album called "All These Things That I Have Done" which is just full of good music and awesome chord progressions and harmonics. And the lyrics are reasonable also. Always listening to those lyrics you know. Anyway, I need to buy the CD but may happen upon a burned copy soon.

Another thing I am warming to--my Target remodeled the store and took out the traditional snack bar. It now hosts a Starbucks and a Pizza Hut counter. I planned to get nachos before I bought some things from a registry there, and well, I just couldn't change my taste buds that fast. I don't do coffee, but the caramel apple cider agrees with me in cooler temps. Nice!

Crystal Light on the go packs are awesome too! I love peach tea the best but I still have bad dreams when I drink tea, so I have to buy the raspberry ice flavor. Still pretty tasty, compared to plain old water. And sometimes I drink the peach tea anyway and just entertain myself with my morbid or bizarre imaginings. You know the kind of dreams that make you call people the next day to see if they are still alive. Even decaf tea does this. Some people pay a lot of money for trips like that. Geez.

So that's the news, or lack thereof. Hope tomorrow goes well--first day back after vacation. Bet I forget my passwords and my phone scripts. One day I will forget those things, and it will be a sweet release. Until then...

I do it every time...

Planoamy
Made it home from Bowling Green this afternoon with more than my usual amount of angst. Insert traditional rant against outdated small town thinking and regressive social mentality here.

I don't see how I have changed, but it is obvious that I have, from my extreme aggravation this week. I love my parents. I love my brothers and their significant others, and especially my little nephew who is too cute to really be related but I'll let that slide. No, he has this little jump-up thing that he loves, but I never saw it. Anyhow, I volunteered to watch him for about a half hour while the kiddo's parents went to look at a house for sale. We got along famously. I tried to teach him to sing and he loved that. (The kid has taste!) Then I thought that was getting old so I took him out on the back patio to see the birds. He was more interested in the recycling bin so I showed him all the different sounds you get from banging on plastic bottles of various sizes. This was also successful. Then it was a bit hot for the old Aunt-ster so I took the kiddo back inside to his little pallet in the living room floor. I've only seen him a handful of times so I didn't know the kid could dance! I mean, he can't really sit up on his own, but he's got moves, let me tell you! I had him under his little arms and was going to lay him down, and as soon as his feet hit the floor he started bouncing and wiggling his little butt--so of course I sang songs for him to dance to. I was the only one in the house, and I don't know songs from Wiggles or Teletubbies or whatever. I sang Born To Be Wild. He busted his little moves out for me and I almost dropped him I was laughing so hard. Probably why they don't let me babysit.

But anyway, back to the aggravation. I can no longer tolerate indecisiveness! Of any kind. Especially the "whole family picking a restaurant and time to eat" indecisiveness. Or the "approach a green light slowing down because it will be turning by the time I get there going 25" attitude. Or going to Lowes and Target and (ARGH) WalMart multiple times on the same day. Or saying you will be somewhere at 8 AM and getting there at quarter to 9 because "I'm getting old." Another ARGH!

Sigh. But now I am back in my little nest and I have laundry and dishes to clean up since Sweetie managed to get out of going with me and stayed here and messed up everything. lol Not too bad, though.

A banner day! For being by myself.

Planoamy
Wow, do I feel accomplished! Today turned out to be quite productive in a number of ways. It's the first real day of vacation, and I wanted to be up by 8 am so I could really enjoy not logging in. HAHA It was wonderful. Of course I was actually up much earlier, to roust Sweetie out of bed and start his coffeepot and make his lunch while he did his routine. Getting ready for work. Ha

I didn't hang around the house, either! As soon as I waved him out of the drive, I took off for Meijer, which is like a super Wal-Mart, only it's clean and the people there bathe. On average. And I took my time and went up and down all the aisles and enjoyed no time limit nor the hordes of weird kids that trail behind their frazzled mothers.

I didn't get nearly enough at Meijer, so I went straight across the parking lot to the Target. Got in early while they were still doing laser inventories and moving pallets. Oh yes. Found several goodies, including a dress blouse and a new purse. And the Target version of those Crystal Lite on the go pouches which are wonderful for my desk at work. Saw all the clearance end caps and sales racks and only got aggravated a few times when the dumb cart caught on a display rack sitting too close to a shelf. But nothing was knocked down so I got away with it!

But I still didn't feel accomplished! I put anti-bacterial lotion on my hands up to the elbows and went down the street to the SuperWalmart. I know what you are saying--but it isn't even Christmas Eve! Well, it was early and I have almost forgotten why I quit going there. I loaded up a trash can with cleaning and apartment stuff for my little brother who moves to NKU this fall to start Law School. I want him to remember if he is in a mess, I helped him clean it up. Thus, when he's a lawyer...

Of course, it was almost noon, and the children started showing up, and screaming, and there were only 3 lanes open. But a cashier started on a lane and let me be first! Wow!

I came home and put my goodies away--that is, I hid all the bags and put the new stuff in the guest room where NO ONE looks. Then I went out and got in the garage, which is actually an old barn that was on the property and a previous owner vinyl sided. It's spooky in there, what with the spiders and all, so I did the girly try-to-open-the-latch-with-just-three-fingers thing but that was taking too long and I lost my temper and kicked the door from the inside so it scared the neighbors. Oh yeah, I went in through the side door, but it's too small for the mower. I finally got the blamed thing out. It died like 20 times because 1, I never mow. 2. the grass has had a hurricane of rain to make it thick and luxurious. 3. the birch trees in the back yard dropped almost all their leaves in the drought leading up to said hurricane. I was not a very lady-like neighbor this afternoon. But I got all that done and got cleaned up and went BACK to the Walmart. That's right, to get my eyes checked and some new contacts. I sort of made a 6 month supply of disposables last the 3 and a half years since I married, and figured, your contacts aren't supposed to be gray when you put them in your night time solution. She was cool and hooked me up with some acuvues and plenty of comp solution.

Then--Da da da dah da dah! I lost my first 20 pounds officially at my Weight Watchers meeting tonight! I got a cool keychain thingie and a gold looking charm and a round of applause and a sticker for the fridge. It was a long time coming and I am still working on it but that was a big hurdle and yay I made it!

I will stop on a positive note because if I start talking about the DVD player...Oh I will do it anyway, the hateful spiteful piece of Devil's engineering! We have 5 remotes. Only 1 is for the Sanyo piece of crap that you can put a DVD into. It takes the DVD. It plays it, counting seconds very nicely. But the TV just keeps right on. And I sat there with 5 (insert extremely bad public school bus word here) remote controls pushing buttons through 2 episodes of COPS and never did get my Spencer Tracey movie started! Sweetie is gone to the movies with his best friend Robbie tonight--they have to bond or something, I don't know. I think the movie THEY are seeing is very actiony, black leathery or explosivey or something. The movie I am seeing is whatever TBS is putting on tonight. DANG IT!

But the rest of the day was great!

Oh yeah and I went out after my WW meeting and bought myself some cheese sticks at Captain D's. Hey, life's too short to deny yourself cheese sticks!

Do you Believe in Missions?

Planoamy
Once again I have let my enthusiasm overstep my ability.

I received a letter today in the mail from Afghanistan. Specifically, a soldier I had written to last month, who posted a photograph that went into my brain and sort of stuck there.

You know those pictures, like the ones in National Geographic--they show a person with an expression that just makes you hold your breath and stare. Sometimes it's the look in the eyes or the way they are standing. You get the feeling that despite the situation, this is a spirit looking at you personally. Well that happened to me. I can't really explain it very well but I was doing my usual thing, reading the daily posts to my soldier site, and one lady put up a picture of some kids they were seeing in a village in Afghanistan. Soldiers try to take toys or candy to the kids so they won't be afraid of them. She gave a little boy, maybe 6, a teddy bear. His brother, about 11, stepped up and put his arm around the kid. Not with a smile or joking look. The boy looked like he dared anyone to take his little brother's toy. If you've ever heard of a thousand yard stare, he had one. I looked at that meager little dirty face, with that fierce look. He didn't have a toy or candy. There were holes in his shirt. But he loved his brother and no one was going to mess with him.
I wrote to the soldier who posted the picture. I told her, we can't do a lot about the adults in these countries. They have their own ideas about us. But if we can help a few kids, maybe with sandals, or pencils and paper for school, or outgrown clothing from our own families, think how it might change those children. I don't have money to buy the things a village would need. I don't have kids with outgrown clothing. I don't belong to a megachurch with bottomless pockets. So what I can do is a small part. I can ask.

Tonight I got a letter back from this soldier. She thinks I am an angel. Those of you who know me know this is laughable, but I do try to be helpful when I can. I ran the idea by my mom but she's not very enthusiastic about helping other people's kids. It is easy to say, let them deal with their problems, I've got my own! But the next time I go to Super Walmart, I will put back the big bag of cookies and buy one little pair of kids shoes first. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.


--if you want to see the picture, go to www.anysoldier.com. Click where to send. you can search for her post by her name, Laurie Strange. But I warn you--this site is addictive but not political. The worm's eye view, if you will.

Could it be? Is it real? I'm on vacation!!!!

Planoamy
WAAAHOOOO!!!
(me running around in circles with my arms in the air)

It's official! As of 5:30 eastern time Friday afternoon, I am on a week's vacation! I think I heard a Holly Lue Yeah!

See, I asked for a week off, starting this coming Monday, way back in January. I work as a peon cube dweller answering phones. Apparently I am the cog holding the wheel together because it was forever to get it approved through a lovely little department we have called Work Force Management. Yeah, I know, we all got a job to do. Finally it came back, with Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday approved. But I still had to work Tuesday. It was March.

I waited a while to see if anyone else would cancel their Tuesday, July 19th day off so I could move further up in the pecking order. No luck. Finally I did what was only fair--I went sobbing to my boss saying my out of town trip was ruined because I couldn't get that one day. She pushed it through to her boss, who got an "official override" for me to get a whole week, straight through! Wow! I have only saved up 147 vacation hours so this was really big. Unfortunately, I don't have a big trip planned. Wee bit o guilt about that. See in January we were taking the MIL on a trip to the ocean. Then we realized Damn it's too expensive to stay gone for a whole week. So MIL said she didn't want to be gone from home like that anyhow and we thought about a little drive to the city of big shoulders. And well, HIS company is too busy to spare him. Until Friday. So I get a week's vacation in a town where the handful of friends I have are all working. Poor me.

Poor me--the house to myself, the remote to myself, the radio to myself! Poor me, sleeping in to the heathenistic hour of 10:30! Poor me, drinking chocolate milk for breakfast and going to used bookstores in my quest for any little odd books by Kentucky authors. While all you lucky working stiffs are greasing the national economy, I will be bumming around in baggy khaki's and my favorite oldest t-shirt from McGuire's Irish Pub. MUWAHHAHHAhhaa!

Ahem. Off to make a to-do list.

OK I admit it--I'm cheap

Planoamy
Yeah I know. I have a big event coming up tomorrow--the second interview. And to really wow them I decided not to wear polyester pants and instead wanted to get a nice dress suit. My day to day clothes have gotten so casual that I doubt I would pass a very thorough dress code inspection at work, but it's not because I don't want to. I'd LOVE to find myself shanghai'ed by the What Not To Wear show and all my clothes trashed for new threads. I just can't turn loose of the cash to buy stuff that's not already about 60% off. You know, the picked over stuff at Target. So since I don't really have any girl friends in town, when I have to buy clothes Sweetie has to go too.

See, when I go by myself I might make it through one store. Then I am starting the tape in my head, saying how trashy most of the clothes are, and how I could never look pretty in the good stuff, more like swapping the ugly head from a cheap doll and putting it on a Barbie. I usually get close to tears (actually did cry in the Old Navy dressing room once because I was so dumpy) and I leave to find the closest Kirklands and a vanilla candle to smooth things over. It's such an ordeal. I am in colored t-shirts most days, but I have 4 pair of polyester pants--all the same brand! And I only have a brown pair, a navy pair, and two black pair. I rotate them with the occasional jeans day thrown in. Clothes shopping is something I avoid unless I just want to cry about something.

But I knew that I needed to look professional and it meant biting the bullet. Sweetie took me over to Dress Barn. It's not fancy but it does have a few nice suits and lots of pretty colors. He picked out a couple he thought would look nice on me--like Scully, he said. So I tried the first--the pants in my size put the jacket too big. Sigh--damn this pear shaped rear! But the second suit was a dress suit in dark gray with the lightest blue pinstripe. The lady helping us was going for commission but she was really sweet too and found a second shirt that went with it to give me another option. Helen, if you ever go there. So I spent like a week's worth of my old clothing cost for one outfit. For a 30 minute interview. Well, here goes nothing...

I want to dress like Katherine Hepburn

Planoamy
Some ladies are just classy. Say what you want about her personal affairs, but I admire Katherine Hepburn.

I saw my first Hepburn movie while spending a sick day home from high school. I never watched soaps or talk shows--give me a bag of chips, some apple juice, and the remote and I was lost in the world of black and white romance. This isn't something a lot of people know about me, but those old movies were dreamy and silly and melodramatic and I loved them. There was a little picture she made with Cary Grant called Bringing Up Baby. It was hokey and reminds me for all the world of the chemistry from shows like X-Files or Moonlighting--that fast banter back and forth that only two like minds could maintain or enjoy. And her clothes, OH!

She dressed like a woman who threw off the constraints of society--she wore pants when the situation called for it, but she would knock your eyes out with perfect lip liner and mascara too on a moment's notice. And that deep feline voice--so different from the high pitched wailing of other actresses of her time. She just knew who she was and what she wanted and didn't see any reason not to go for it. Bless her heart.

I know that I don't want to just dress like Hepburn--that would be like putting heels on a horse. I want to exude confidence in myself. I want to feel like I have a place in the world and I am not going to ask for it, I am going to take it! I want to be graceful but strong, and feminine but independent. I think all these things are within me and only call for my own determination to show them off. Sounds like another goal for my six month plan!

I'm getting that Sunday night feeling...

Planoamy
It's late Sunday night. Too late to go do anything else, too late for any more good TV or time to watch a movie. It's time to get ready for bed, but I am fighting it. Not because I don't feel tired yet--I could probably be asleep in 10 minutes. But that would mean that I would soon wake up to another work week. Just like the old days of trying to get that last bit of homework done and dreading the "laying out of clothes." Ugh. Why is it always Monday when I feel like wearing black?

Of course all this belly-aching is pretty self-centered when I go into my blessing-counting mode. I mean, stuff I'm grateful for since I don't put much stock in blessings. But one, I have a job. And it's indoors, in the A/C, at a desk. I don't deal with many germs or sick people unless you count the crowd with smoker's cough, hacking in the smoking area outside the building. I pretty much know what my day will be like.

And two, I am not praying for a cure or an end to a pain of some kind. All my family and friends are in good health as far as I know. I am concerned about my friends and their family in the path of Dennis tonight. I hope they are dry and safe and their belongings will be also. I also have made some contacts through my previously mentioned work on soldier boxes. Tonight the internet posting is lighter than usual, which is usually a sign of something going down--hopefully just a sand storm but sometimes they block communication when there is an incident, so that family can be notified before word gets out. I will wonder about it for a while until there is something in the news.

So I suppose I should quit whining about my horrible job. It pays the bills and makes my flamboyant lifestyle possible! I mean, how else could I afford all my Ebay treasures? Which reminds me, there's probably an auction ending soon that I MUST check out...

Soldier Boxes

Planoamy
I guess it was April when I read about a website, www.anysoldier.com. Since 9/11 you can't send care packages to soldiers simply addressed "Any Soldier." You have to know somebody. Well, one guy's son was over there and he had a lot of fellows who didn't get any mail. He and his dad put together some volunteers to mail boxes to his unit. That spread to other units and a few more points of contact. And then they got the website and it was Katy bar the door! There are now more than 3,700 contacts for care packages to deployed troops. The soldier signs up by describing his unit by general location, number of men/women, and then a little bio or request for specifics. They post pictures and sometimes tell stories about what they are facing. It's not political at all--you can be blue or red and still want to help out the kid from your home state who needs some new socks and deodorant. That's the best part. Well, thinking about how it will help--that's the best.

So I go to the post office every Saturday with 5 or 6 boxes I've put together for this week's adoptees. We've gotten a few responses which keep me going. I know, let the left hand know not what the right hand doeth. But it's good to know the boxes are getting to their destinations. Lately the big request has been for magazines and snacks, and especially drink mixes like the new Crystal Light on the go pouches. When it's 140 degrees you go through the water.

It's my little part of the effort, and I hope it helps someone. Wish I could do even more.

Success!

Planoamy
You are going to be so jealous.

Today dawned brightly and beautifully. I imagine--I wasn't up until almost 10. But I got up, put together my soldier boxes (I'll explain later) and headed for the post office. It wasn't a long wait today, so I got back to the house by noon and Sweetie and I set out for Radcliff. Radcliff is the city that grew up around Fort Knox, the underwhelming depository for the nation's gold. I say underwhelming because you can't tour it or really get closer than a highway driveby. It's fairly small looking because it's mostly underground. It actually has the appearance of a small prison with guntowers and barbed fences and all. But there's a pretty decent museum nearby which we have visited before. This time we went straight to the Gold Nugget Surplus Store.

The Gold Nugget turned out to be quite the spot. He found something right off that he wanted--the support poles and gear that turns camoflage net into a camoflage tent. So now we have kind of a military version of those netted gazebos you see in every home center. He almost passed on it but I said hey, you are saving all the cost of shipping and it's the real deal not some reproduction crap. So with a shopping buddy like that, it was ours.

Coming back up 31-W which is known as Dixie Highway along this stretch, we got to another local surplus shop and decided to stop in there too. After a bit of sniffing, Sweetie eyed a real find. I thought it was a card table--silly me. It was a military writing desk that folds up into a trunk. The case holds all kinds of drawers and bins for writing gear, and the lid becomes the desk and there's a little seat and everything. It was a good price, and after he went back and forth on it for a while I finally said, hey, it's a piece of furniture for your room--go for it. Bingo. Into Little Green Car it went.

Now we are home and he is antsy for help to get it unloaded. More later!

TGIFANFC!

Thank God it's Friday and no family coming! Seems like since Summer reared its dry split ends we have spent every weekend either entertaining family or fixing and cleaning the house for the big Cookout. I love my family--I even love Sweetie's family. But I like being lazy and leaving dishes in the sink for a day or two. I'll wait while you gasp and catch your breath.

So. This weekend I think we have an Army Surplus weekend planned. Two old junkers trolling for cast-off bargains in the shadow of America's gold bullion depository, Ft. Knox. The better half has a big boy's room above the garage and all his toys are there. We are going to finish it like a 1940's type den/TV room (did they have TV rooms then?) and put his collection on display including his Dad's Navy stuff. Today he was almost giddy as he called home to ask me to meet him in the driveway when he pulled in. Uh oh I think. He needs help carrying something--not usually a good sign. But it was just a wooden storage box. I told him we could paint it blue and stencil daisies on it. He gave me the most exasperated look as if to say, Don't rain on my parade! It's a new box! Look! And it was pretty cool.

Today was food day at work, which always works against the chunky girl. Cookies within arm's reach doesn't help with Weight Watchers points. But I am 1.4 pounds away from losing my first 20 pounds. Since April. It just might actually work! I wore jeans today. This is significant because I have only one pair of jeans, and they went unworn for over a year. They still had the labels on them. I refused to exchange them for a bigger size--and today I wore them to work and felt pretty darn good. So this weekend I will have to behave and do my exercise and try to put my cookied past behind me.

That's the news for today. So far.

Hey that wasn't so bad.

Ok. Whew. My computer didn't crumble under the strain or make scary noises. I shall now compose a brief bio.
I was born in a dusty little shack on the outskirts of Bowling Green, KY. OK, it was a hospital but it was Kentucky! I grew up in the community of Plano and loved running around barefoot all summer. I know, it's the stereotype you'd expect but I just knew I'd grow up to be a horse and horses don't wear tennis shoes. I galloped all over the neighborhood until it dawned on me one day that the neighbors could be watching me through their windows. After that I played a lot of Pac-Man under the air conditioner.
I grew into a beautiful young woman. (It's my blog, so there.) Had a few odd jobs including cashier at the local home improvement warehouse, and wedding consultant in the china department of a bigger store. Finished college with a degree in English (read, crap) and set out to find fame and fortune in the world of literature.
It's now been more than a handful of years and I work in a gray cube answering phones for the insurance company all day. If you've ever seen Office Space...lord it seems like every day starts with that movie playing in my head. The bright spot of my life is my Sweetie, who married me despite repeated warnings from my father of my increased levels of BS. Sweetie (AKA Deo) is the best--the best man, best friend, best bug killer--you name it. We get along because we like a lot of the same stuff. So I pretty much work for 4:30 and a faster than legal drive to the suburbs and our little white house with green trim, and my Sweetie. Life's pretty good.

My first personal blog ever. Wow.

Ok, this is my first frail attempt to step out onto the gossamer strings of the web via my own little blog. How relevant it is for anyone besides myself, who knows? But I am pretty funny in an oddball kinda way so maybe there will be a laugh or two in store. We shall see.