The painting is finished. The headboard is finished. And my underwear is no longer in the den. I'm very pleased and relieved about that especially. I like the color of the room and the headboard as well. I'll be posting the pictures soon. There's still stuff to do like hang pictures but progress has been made. I hate the process but I enjoy the finished product. But the one bad thing about it is the fact that it makes everything else look worse. So what does that mean? More home improvement is in my future. Which means more paint choosing and more deciding. That's not good.
A very important byproduct of my room being painted was an exceptional find underneath my bed. A while back I brought some boxes home from Corsicana and most of them went to Mom's house. However, I guess I shoved one under my bed and forgot about it and Emma opened it yesterday and found all sorts of photographic treasures inside. Billie June looked at some tonight and identified most of the people but quite a few of the pictures are very unfamiliar to me. There are some of Gran and Grandma and the farm I don't recall ever seeing before. I will be posting some of these as soon as I can get them scanned. There are also lots of photos sent by parents in the family to Gran and Grandma over the years. But beware people! There are some doozies of certain people in the family especially Becky, Dale and Brooke. They will be rearing their ugly head soon (no pun intended). I'm pleased to announce the only questionable one of me was the bad comb over jobber that I already posted from Good Shepherd. Just don't forget I'm an equal opportunity embarrasser.
Fall is finally beginning to cooperate a little bit. I saw the most gloriously red tree today. It's looking like it's time for the camera to start doing some serious clicking.
Owen begins driver's ed tomorrow afternoon. I can't even believe it. The other day he said something to me about being in high school and I just about fell over. I mean....it's not like I haven't known this....but....once again.....it hit me right in the face. It's truly unbelievable to me that my youngest child is a 15 year old high school student. Some days I wish I could freeze time for a little while. I know my kids have to grow up and become who they are supposed to be but I didn't know it would go by so fast and furiously. Makes me happy and sad at the same time.
Two weeks ago a man we go to church with named Charles Stanley passed away suddenly. He was 73 years old and had some health issues but it was still a shock to us. In the last few years I've really learned what it means to call my church people family. They really are part of my family. So when Mr. Charles died, it hurt my heart so much. He was a little like Gran to me. Every week he'd come over and greet us and give us a hug and say, "Hello little ladies." I loved that. I loved Mr. Charles. I loved his hugs and his smile. He was such a sweet man. Today was my first day without a hug from him. It broke my heart a little. Almost every Sunday he wore a suit and tie. He was an old school gentleman. He can't ever be replaced. His wife, Pauline, is absolutely one of the nicest people I've ever met. She seemed OK today but I know she's hurting. Please remember her in your prayers. They hadn't been married too long....less than 10 years. They were so cute together. I will always miss him.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Our Dallas trip to meet The Barefoot Contessa
Last week Becky emailed us to inform us that Ina Garten was having a book signing at William Sonoma at Northpark in Dallas on Monday November 8th. Emma was OVER THE MOON because she loves the Barefoot Contessa. She immediately began lobbying to make the trip to see her. I immediately said no way. After a day or two of coaxing, and a conversation with John, I changed my mind. So, we threw our stuff together and left Friday night for the D. Traffic was awful, the music was questionable, Caitlin's music tastes don't mesh with mine, but we made it safe and sound. It took about two seconds to get into the Dallas mode of driving as I found myself speeding right along with everyone else. Olivia had the map thing open on my phone at the moment I looked down and saw I was going 80 and when I said, "I'm going 80!" Olivia said, "Well, that's why the little dot on the map (that was us) is moving so fast!" Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. So we speedily made our way towards cheesecake, met Carrie for supper straight away and then arrived at hotel Becky and Keith late but ready for our meetings in order to have a "plan of attack" for Saturday.
The next morning blasting people out of bed and the house proved to be more work than I imagined, but finally after all the primping and blow drying were finished, we were off and running. We decided to buy our Ina books first thing and it ended up being a brilliant decision since the store ran out of books on Monday. Saturday included a flurry of shopping by my girls and Rebecca sandwiched between many food stops. First was Pei Wei and apparently, for my daughters, Dallas trips are a mixture of frenzied shopping and a food crawl. I'm still full right now from last weekend. After Pei Wei we traversed Knox Street from end to end and then moved on to Northpark so the girls could try to spend every dime they had earned over the fall.
Now Olivia always starts off slow because generally all she's looking for is shoes. I never would have picked Olivia to be the one with a shoe fetish but the girl loves a flat or a converse tenny in any color. She currently has lime green, brown, purple and black and is constantly looking for more colors. This past summer I told her she needed some "college shoes" like flats and stuff to scoot around school and since then she's bought about 15 pairs of shoes! I told her last week....I said buy some shoes......not ALL the shoes. But when Olivia's on a Dallas trip there MUST BE a stop at DSW, the shoe store. Other places visited....not in any order....Crate and Barrel (2 of them), Sur Le Table (2 of them), Restoration Hardware, Marshall's, Fernando's, Steak and Shake, Galleria, Northpark multi times, Sample House, Gap, i Fratelli's, Sprinkle's.
And even though Emma didn't buy any shoes, she was determined to buy each and every other item in the metroplex area stores. And may I say, the girl gets an A for effort. Most Dallas stores spent the rest of the week restocking after "the plunderer" Emma finished shopping. I have a pictures of her with her most treasured purchase, a Michael Kors purse.
Olivia looks a little intimidating in this picture....as well as a little like a state trooper.
Caitlin was involved in increasing her wardrobe as well but she tends to shop alone and therefore her purchases debut as she wears them. I bought 2 small bowls, and a baking dish. Most of my money was spent on gasoline and food. Neither of those look cute on me.
When Emma was shopping in J. Crew her "dressing room girl" kept calling her Emily which amused us greatly but annoyed her immensely. So the rest of that night we called her Emily as well. She was not amused. Carrie took on the role of Grandma sitting in the car lots of the time because of a bad back situation....please heal her back Lord. We also rode around and looked at fancy houses and ate gelato and Baskin Robbins. The word diet didn't come up one time during the entire trip.
And then it was Monday and time to go to William Sonoma and become best friends with Ina. I have NEVER stood in line for a book signing and to be honest I did it for Emma and not so much Ina. The book signing was from 12-2, we arrived at 10:30 and the line already had about 300 people in it.
On our way to the book signing.
Caitlin loves to help with photo documenting.
Olivia was much more enthusiastic.
Emma was as well.
Waiting....
Still waiting...
But as fate would have it, the most obnoxious people ended up right behind us in line. Should I have expected anything else? These are not so much pictures of me as they are documenting these people that amused Olivia and annoyed me with their pretentious talk and ridiculous chatter. They were skipping work to get their book signed. The lady in black was surprising her husband with the book signing. He didn't know anything about it until she called him and told him to meet her outside Northpark. If I ever "surprised John" with standing in line for an Ina book signing it wouldn't be good. We don't have a picture of their friend who was wearing gold shoes and the guy in the gray commented on them and she said....and I quote..."These were made by the people that make all the French ballerina shoes." (Picture me with my finger in my mouth gagging.) I was all like WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST SAY? What a pretentious little snit! From there on out, even when the husband arrived and seemingly could have cared less, I did my best to tune these people out. And if any of them ever run across this blog and see themselves here, then yes you annoyed me greatly. Remember that always.
Also even though my bottom lip looks HUGE. I didn't get whatever people put in their lips to make them fat. These sunglasses I'm wearing are old as Methuselah yet they've held up quite nicely to the brutal treatment I give eye wear.
Now back to the real story...while Carrie sat in her car, the rest of us took turns sitting with her and changing out in line....all except for Emma.....she continued to flit and shop right up until the last minute. Finally, we got the word that Ina had arrived and soon the line began moving. The excitement was racing through the line (not really....no offense to Ina). We moved at a decent pace and finally made it inside the store. The first lady to greet us was Ina's friend we've seen on her show. She was very nice and thanked us for coming. Like a dork I pointed out my 3 girls to her.
This is her....don't know her name.
Then we saw Ina. Olivia and I pulled out our awesome conversationalist skills and meekly said, "Hi!" And we were done.
A William Sonoma worker offered to take some pics of us. He did a good job. I however look like a creepy stalker.
Then it was Caitlin's turn and she proceeded to have a whole conversation with Ina. She asked Caitlin if she cooked and Caitlin said my whole family cooks and that her grandfather had owned a restaurant in Monroe. Ina then said, "Well I hope your family enjoys the book." That was it. It was her wish for each of us to come stay with her in Connecticut. I heard it with my own ears.
Ina signing....which is what she came to do.
We made it in and made it out. Emma was very pleased with her signed copy of the book. We all were. I don't care who thinks I'm a dork, I really like Ina and I'm glad we got to see her. She was VERY kind and gracious. I think it was worth it.
But when we checked the photos after we got back to the car, Emma saw there were no pictures of her with Ina so Carrie suggested we go back and "try again." Olivia took my camera and she and Emma went back in the store and gave it another go. And the following photobombing ensued.
Who is that way back there?
I think I see her.
Yep that would be Emma.
Ina might not be pleased with these photos but we were.
We learned that George W. Bush was signing books the very next day in Dallas. We were so bummed we couldn't go to his as well. We love George. But it was not meant to be. Maybe another day.
All in all we had a fantastic trip. Dallas is always fun and exhausting.
I hope we make lots more in the years to come.
The next morning blasting people out of bed and the house proved to be more work than I imagined, but finally after all the primping and blow drying were finished, we were off and running. We decided to buy our Ina books first thing and it ended up being a brilliant decision since the store ran out of books on Monday. Saturday included a flurry of shopping by my girls and Rebecca sandwiched between many food stops. First was Pei Wei and apparently, for my daughters, Dallas trips are a mixture of frenzied shopping and a food crawl. I'm still full right now from last weekend. After Pei Wei we traversed Knox Street from end to end and then moved on to Northpark so the girls could try to spend every dime they had earned over the fall.
Now Olivia always starts off slow because generally all she's looking for is shoes. I never would have picked Olivia to be the one with a shoe fetish but the girl loves a flat or a converse tenny in any color. She currently has lime green, brown, purple and black and is constantly looking for more colors. This past summer I told her she needed some "college shoes" like flats and stuff to scoot around school and since then she's bought about 15 pairs of shoes! I told her last week....I said buy some shoes......not ALL the shoes. But when Olivia's on a Dallas trip there MUST BE a stop at DSW, the shoe store. Other places visited....not in any order....Crate and Barrel (2 of them), Sur Le Table (2 of them), Restoration Hardware, Marshall's, Fernando's, Steak and Shake, Galleria, Northpark multi times, Sample House, Gap, i Fratelli's, Sprinkle's.
And even though Emma didn't buy any shoes, she was determined to buy each and every other item in the metroplex area stores. And may I say, the girl gets an A for effort. Most Dallas stores spent the rest of the week restocking after "the plunderer" Emma finished shopping. I have a pictures of her with her most treasured purchase, a Michael Kors purse.
Olivia looks a little intimidating in this picture....as well as a little like a state trooper.
Caitlin was involved in increasing her wardrobe as well but she tends to shop alone and therefore her purchases debut as she wears them. I bought 2 small bowls, and a baking dish. Most of my money was spent on gasoline and food. Neither of those look cute on me.
When Emma was shopping in J. Crew her "dressing room girl" kept calling her Emily which amused us greatly but annoyed her immensely. So the rest of that night we called her Emily as well. She was not amused. Carrie took on the role of Grandma sitting in the car lots of the time because of a bad back situation....please heal her back Lord. We also rode around and looked at fancy houses and ate gelato and Baskin Robbins. The word diet didn't come up one time during the entire trip.
And then it was Monday and time to go to William Sonoma and become best friends with Ina. I have NEVER stood in line for a book signing and to be honest I did it for Emma and not so much Ina. The book signing was from 12-2, we arrived at 10:30 and the line already had about 300 people in it.
On our way to the book signing.
Caitlin loves to help with photo documenting.
Olivia was much more enthusiastic.
Emma was as well.
Waiting....
Still waiting...
But as fate would have it, the most obnoxious people ended up right behind us in line. Should I have expected anything else? These are not so much pictures of me as they are documenting these people that amused Olivia and annoyed me with their pretentious talk and ridiculous chatter. They were skipping work to get their book signed. The lady in black was surprising her husband with the book signing. He didn't know anything about it until she called him and told him to meet her outside Northpark. If I ever "surprised John" with standing in line for an Ina book signing it wouldn't be good. We don't have a picture of their friend who was wearing gold shoes and the guy in the gray commented on them and she said....and I quote..."These were made by the people that make all the French ballerina shoes." (Picture me with my finger in my mouth gagging.) I was all like WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST SAY? What a pretentious little snit! From there on out, even when the husband arrived and seemingly could have cared less, I did my best to tune these people out. And if any of them ever run across this blog and see themselves here, then yes you annoyed me greatly. Remember that always.
Also even though my bottom lip looks HUGE. I didn't get whatever people put in their lips to make them fat. These sunglasses I'm wearing are old as Methuselah yet they've held up quite nicely to the brutal treatment I give eye wear.
Now back to the real story...while Carrie sat in her car, the rest of us took turns sitting with her and changing out in line....all except for Emma.....she continued to flit and shop right up until the last minute. Finally, we got the word that Ina had arrived and soon the line began moving. The excitement was racing through the line (not really....no offense to Ina). We moved at a decent pace and finally made it inside the store. The first lady to greet us was Ina's friend we've seen on her show. She was very nice and thanked us for coming. Like a dork I pointed out my 3 girls to her.
This is her....don't know her name.
Then we saw Ina. Olivia and I pulled out our awesome conversationalist skills and meekly said, "Hi!" And we were done.
A William Sonoma worker offered to take some pics of us. He did a good job. I however look like a creepy stalker.
Then it was Caitlin's turn and she proceeded to have a whole conversation with Ina. She asked Caitlin if she cooked and Caitlin said my whole family cooks and that her grandfather had owned a restaurant in Monroe. Ina then said, "Well I hope your family enjoys the book." That was it. It was her wish for each of us to come stay with her in Connecticut. I heard it with my own ears.
Ina signing....which is what she came to do.
We made it in and made it out. Emma was very pleased with her signed copy of the book. We all were. I don't care who thinks I'm a dork, I really like Ina and I'm glad we got to see her. She was VERY kind and gracious. I think it was worth it.
But when we checked the photos after we got back to the car, Emma saw there were no pictures of her with Ina so Carrie suggested we go back and "try again." Olivia took my camera and she and Emma went back in the store and gave it another go. And the following photobombing ensued.
Who is that way back there?
I think I see her.
Yep that would be Emma.
Ina might not be pleased with these photos but we were.
We learned that George W. Bush was signing books the very next day in Dallas. We were so bummed we couldn't go to his as well. We love George. But it was not meant to be. Maybe another day.
All in all we had a fantastic trip. Dallas is always fun and exhausting.
I hope we make lots more in the years to come.
Friday, November 12, 2010
A few things...
I started painting my bedroom with primer tonight. Tomorrow the color goes up. I'm extremely nervous about having 2 gallons of paint that I still could hate. The suspense is getting to me.
My dresser's in the den and everything from my bedroom's topsy turvy. I don't handle that well. I look calm on the outside but my stomach is all squishy about all the changes. I don't want to have to go to the den to get my underwear.
I'm working on my Dallas posts but I'm afraid it will take a few days to get it up and looking good.
I love George Bush. Watching him in all these interviews reminds me how much I like him and how down to earth he is. We could be best friends. Sigh...
Just when you think the housewives couldn't get any crazier, they find some more crazy people to put on TV. The Beverly Hills women are just ridiculous super rich crazy.
I'm off to bed...my last night in the weirdly painted bedroom.
My dresser's in the den and everything from my bedroom's topsy turvy. I don't handle that well. I look calm on the outside but my stomach is all squishy about all the changes. I don't want to have to go to the den to get my underwear.
I'm working on my Dallas posts but I'm afraid it will take a few days to get it up and looking good.
I love George Bush. Watching him in all these interviews reminds me how much I like him and how down to earth he is. We could be best friends. Sigh...
Just when you think the housewives couldn't get any crazier, they find some more crazy people to put on TV. The Beverly Hills women are just ridiculous super rich crazy.
I'm off to bed...my last night in the weirdly painted bedroom.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Some stories and an important update
After further review of one of the nun pictures I realized I misidentified Sister Joseph Marie as Sister Geraldine. All the information about the bad knees and the meanness was accurate but it wasn't Sister Geraldine. Sister Joseph Marie was my 2nd grade teacher. Sister Geraldine, who was also mean as dirt, was my 6th grade teacher. She was the one who kept all the girls in at recess one day to tell us we couldn't wear fingernail polish to school anymore. She said if God wanted our fingernails painted, we would have been born that way. I suspected her reasoning was flawed, but I didn't wear fingernail polish to school anymore because....always remember....nuns scared the begezez out of me. Also Sister Geraldine was THE NUMBER ONE OFFENDER of calling me Walker ALL THE TIME. It annoyed me so much.
And in thinking about my days at Good Shepherd, I recalled an incident that happened to me in the 2nd grade. I had a brand new white shoulder bag purse I thought was grand. It was my own valuable treasure. One day I took this purse to school with me and inside it was one whole dollar. I was as proud of my one dollar as I was my little white purse. When it came time to go to recess I desperately wanted to make a fashion statement with my purse on the playground, but Sister Joseph Marie had said under no circumstance were we to come back into the classroom during recess. I didn't think I'd get tired of it....I got tired of it. So I decided to sneak back into the classroom and put my purse at my desk. It was a successful mission.
Well, when we came back in after recess, I immediately opened my purse to enjoy the sight of my dear dollar only to discover it had been stolen!! I was so upset, and I wanted the perpetrator punished! Without thinking about how my story would play out, I very quickly went to tell Sister Joseph Marie my entire life's savings had been stolen out of my purse.....BUT....she'd seen me leave for recess with my purse. She asked me how my dollar had been stolen out of my purse with all of us in the classroom since we had come in during the last 2 seconds. It was then that I realized my story was flawed.
How was I to get my wonderful little dollar back without incriminating myself? I danced all around my lie for as long as I could as Sister JM waited for me to admit I'd disobeyed her and snuck in to put my purse at my desk. She peppered me with questions and I stood my ground....shaky as it was. Finally I had a decision to make. Either I was going to have to admit to the disobedience or lose my dollar forever......I never saw my lovely little dollar again. But, she knew. I knew she knew. She knew I knew. She knew that the stealing of my one and only dollar was to be my punishment. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I didn’t get in trouble with her or the Billie June. Those nuns were tricky.
Another Good Shepherd story was when I decided to join the Brownies. One day an announcement was made during school there would be a meeting that very afternoon for all little girls wanting to be a Brownie. When I heard about this I was immediately intrigued, so I made the instant decision I'd stay after school for the meeting. I was never really one to join organized clubs and stuff at school so I think I was thinking when they mentioned Brownies I was dreaming of YUM and not so much the Girl Scouts. Once again my thinking was flawed. Lots of little kid thinking is EXTREMELY flawed.
Well, back in the day our mode of transportation for getting home from school was taking the CITY BUS every day. Don’t even get me started on that. How many pervs were on that bus back in the day looking for cute little kids? Anyway, with my decision to stay at school I had no idea a storm was brewing named Billie June. When the last bell rang that day, I happily skipped to the Brownie meeting excitedly anticipating my sugary confection. NOW, when the city bus arrived at our house, I wasn’t on it, and Billie June had NO idea where the heck I was. Well, I guess she called the school or drove to the school but after some panicked moments, she discovered I was becoming a Brownie. She was NOT happy with me.
However on my side of the story, my heart was crushed because there were no brownies at the meeting. I was very disappointed to find out that Brownies were something you became and not something you ate, and therefore I wasn’t interested in becoming one at all. Unfortunately, Billie June didn’t see it like that. So when I told her I decided against joining their storied organization, she irrationally decided my punishment would be just that…..joining the Brownies. It was a terrible twist of fate for me. The moral to this story is of course....don’t piss off Billie June. The only Brownie event I remember participating in was an early morning trek to the woods on a Saturday. Didn’t these people know that was my day off? And I distinctly remember we had puppies at home at the time and I desperately wanted to stay home and play with them but Billie June INSISTED I go to the woods. She was as tricky as those nuns.
Another story Lindsey reminded me of the other day was the terrifying spider incident when I still lived at home. One day as I was drying my hair in the bathroom, I felt a little tickle on my back and when I looked, there was a big spider crawling on me!! Crikey!! I had to do something fast! Well we had this roll hair brush that weighed about 15 lbs. and could have doubled as a murder weapon in a pinch and it just so happened to be in my hand at the time. Without thinking clearly, I reacted quickly and used the brush to try to hit the spider OFF OF MY OWN BACK. I took that brush and WHAM!! I winded myself with my own beat down. After a quick recovery and another check for the creature, I saw it was still there so….still in a panic.....one more time......KAPOW!! I hit myself AGAIN!! I must have knocked myself out the second time because I don't remember anything after that. Obviously I didn't kill myself because I'm still here. I hope I'm not as stupid as I used to be.
Those are the stories for the day but I have an update on my eyebrows. After close inspection of my brows with a 10X mirror, I discovered a scar and therefore explains why no brow hair grows in that spot. Although it’s an explanation, it’s still disappointing. Then over the weekend, Rebecca June informed me that it was from a bicycle accident she and I had. She was driving the bike; I was riding on the handle bars (disaster waiting to happen) and sure enough we wrecked, I got bloodied up and it was then that my eyebrows were irrevocably changed. It's a very sad story.
Which brings me to another story after mentioning the 10X mirror. Unfortunately as you get older, your eyesight just doesn't hold up. One night Melanie, Lindsey and I were in Bed Bath and Beyond and we happened upon a lighted 10X mirror. As Melanie and I stood there looking at ourselves in separate mirrors, we began to exclaim about the horror that was our faces in extremely close up lighted conditions. Lindsey still insists the exclamations were very loud....I contend they were not. But, in a 10X mirror ALL flaws are at attention and very visible. It was and still is frightening. We both bought one. I now scare myself on a regular basis.
Also the Dallas trip was fun and successful. I've got pictures to post soon.
And in thinking about my days at Good Shepherd, I recalled an incident that happened to me in the 2nd grade. I had a brand new white shoulder bag purse I thought was grand. It was my own valuable treasure. One day I took this purse to school with me and inside it was one whole dollar. I was as proud of my one dollar as I was my little white purse. When it came time to go to recess I desperately wanted to make a fashion statement with my purse on the playground, but Sister Joseph Marie had said under no circumstance were we to come back into the classroom during recess. I didn't think I'd get tired of it....I got tired of it. So I decided to sneak back into the classroom and put my purse at my desk. It was a successful mission.
Well, when we came back in after recess, I immediately opened my purse to enjoy the sight of my dear dollar only to discover it had been stolen!! I was so upset, and I wanted the perpetrator punished! Without thinking about how my story would play out, I very quickly went to tell Sister Joseph Marie my entire life's savings had been stolen out of my purse.....BUT....she'd seen me leave for recess with my purse. She asked me how my dollar had been stolen out of my purse with all of us in the classroom since we had come in during the last 2 seconds. It was then that I realized my story was flawed.
How was I to get my wonderful little dollar back without incriminating myself? I danced all around my lie for as long as I could as Sister JM waited for me to admit I'd disobeyed her and snuck in to put my purse at my desk. She peppered me with questions and I stood my ground....shaky as it was. Finally I had a decision to make. Either I was going to have to admit to the disobedience or lose my dollar forever......I never saw my lovely little dollar again. But, she knew. I knew she knew. She knew I knew. She knew that the stealing of my one and only dollar was to be my punishment. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I didn’t get in trouble with her or the Billie June. Those nuns were tricky.
Another Good Shepherd story was when I decided to join the Brownies. One day an announcement was made during school there would be a meeting that very afternoon for all little girls wanting to be a Brownie. When I heard about this I was immediately intrigued, so I made the instant decision I'd stay after school for the meeting. I was never really one to join organized clubs and stuff at school so I think I was thinking when they mentioned Brownies I was dreaming of YUM and not so much the Girl Scouts. Once again my thinking was flawed. Lots of little kid thinking is EXTREMELY flawed.
Well, back in the day our mode of transportation for getting home from school was taking the CITY BUS every day. Don’t even get me started on that. How many pervs were on that bus back in the day looking for cute little kids? Anyway, with my decision to stay at school I had no idea a storm was brewing named Billie June. When the last bell rang that day, I happily skipped to the Brownie meeting excitedly anticipating my sugary confection. NOW, when the city bus arrived at our house, I wasn’t on it, and Billie June had NO idea where the heck I was. Well, I guess she called the school or drove to the school but after some panicked moments, she discovered I was becoming a Brownie. She was NOT happy with me.
However on my side of the story, my heart was crushed because there were no brownies at the meeting. I was very disappointed to find out that Brownies were something you became and not something you ate, and therefore I wasn’t interested in becoming one at all. Unfortunately, Billie June didn’t see it like that. So when I told her I decided against joining their storied organization, she irrationally decided my punishment would be just that…..joining the Brownies. It was a terrible twist of fate for me. The moral to this story is of course....don’t piss off Billie June. The only Brownie event I remember participating in was an early morning trek to the woods on a Saturday. Didn’t these people know that was my day off? And I distinctly remember we had puppies at home at the time and I desperately wanted to stay home and play with them but Billie June INSISTED I go to the woods. She was as tricky as those nuns.
Another story Lindsey reminded me of the other day was the terrifying spider incident when I still lived at home. One day as I was drying my hair in the bathroom, I felt a little tickle on my back and when I looked, there was a big spider crawling on me!! Crikey!! I had to do something fast! Well we had this roll hair brush that weighed about 15 lbs. and could have doubled as a murder weapon in a pinch and it just so happened to be in my hand at the time. Without thinking clearly, I reacted quickly and used the brush to try to hit the spider OFF OF MY OWN BACK. I took that brush and WHAM!! I winded myself with my own beat down. After a quick recovery and another check for the creature, I saw it was still there so….still in a panic.....one more time......KAPOW!! I hit myself AGAIN!! I must have knocked myself out the second time because I don't remember anything after that. Obviously I didn't kill myself because I'm still here. I hope I'm not as stupid as I used to be.
Those are the stories for the day but I have an update on my eyebrows. After close inspection of my brows with a 10X mirror, I discovered a scar and therefore explains why no brow hair grows in that spot. Although it’s an explanation, it’s still disappointing. Then over the weekend, Rebecca June informed me that it was from a bicycle accident she and I had. She was driving the bike; I was riding on the handle bars (disaster waiting to happen) and sure enough we wrecked, I got bloodied up and it was then that my eyebrows were irrevocably changed. It's a very sad story.
Which brings me to another story after mentioning the 10X mirror. Unfortunately as you get older, your eyesight just doesn't hold up. One night Melanie, Lindsey and I were in Bed Bath and Beyond and we happened upon a lighted 10X mirror. As Melanie and I stood there looking at ourselves in separate mirrors, we began to exclaim about the horror that was our faces in extremely close up lighted conditions. Lindsey still insists the exclamations were very loud....I contend they were not. But, in a 10X mirror ALL flaws are at attention and very visible. It was and still is frightening. We both bought one. I now scare myself on a regular basis.
Also the Dallas trip was fun and successful. I've got pictures to post soon.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Cutie pie me
Fall is just not cooperating with me at all this year and therefore I've had a huge lack of pictures to post. It's so disappointing. There's still time and many leaves to turn beautiful colors. I'm still hoping.
Here are some photos of yours truly when I was just the cutest little thing ever. I was a little iffy about devoting a whole post to myself but I'm gonna do it this time.
Have a look see.
That's me in the front row, very middle. I'm the tallest girl in the picture. Also I'm holding hands with the little girl next to me. How cute....however, I have NO IDEA who that chick is. But, I love my dress. The paper hat situation is a whole other thing. If it weren't for me being so adorable, it might have ruined my entire ensem. This is from my kindergarten class at Covenant Presbyterian Church, which just so happens to be the same church where John and I got married. Sooo weird because we weren't Presbyterians EITHER TIME. Anyway, I now need to address my mother Billie June to once more ask the question, "Do you remember when you missed my kindergarten graduation?" Wonder how many times in the last 46 years I've mentioned that? I'm sure it's not yet time for me to be over it.
I look rather happy and sweet. Too bad it didn't stick.
O. M. G. that's me on the left at my first communion at Jesus the Good Shepherd Catholic Church. Once again I'm adorable. I was so sick that day. I had fever and a sore throat. But nuns give you a slap on the cheeks and say, "SUCK IT UP WALKER! There's no crying in first communions." OK......that didn't really happen and that's probably why I spent A LOT of time in confession before this ceremony. I literally made stuff up before I went in "the booth" to talk to the priest. I said stuff like I disobeyed my parents, I didn't take the trash out....all made up stuff. I had no idea what to confess. That's a lot of pressure on an 8 year old. If I got 3 Hail Marys for a penance I knew I had made up just the right amount of sins, but if I got some Our fathers or a whole rosary, then I knew next time I needed to "back off" of the big stuff. Although I don't remember what the "big stuff" was I confessed. This is all true information and not made up at AT ALL...I promise. That's my best friend Lisa Angelini with me. Her family lived in the same neighborhood with us....and they still do. Look back there off to the left, there's a nun keeping an eye on people. They had eyes everywhere and weren't afraid of ANYTHING. I still dodge nuns to this day. They are some of the scariest people in the land. This is also the church where at the Christmas Eve service I dropped the heavy bracelet in the very quiet part of the ceremony. It hit the pew and Becky, sitting next to me, was NOT amused. I was such a misunderstood child. Sigh......
In this picture I'm on the top right next to the nun. That's the scariest place to be...RIGHT NEXT TO THE NUN!! Her name was Sister Joseph Marie and she had bad knees. I have no idea why I remember that. BUT she always pinched the fire out of my cheeks ALL THE TIME!! WHY?! WHY did she have to pinch the cheeks so hard? I thought she was mean but she's doesn't look too mean here. It must be a ruse because there were witnesses present. Yep, that's probably it. There were 5 Lisa's in my class and because my name started with a W, I always got called Walker and I hated it. Or they called me Mary which they loved because she was the mother of Jesus but I didn't like that either. Some of the peeps in the picture are Mark, Clesi, Martha, James, Greg, Jamie, Kim, Marguerite, Mary Ellen, Theresa. I could go on but why should I because none of y'all know any of these people anyway. I have no idea who the priest is. One of the boys in the photo, also one of my best friends, moved away from Monroe and I never saw him again. He contracted HIV and died of AIDS. I also had no idea he was gay.
This is me during more of the Good Shepherd years. I was freckle faced and cute. But there's an eyebrow problem that still plagues me today. You'll see in a later photo.
Here, although my hair is a little disheveled, I still look cute. And once again I don't care what Billie June says the BANGS ARE RIDICULOUS! Take me to a beauty parlor to get them cut. It's just not right!
This hair style is questionable and I'm not loving the photo. Maybe the eyebrow problem finally got to me and therefore I hid the offense with bad hair. There's really no other explanation.
This is me in our groovy green bedroom. Our rooms were always cutely decorated at all ages. Becky has that flowered blanket (which I love) at her house. That's our cat Delilah sitting on my shoulder. Frank and Dale were not nice to this cat. This is the room where I hit my head against the wall looking for my bed pillow which happened to be the same color as the wall. Although it sounds really stupid, it might not sound as bad if I'd only done it once....hit my head against the wall that is....but oh no I did it more than once. I recall after the first attempt thinking it was my pillow, "Wow that hurt but that's got to be my pillow.....wait for it....BAM second time.....OK that's definitely not my pillow." Not only was I easily frightened as a child, I was also apparently an idiot. And one last thing, I don't actually remember having a British phase of my wardrobe but obviously my shirt was an homage to England? I don't know....
This was my 7th grade yearbook picture at Lee Jr. High. I NOW think I'm adorable with my chubby cheeks and freckles. I DID NOT think that back then. I distinctly remember this outfit. It was a pant suit.....yes a matching pant suit....and with it I wore navy blue boots that laced up the front. They were fabulous! This outfit was as groovy as our bedroom; that's the only word that best describes this look. I DO NOT remember this shirt AT ALL. That collar, if not attended to properly, could put someone's eye out. It's almost a foot long! And one last newsflash concerning my eyebrows, look at that gaping hole in the brow on the left. It still looks EXACTLY like that with no brow hair in that spot! Is that a design flaw? Why didn't and still won't my brows cover evenly? UGH! Evenly growing eye brows might have changed the entire course of my life. Double UGH!!
This now concludes this narcissistic post devoted entirely to myself.
Here are some photos of yours truly when I was just the cutest little thing ever. I was a little iffy about devoting a whole post to myself but I'm gonna do it this time.
Have a look see.
That's me in the front row, very middle. I'm the tallest girl in the picture. Also I'm holding hands with the little girl next to me. How cute....however, I have NO IDEA who that chick is. But, I love my dress. The paper hat situation is a whole other thing. If it weren't for me being so adorable, it might have ruined my entire ensem. This is from my kindergarten class at Covenant Presbyterian Church, which just so happens to be the same church where John and I got married. Sooo weird because we weren't Presbyterians EITHER TIME. Anyway, I now need to address my mother Billie June to once more ask the question, "Do you remember when you missed my kindergarten graduation?" Wonder how many times in the last 46 years I've mentioned that? I'm sure it's not yet time for me to be over it.
I look rather happy and sweet. Too bad it didn't stick.
O. M. G. that's me on the left at my first communion at Jesus the Good Shepherd Catholic Church. Once again I'm adorable. I was so sick that day. I had fever and a sore throat. But nuns give you a slap on the cheeks and say, "SUCK IT UP WALKER! There's no crying in first communions." OK......that didn't really happen and that's probably why I spent A LOT of time in confession before this ceremony. I literally made stuff up before I went in "the booth" to talk to the priest. I said stuff like I disobeyed my parents, I didn't take the trash out....all made up stuff. I had no idea what to confess. That's a lot of pressure on an 8 year old. If I got 3 Hail Marys for a penance I knew I had made up just the right amount of sins, but if I got some Our fathers or a whole rosary, then I knew next time I needed to "back off" of the big stuff. Although I don't remember what the "big stuff" was I confessed. This is all true information and not made up at AT ALL...I promise. That's my best friend Lisa Angelini with me. Her family lived in the same neighborhood with us....and they still do. Look back there off to the left, there's a nun keeping an eye on people. They had eyes everywhere and weren't afraid of ANYTHING. I still dodge nuns to this day. They are some of the scariest people in the land. This is also the church where at the Christmas Eve service I dropped the heavy bracelet in the very quiet part of the ceremony. It hit the pew and Becky, sitting next to me, was NOT amused. I was such a misunderstood child. Sigh......
In this picture I'm on the top right next to the nun. That's the scariest place to be...RIGHT NEXT TO THE NUN!! Her name was Sister Joseph Marie and she had bad knees. I have no idea why I remember that. BUT she always pinched the fire out of my cheeks ALL THE TIME!! WHY?! WHY did she have to pinch the cheeks so hard? I thought she was mean but she's doesn't look too mean here. It must be a ruse because there were witnesses present. Yep, that's probably it. There were 5 Lisa's in my class and because my name started with a W, I always got called Walker and I hated it. Or they called me Mary which they loved because she was the mother of Jesus but I didn't like that either. Some of the peeps in the picture are Mark, Clesi, Martha, James, Greg, Jamie, Kim, Marguerite, Mary Ellen, Theresa. I could go on but why should I because none of y'all know any of these people anyway. I have no idea who the priest is. One of the boys in the photo, also one of my best friends, moved away from Monroe and I never saw him again. He contracted HIV and died of AIDS. I also had no idea he was gay.
This is me during more of the Good Shepherd years. I was freckle faced and cute. But there's an eyebrow problem that still plagues me today. You'll see in a later photo.
Here, although my hair is a little disheveled, I still look cute. And once again I don't care what Billie June says the BANGS ARE RIDICULOUS! Take me to a beauty parlor to get them cut. It's just not right!
This hair style is questionable and I'm not loving the photo. Maybe the eyebrow problem finally got to me and therefore I hid the offense with bad hair. There's really no other explanation.
This is me in our groovy green bedroom. Our rooms were always cutely decorated at all ages. Becky has that flowered blanket (which I love) at her house. That's our cat Delilah sitting on my shoulder. Frank and Dale were not nice to this cat. This is the room where I hit my head against the wall looking for my bed pillow which happened to be the same color as the wall. Although it sounds really stupid, it might not sound as bad if I'd only done it once....hit my head against the wall that is....but oh no I did it more than once. I recall after the first attempt thinking it was my pillow, "Wow that hurt but that's got to be my pillow.....wait for it....BAM second time.....OK that's definitely not my pillow." Not only was I easily frightened as a child, I was also apparently an idiot. And one last thing, I don't actually remember having a British phase of my wardrobe but obviously my shirt was an homage to England? I don't know....
This was my 7th grade yearbook picture at Lee Jr. High. I NOW think I'm adorable with my chubby cheeks and freckles. I DID NOT think that back then. I distinctly remember this outfit. It was a pant suit.....yes a matching pant suit....and with it I wore navy blue boots that laced up the front. They were fabulous! This outfit was as groovy as our bedroom; that's the only word that best describes this look. I DO NOT remember this shirt AT ALL. That collar, if not attended to properly, could put someone's eye out. It's almost a foot long! And one last newsflash concerning my eyebrows, look at that gaping hole in the brow on the left. It still looks EXACTLY like that with no brow hair in that spot! Is that a design flaw? Why didn't and still won't my brows cover evenly? UGH! Evenly growing eye brows might have changed the entire course of my life. Double UGH!!
This now concludes this narcissistic post devoted entirely to myself.
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