Sharing 10 Things

1. I am SO in the Christmas mood! I get an excited, butterfly filled tummy at the mere thought of decorating our house and putting up 2, yes that's right, 2 Christmas trees in the new house! I'm ready to listen to Christmas Carols and wrap presents and bake goodies. 'Tis the season, folks!

2. I still have a lot of boxes to unpack.

3. I am going to paint one wall of my office (the "office" at home) a great, wonderful color that I'm so excited about! It's a little dark but it's also bright. It's a unique color, a unique color that I got so excited about, who knew I would love, Love, LOVE "classic teal"??? I painted one section of the wall that color just to make sure I liked it and sure enough, I did! (I'll post a picture of it later.)

4. I miss my friends who moved.

5. I made my little brother laugh (he's 13 and it's hard to make 13 year old boys laugh) when I told him that our Dad suggested that I buy him a Tom Brady jersey for his B-day. I told my little brother that I told my dad there is no way in hell I'm letting my little brother wear a Tom Brady jersey! He agreed! He got an Eli Manning jersey. He loved it.

6. I miss my brother and sister.

7. We thought we had a problem with our heating and cooling unit. We thought that the "blower" was coming on too much. Turns out, we have an upgrade that is supposed to be energy efficient and that is why the "blower" comes on and off even though the unit is switched to off. I love that house!

8. I don't like cooking. I think I need to take a cooking class. The new, big kitchen hasn't helped. Surprise, surprise!

9. I'm long winded!

10. Dave and I are in decorating pandemonium, trying to figure out, vertical blinds or curtains? Dark brown, light brown, or red? Oh, the possibilities!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Dream Come True! (part two)

My Grandparents should have been detectives! They are great information getters! My Grandma and I took a stroll through the casino gift shop, my Grandpa, unbeknown to us, made small talk with the hotel concierge at that time. He found out that Frank Sinatra Jr. was indeed checked in to the hotel and that he and his band were currently at the golf course! Who is able to get that kind of information?! Apparently, my Grandpa! Through the course of the day, he also got the security code to the back entrance of the casino that the band used! I couldn't believe it. They're good, they're very, very good!

So, our big plan was to return to the showroom around 2 and casually walk into the showroom. We were all coached. We all knew our role. My Grandpa was to have his listening ears turned on! When sneaking into the showroom and when being in the showroom he wasn't allowed to be hard of hearing or to assume that he knew what my Grandma or I were going to instruct him if we had to talk! We were also coached that we were to walk briskly, but not too briskly, straight past the box office (which you had to do in order to get in the showroom) with out looking in their direction and if they tried to talk to us that we were to ignore them and just keep walking, straight into the showroom.

OK, game on, I thought!

We headed down the corridor towards the showroom.

Something was different, though.

Shoot! There was a beautiful maroon velvet curtain hanging up in front of the showroom door. My Grandma just kept walking. We were nearing the box office window. We walked passed it. No one yelled at us. BIG PHEW! My butterflies slightly subsided. We walked around the curtain, pulled on the showroom door and nothing happened.

My Grandma kept pulling and pulling, then she started pushing the door and pushing! Still nothing happened! I told my Grandma the door was locked. "Let's go," I said. But, then my grandma noticed an open door to the right of us. An open door that led to the inside of the box office where there was another door that presumably led to the showroom. Did I mention that the open door had a sign on it that read, "No Admittance, Employees Only." So, what do you think my Grandma did? Obey the sign? Nope, not a chance! (The butterflies were now back, by the way.) Just as my Grandma was walking towards the door and I'm vehemently whispering at her to stop, the lady who gave us our tickets the day before emerged and asked if she could help us.

My Grandma told her a similar story to what she told Joe just a few hours before. The nice lady who gave us our tickets yesterday wasn't so nice today and she curtly informed us that the showroom door would remain locked until 6:30pm when it would be opened for the show and that the door is always locked. To which my Grandma casually and coolly replied that the door has been unlocked up until now and that we had made several trips in and out of the showroom since arriving at the hotel, with out anyone stopping us. Humph!

A little bit defeated, we walked to the end of the showroom corridor and hung out there for awhile. We noticed a girl trying to get into the showroom and then talking to the rude box office lady. "Watch her, watch her," my Grandma said.

"She's a band member," I said.

"How do you know", my Grandma asked.

"I see the instrument on her back", I replied.

The band member started walking towards us.

"Excuse me, excuse me," my Grandma said.

My Grandma preceded to have a similar conversation with the band member as she did with Joe and with the rude box office employee. The band member was very helpful. She's the reason we ended up in the back parking lot of the hotel trying to get in to the showroom! The back parking lot that had a lot security cameras on top of every lamp post!

She told us that the band members were entering through the back and advised, yes, she ADVISED us, that we try to get in there. She said that it was a public parking lot and that the back entrance that the band members were using was out in the open.

Oh my gosh, I thought.

So, the three of us went traipsing to the back parking lot. We watched a few band members enter the hotel through their special door. My Grandpa walked up to the door and hung out there, taking up conversation with the next set of band members to arrive. (At this point, I'm wandering around the parking lot pretending to admire the pretty fall leaves on the trees so security doesn't think I'm loitering and come out to get us and remove us from the premises!)

No one was letting my Grandpa, or any of us for that matter, into the showroom through the back entrance; so, my Grandma and I decided to camp out in front of the showroom, where Frank Sinatra Jr. would likely make his entrance. We reasoned that since he was staying at the hotel, it was unlikely that he would use the back entrance as opposed to simply taking an elevator and walking through the casino to get to the showroom.

So, there we were. I perched my arms up on a ledge and started texting Dave. My Grandma, on the other hand, was pacing in little circles, moving her head constantly tyring to look in all directions. I focused my attention straight ahead, he'd have to walk through my field of vision to get into that showroom, I thought.

And then, there he was.

There was Mr. Frank Sinatra Jr. himself!

Walking straight for the showroom, carrying a white binder with papers on it and wearing a white with blue pin stripes, long-sleeved shirt.

Folks, I recognized him INSTANTANEOUSLY! It didn't take one second, it didn't even take a split second...the recognition was INSTANTANEOUS! And, I saw him before my Grandma! Oh for shame! Lol

"Grandma that's him, THAT'S HIM!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, he turned and started walking away from the showroom.

And with that, my Grandma took off running, yes RUNNING after Mr. Sinatra Jr. She had a black velour lounge suit on, her arms were raised to her sides, like runners do, and she was running after Mr. Sinatra Jr in the casino yelling, "Mr. Sinatra, Mr. Sinatra."

This made me laugh! Did I run after them, too? NO! I hung back. I was shaking! Shaking with excitement and nervousness because I knew a dream had just come true for me and for my Grandma.

Mr. Sinatra Jr. stopped at an ATM machine and it seemed like he was at the machine for FOREVER! Lol

When he completed his transaction, my Grandma approached him and I joined them. This part is really a blur. But, what is crystal clear was Frank Sinatra Jr's face. We made eye contact. He has crystal blue eyes. In my head, I had the most beautiful, perfectly poised and elegant statement to say to him...but, all I could do was smile! The sentence was running through my head as if I should be saying it aloud, I wanted to say it aloud...but, all I could do was smile. I just kept thinking, when we made eye contact, "Smile, Missy, smile." Thank God my Grandma was there to talk to him. She didn't seem nervous at all, the ol' pro!

Frank Jr. was very gracious. He told us to wait outside the showroom and he would come and get us. (At first, I thought he was blowing us off). By this time, I was shaking bad! I was so excited and so nervous and in such disbelief that I met this untouchable individual whose music has been a humongous part of my life.

A lady came out and got us, walked us into the showroom and seated us. Before the rehearsal began, Frank Jr. looked over at us and asked us if we got in OK and if we were OK. Can you believe that? He checked on us himself! One other time during the rehearsal, he walked over to where we were sitting and asked how we were doing, too.

He is a gracious, polite and kind, kind man.

Seeing the rehearsal was awesome. I don't think there are words to describe it. Seeing the rehearsal, watching the rehearsal, was like getting to know Frank Jr. The man is so passionate about these songs and about music. His knowledge on music, arrangement, notes, tempo, beat, etc is amazing, simply amazing, folks and I'm not exaggerating or telling tales.

After the rehearsal, my Grandma and I went to thank Mr. Sinatra. He asked us a few times what we thought, if we enjoyed it. I was finally able to speak this time! We had a nice, but short conversation with him.

It was a dream come true.

Here are some pictures of the rehearsal:

Frank Sinatra Jr. is the man leaning against the piano, wearing the white shirt...I think he was wearing Uggs (the boots), folks!

In this blurry photo, he's the man walking across the stage.

A Dream Come True! (part one)

You are never going to believe this. Seriously, you won't. So, I probably shouldn't even tell you; but, I can't help it!

I MET FRANK SINATRA JR!!!!! In person, face-to-face!!!!!

Can you believe it? I didn't think so!

Let me give you a little Lake Tahoe re-cap:

Friday afternoon we arrived at the hotel, checked-in and dropped off our luggage at the room. We promptly headed down to the casino box office to pick up our Frank Sinatra Jr. tickets. My Grandpa, Grandma and I were walking down the short corridor to the box office window. When we approached the box office, I foolishly assumed that we'd all stop at the box office window and talk to the nice hotel employees while they were retrieving our tickets. My Grandpa and I stopped at the box office window, but my Grandma, on the other hand, continued walking...right to the showroom door, which was unlocked (I know this because with out hesitation she yanked the door open) and she walked right on in to the showroom! OMG, I thought!

My Grandma wanted to know, first, if the door was unlocked because that would make it easier to sneak into, I mean, get into Sinatra Jr's rehearsal tomorrow and second, to get an idea and feel for the showroom, where we'd be seeing him perform.

The three of us ended up in there to check it out. No security guards came and told us to leave or man-handled us, so the nervous butterflies in my stomach left as quickly as they came. You see, I'm a bit of a chicken. Not very brazen or daring. My Grandma on the other hand, she's very brazen, bold, daring! So, it takes me out of my comfort zone sometimes...which is a good thing for me...a good thing I don't always realize at the time...but a good thing nonetheless!

Saturday was structured around seeing the rehearsal, Frank Sinatra Jr's rehearsal. After breakfast the three of us hurriedly made our way to the showroom to see if the door was still unlocked. To see if we could still get in.

To our surprise, the door was still unlocked! To my chagrin, we walked in the showroom and watched the six employees, who were on the stage, work! We stuck out like sore thumbs, people! The workers nonchalantly looked at us from time to time, I'm sure wondering who the heck we were and what the heck we were doing there! I knew for sure someone would yell at us, ask us what we were doing in there, kick us out, take us to jail!

There the three of us stood, whispering, telling my Grandpa what our plan was (which I don't remember because I was too afraid that Bubba the security guard was gonna come and haul me off!) and Joe started walking towards us. You see, I would get to know Joe pretty well through-out the day.

Joe is walking towards us. My grandparents continue talking. I keep thinking that oh gosh, here it comes, we're gonna get escorted out of the showroom and I'm trying to shush my Grandparents, which isn't happening! Joe is getting closer and closer and what happens??? He walks right by us! PHEW! Sigh of relief! Wait! What's that noise?

"Excuse me, sir. Excuse me!"

Oh my gosh. It's my Grandma. She's talking to him. She's trying to get his attention! See, she's brazen.

She tells him that we have tickets to see the show that night and asks him what time the rehearsal starts. Joe is very nice, accommodating and polite. My Grandma informs him that in Reno, Sinatra Jr. let them sit-in on the rehearsal and she was wondering if we could do that today. Joe was very nice and said very polite and reassuring things about Sinatra Jr. Like, we'd have to check w/him personally about sitting in on the rehearsal, but he's a very nice man and he would probably be cool w/it, etc, etc. He instructed us to be waiting outside the showroom door and talk to Sinatra Jr. when he came down for rehearsal.

Oh good, the conversation is almost ending, I thought.

Why was I so uncomfortable? Why did I want the conversation to end so much? Two reasons! First, I don't like drawing attention to myself...unless I'm in a loud setting and am a little inebriated! Second, I know my Grandma and I know that if Joe tries to brush us off that my Grandma won't back down. This happened a few years ago when we tried to watch Sinatra Jr's rehearsal and a security guard escorted us away and my Uncle almost got in a fight with the security guard because he supposedly touched my Grandma and my Grandma was just mad because the security guard wouldn't listen to her, much less look at her. Out of comfort zone, double check, check, check! Lol

So really, I didn't want to have to get in a brawl with Joe, defending my Grandma's honor, yea, that's it!

So, the conversation with Joe pleasantly ended. We still had 3hrs until the rehearsal. We decided not to wait in the showroom for three hours. We would come back around two.

I'm Off to See the Crooner

I leave tomorrow to see Frank Sinatra Jr! It's going to be fun, Fun, FUN!


Here's my last Frank trivia (not Jr. trivia, Sr. trivia):

Frank turned down the Mafia's offer to help when his son (Frank Jr.) was kidnapped.

Frank's hotel/casino, Cal-Neva, had usable underground tunnels...reportedly so gangsters could escape jurisdiction (because the tunnels went to and fro California and Nevada). His hotel also had cabins and the cabin that Frank always used and the cabin that Marilyn Monroe always used are still there. His hotel also had a helicopter landing pad. JFK frequented the hotel/casino. He sold the hotel after the underground tunnels were discovered...the police did not like the underground tunnels!

Frank was a lot kinder and more generous than people might know. He paid a lot, if not all, of Eva Gardner's hospital bills as well as Mia Farrow's.

Frank did not like one of my favorite songs, "Strangers in the Night!"

And with that, folks, I'm off! Cause for me, the best is yet to come... this weekend!

"Out of the tree of life, I just picked me a plum. You came along and everything started to hum. Still it's a real good bet, the best is yet to come!"

It Finally Happened

You know, ever since Dave and I got married I have thought about this happening.



















I always wondered, how I would tell him, how he would react and then I thought that maybe it would just never happen.

Yea right! It happened yesterday.

I let my sister-in-law in on it right away. She knows her brother quite well and when my mind is reeling, trying to come up with ways to tell him things, things that I think will stress him out, she always offers up sound advice.



















Her advice this time: Ice cream. Come home with lots and lots of ice cream for the boy!

Yep, folks, this one was a doosy!



















You see, Dave is kind of a particular person. I'm being nice. My husband is anal (obsessive compulsive, has an eye for detail, an eye like a hawk!) He's very tidy and clean and organized...oh, so organized... which is a humongous blessing because he's the reason our house stays so spic and span. But, he notices EVERYTHING! So, I knew he would notice this right away:


















That's the front of "our" truck. That's the front of "our" truck with a big ol' scratch in it. A big ol' scratch that took off the paint. A scratch that reached all the way to the metal of the truck. And, a scratch that kind of bumped the bumper out of place, which I didn't notice at the time. (Yes, thank you for asking, I am blaming the scratch, not myself, for the bumper being bumped out of place. I was turning SOOOOO SLOWLY folks, I thought I had totally cleared that lamp post! I had done this a million times!) Ooohhhh, I was afraid. So very afraid.



I decided that I was going to stop driving the truck for awhile. Stupid thing, it's too big anyways, I thought. He's closer to work now, why doesn't he drive it, my sis-in-law asked. Yea! Why doesn't he drive it and I can have my nice, little, compact Honda Civic back! Who cares that it's old and the brakes squeak. I can get in and out of any ol' parking spot in that thing. And, I'll never have to come home and explain this again!




I went home, ice-creamless, cause I was so nervous, and I told Dave right away that I had had a horrible day and that I accidentally did something, on accident... to the truck *hiney cringe and scrunched face*. There was just a little boo-boo, I told him. To which Dave totally rolled his eyes in a sarcastic, "oh great, what did you do now", kind of way. Then, we walked outside and I showed him. That's when he noticed the bumper. That's when I said I didn't want to drive the truck anymore. That's when he made a comment about me not wanting to drive the truck now that it's wrecked. That's when I marched into the bathroom and locked the door!



See, I knew I had to eat crow. It was my fault. I knew I had no right to get mad. He had a right to his reaction. I just needed a time-out before I ate any more crow.



When I came out of the bathroom, I told him how it happened and he didn't ask a million questions, which was cool. He had to go to a training last night. I begged him to take the car; but, he didn't. He's "making" me drive the truck. He's a supporter of cruel and unusual punishment. I know why he's doing it, though, so I can get comfortable in it again. It's because of that stupid saying, when you fall off a horse, jump back on and keep riding. I know for a fact that whoever came up with that saying never fell off a horse! Ever!



Dave is already laughing and teasing me about running into a lamp post. So, phew! It went pretty well...especially after he had a Thin Mint Blizzard waiting for him when he got home!

Frank Trivia

If you look closely you can see that the bag my Grandma is holding is a Frank Sinatra bag. Picture posted in honor of, "Frank Sinatra Trivia"!!!!!!

Did you know??????

Frank would not hold concerts at casinos that did not allow Sammy Davis Jr. to perform.

Frank also insisted that his concerts include Maître d’ seating because that is how those individuals made their money and supported their families, through the tips that they earned!

He seemed to be a pretty cool guy.

Sharing 10 Things

1. So, for the past few days when one would walk into our house an aroma of musty old shoes would hit them like a ton of bricks! What could that smell be, we wondered. Was it our shoes that we kick off and leave near the entry way? Has the slight humidity left our house smelling that musty? What was going on??? I decided that I had to investigate. Turns out that when you use pumpkins as your centerpiece decoration on your dining room table, you have to be careful...because they begin to rot and get moldy...even when they're left whole and unaltered...even when, at first glance, the pumpkin appears whole and normal it's not, it's so not! Yep, I had one moldy, mushy and stinky pumpkin sitting on the center of our new table. Sheesh.

2. I have an addiction, folks and I must confess. I am addicted to Sweet-Tarts. I tell no lie. It's bad. Very, very bad! But, they're so good. So very, very good!

3. Our back yard becomes a mud pit when it rains. Luckily, we have comfortable and wonderful crates in our bedroom where our dogs stay when it rains...lucky critters! We leave the TV on for them, for back-ground noise. Dave leaves it on Animal Planet. I hate leaving the TV on Animal Planet for them! I don't want the dogs to hear the cries and screams and wales that occur to some animals in the wild, if you know what I mean. I don't like them to be exposed to the cruelty and tragedy of some animals' lives. It can be so sad. So very, very sad. If it stresses me out, it must stress them out, right? I like to leave the TV on HG TV (Home and Garden TV) for them. Everything is all pleasant and happy on HG TV all the time. There's no death, violence, abuse. It's calm, colorful and happy. I fear that one day, because our dogs are exposed to Animal Planet, we will come home and find savage, ruthless, killer dog beasts! The kind gentle souls that they are now will disappear and be gone forever!
*Note, I am a supporter of the wonderful things that Animal Planet does do to help animals*

4. I'm going to see Frank Sinatra Jr. this weekend! I am very excited. In honor, I will post "Frank Trivia" every day this week! Did you know that when Woody Allen developed relations with his adopted daughter, Frank Sinatra called Mia Farrow and offered his assistance in taking care of the situation if she needed?!?!

5. In November, I am going to see KISS! "The hottest band in the world!" I don't know enough about KISS to offer you trivia every day. I'm sorry. What a bummer, I know. You'll get over it, I'm sure.

6. Our dog, Frisco, has found a way to get in the neighbor's yard two times in the last two days! It's because of all the Animal Planet, I'm sure.

7. Two little boys know me as, "Aunt Missy". I love that I'm known as Aunt Missy... and I love that Aunt Missy is a little bit of a hit!

8. I took my first bath in the new bath tub. Oh My Gosh! It was wonderful *pause*, delightful *pause*, relaxing *pause*, and comfortable. Ahhhh. I didn't ever want to leave the peaceful serenity of that piece of porcelain wonderfulness!

9. We still have a ton of boxes to unpack. We're just slackers, I guess! I'm still missing all of my make-up, clothes and shoes! But, by gosh, I had time to take a bath!

10. I've discovered that I really like to write.

Ahhhhhhh!

Did you know that I love Cassie?


She is the reason I get up in the morning.


She is the reason I live and breathe.


She is my massage therapist...


...and I think everyone should have one!


You see, a little while ago, in the spirit of getting fit and losing a few pounds so I could rock it at my 10 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, I started exercising with my friends.


I was doing good, too! In no time flat I was running up to 1.8 miles (see, I tell no lie! I could have told you that I was running 2 miles; but, that would have been a lie and I would not lead you astray!). Anyways, I was running 1.8 miles and feeling great! Until one morning when I woke up and my knee was the size of Mt. McKinley! I had very limited range of motion. I was sad, so very, very sad! That stopped me dead in my tracks, unfortunately.

Well, actually, I was still going to try and exercise that night until I got a stern lecture from my father, "You don't mess around with your knees, Melissa!" Ooooh, he called me Melissa! Better be serious! (I always get a kick outta frustrating him...when he's on the opposite coast and there's a huge land mass separating us, it tickles me!)

So, two days later, I went to the doctor and 2 weeks later my knee was still swollen! That's where Cassie came in!


Cassie has some type of sports medicine certification and I had the brilliant epiphany to call Cassie, my healer, my reason for getting out of bed on a Saturday before noon, my answer to this irritating knee issue! This knee "injury" really, really pissed me off (sorry G'ma)! I was mad! Very mad! Stupid knee!


So, one Saturday morning I peacefully laid in Cassie's aromatic, warm, dark, soothing massage room anxiously awaiting her healing hands to work miracles on my stupid knee!


And, she did! Almost 1 week later the knee is hardly swollen at all (no more Mt. McKinley)!


I love Cassie.


She is the reason I get up in the morning.


She is the reason I live and breathe!


She is the reason I have to, er, I mean, CAN exercise again!

Weekend Warrior!

I was a weekend warrior this weekend and it felt GREAT! Normally, weekend warrioring makes me a little irritable, some might say grumpy, Dave might say I turn into Dragon Lady; but, who's really keeping track?



The most glorious thing I did this weekend was make my first cup of home-made coffee at our new abode! Folks, it was a beautiful thing! The aroma, the warmth, the sweet noise of coffee brewing and knowing that I wouldn't get a caffeine headache! Oh, the joy! It was such a joy that I took a picture of this wonderful thing that is a coffee maker!

I picked up a little treat for myself, too, to go with my wonderful home-made Folgers coffee!

This Pumpkin Spice cream is "mmmm, mmmm, delicious!"

You see, due to the wonderful aroma, warmth and taste of this heavenly creation I was able to appreciate the bright, happy and sunny morning that was upon me! I didn't even mind that I was not going to get doughnuts and coffee like I had the previous morning (all to avoid a caffeine headache, folks...oh, the sacrifices one has to make!).

After drinking my cup of morning happiness, it was off to work I go! I had a kitchen to unpack!

What?

What was that you asked?

Well, we moved in on September 9th.

Huh?

Yes, we moved in on September 9th and the kitchen is just now getting unpacked!

Yes, I know it's October! Don't you remember my aversion to cooking? Don't you remember all the bad things that happen when Missy cooks? Not having a kitchen meant Missy didn't have to cook because she couldn't cook, there was no way to cook, everything was in boxes!

Isn't eating out expensive, you ask?

Who are you? My conscience?

Yes, eating out is expensive. That's why I unpacked my kitchen...finally! And, I actually had fun and enjoyed it. No grumpiness and I did a good job, I did things the right way (as opposed to taking short cuts)! It was really fun and felt very comfortable spending that much time in the new abode. Everything has a place. Everything has space! Space is such a nice thing that we take for granted. Let's take a moment to appreciate space... Good job!

We made our first house payment! Whoo-hoo! 359 to go until she's paid off!

My new kitchen, to say the least, is HUMONGOUS compared to my kitchen at the old duplex. My things fit nicely on the counter (notice that I still have counter space to prepare food on, too):

My bake-ware fits nicely. I don't have to break stuff in order to get to it. I don't have to try to get it out of a cabinet where it doesn't really fit in the first place (duplex memories, good times, good times).

That's probably why I don't like to cook. My grown-up, adult life has consisted of itty, bitty, tiny kitchens where everything was a hassle...the simplest thing like getting a cookie sheet out of a cabinet was an Olympic event...where cabinetry sometimes got ripped and you got injured. Yes, the cabinetry got ripped, OK? It happens!

Here is our dining room table where we will consume great meals that Stoffers has prepared for us. Lol! It's my "harvest table!" I'm very proud.


So, my weekend warrioring paid off! Next, it's time to tackle the my closet. We'll see if that leaves me as happy as the kitchen...

High School Reunion Part 2

REFLECTIONS... of my 10 year high school reunion

We had such a blast together, my friends, new and old, and I. An unabashedly, no hang-ups, dancing and drinking good time! It was almost like any other night on the town, except there were way more familiar faces...high school faces!

I had awesome shoes: CHECK

Cute pedicure: CHECK, CHECK

And an awesome date!

I was ready to have a good time!

There were a handful of people at the reunion that I caught up with and was so glad that I got that chance! A bunch of people, I noticed, still only mingled with the people they mingled with in high school. That was a disappointment! I went into the reunion thinking that maybe we'd make a new friend or two. What really ended up happening was that relationships I already had with people got deeper. I feel like I got closer and renewed some friendships. That was wonderful, warm and mushy feeling! I am so glad those people from out of town traveled to Y.C.!

In 7th grade I went to school in Hawaii. Fast forward time to 9th grade orientation at Yuba City High School and what to my wondering eyes should appear????? A classmate of mine from Holy Family Catholic School in Hawaii! A familiar face in a crowd of strangers! Oh, the relief that I felt! What a hoot! We instantly became pals again, my Hawaii pal and me! We sparsely stayed in touch after high school graduation; so, it was great to catch up and have fun w/my Hawaii pal at the reunion.

You see, 10 years after high school you kind of have the partying thing down! At least, you should! So, hanging out w/those folks 10 years after graduating and being able to let loose together in a way you couldn't, wouldn't or didn't in high school was way cool and it felt good, it was a release!

It was great to go back 10 years later and be able to be yourself! In high school, I was shy. I was a wall-flower. I blended in. At the reunion, I was myself...a little intoxicated...but still myself... kind of...my inebriated self...maybe I was a little louder than I normally am, you know, with all that "liquid courage." Not that I needed the liquid courage. But, everyone else was doing it! LOL!

In high school, I don't think I ever would have danced with that many people in a room...they might have seen me and oh, for shame! At the reunion, we danced and laughed and teased and reminisced and didn't give a hoot who was around, who was watching, who was in the room all the while renewing and cultivating friendships.

I love that a bunch of us ran around and had fun! I love that I had the guts, kind of, to talk to people!

So, I got frustrated that there was not a lot of inter-mingling. A high school football "hero" that we graduated with, who thought he was "all that," was smoking by himself at the reunion. So, I grabbed one of my friends and informed her that we were going to go talk to him. Enough of this, I thought!

We walk out to the smoking area where he was and I just froze! I had no idea how to start talking to him! It was like I was right back in high school! So, I did what any secure 28 year old girl would do, I acted like I was looking for someone else! Thank God for my friend who very coolly said, "You're John Doe, right?" Then the conversation began. Of course, he was still quite full of himself and of course that wire between my mouth and my brain wasn't quick enough to stop me from making a bitchy comment w/out any good reason and as soon as the comment was out of my mouth I thought, "WHY? Why, did I just say that???" Hopefully, he was too drunk...or stupid...to notice my catty bitchiness!

Overall, there was a little more mingling than in high school by some and not so much by others. That's my profound thought for the day, folks!

So, anyways, this 10 year reunion was definitely a unique experience. But, I wouldn't trade it. Bitchy comment and all!

10 Year Reunion Part 1

So, the big 10 year reunion was last night and it's still too early for me to post anything about it. Mostly because I'm still formulating my conclusions regarding the event. Basically, the same cliques still clicked...and I could be a bit guilty of that, too.

One of my favorite parts of the reunion was the buying of new clothes, which led me to out-of -town shopping, which led me to the Cheesecake Factory!

I had a very light dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (1/2 of a grilled eggplant sandwich, which was "delish," btw) so that I could savor, honor and treasure "Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake." People...this dessert...WOW! I'm sorry, in advance, for this next analogy; but, in order for you to understand the wonderfulness of this cheesecake, I have to go there. If food, or dessert, could give you an orgasm my friends, *gasp* this cheesecake would do it for ya.

I took small bites, ate it very slowly, tasted and savored every flavor involved in this wonderful creation and then I foolishly went to try on clothes...after consuming probably 600 calories of cheesecake. *another gasp* Maybe that's why food doesn't give you orgasms...because we'd all get way too fat!

So, our next stop was "Victoria's Secret," where we got accosted right as we walked through the door by a perky 18 year old trying to measure our bust lines in front of the whole mall! I told her no thank you and preceded to go back to the dressing room to have my bust line measured! This was interesting. This was interesting because the highly crafted Victoria's Secret employee informed me that I was a D cup! Now, if you know anything about bust sizes, then you know that women who wear D cups are quite endowed. If you know me, you know I'm not...quite endowed...in that area.

This instance at Victoria's Secret is where I wish that connection between my brain and my mouth worked a little bit better because I exclaimed and scoffed, a little loudly, after she told me that I was a D cup, "WHAT?!?! NOOOooooo...NNNOOOOoooooo!" Yep, long, drawn-out, "no's", is what I told her, accidentally offending her bust line knowledge.

It must have been that Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet cheesecake...went right to the busts!