Friday Flashback: Indy 500!

May 1994:
We were heading into the home stretch of pregnancy again.  My cravings had gone from cheese nachos every night at 9pm to cheese sandwiches, and now I was hooked on Nestle Quik chocolate milk powder in my milk several times a day.  No Hershey's syrup; no, this had to be Quik.

The 500 arrived.  D and K drove me as close as possible to the intersection of Crawfordsville Rd and Georgetown; I got out and walked the rest of the way.  The weather was wonderful, and I had a good time, though I can't recall who won that particular year.  After the race, Mom and Dad dropped me off at the apartment and I spent a quiet evening watching the recap/

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Present Day:
I was thrilled with the outcome of the Amazing Race!!!  Dave and Conner became the oldest and youngest winners, plus the only parent-child team to ever win.  And I was thrilled Brenchel had to settle for a distant 3rd.  I sincerely hope they never procreate.  Their kids would be the most spoiled, self-cemtered, entitled ones on the planet.

I was also thrilled when Scott won Ink Master.  I liked Sausage's tat slightly better, but Scott had more wins.

I was not happy with Survivor's outcome.  Spencer was voted out, leaving Kass, Tony, and Woo.  Final immunity; Woo wins over Kass by a millisecond.  Instead of taking Kass to the end, and winning, Woo took Tony, who won by a landslide.  During the jury Q&A, everyone seemed bitter at Tony, so things were looking up for Woo.  But Spencer pointed out Tony played the game while Woo merely rode his coattails.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
I want to give a shout out to my BFF Erica, whose birthday is today:)

My oldest son and his g/f are headed to Lafayette tomorrow, to attend the race with my parents.  I'm also hoping to look at a house on Tuesday morning.  Fingers crossed this jives with everyone else's plans.

I finally got my pedicure yesterday, and am now sporting neon green toe polish:)  Hoping to get my hair cut sometime today.  I'm tired of piling it on top of my head, to get it off my neck.

What Happened?
I used to look forward to spending the summer with my kids, but lately, I've come to dread it.  While talking to my stepdaughter earlier, she informed me her kids and the guinea pig are going to spend a few weeks here, since Mr. Nibbles is no longer being cared for at Foster House #1, and Foster House #2 he has to stay in the garage.  Why is my first reaction 'can I run away from home?'  Friend M also asked if CB could come over every day for 2-3 hours every day while she's at work.  That's better than the past three years, when she's had to be here by 8am.  At least I'll get to sleep in somewhat.

But all I want to do is cry when I think about having two tweens in the house in addition to our already crowded house.  What happened to my peaceful summers?  My stepdaughter has missed out on her kids' childhoods; I just feel they're being cheated somehow.  I KNOW they're safe and happy with us, but it just creates extra stress for me.

Flashback Friday: Graduation!

May 1984:
This song came out a few years ago, but I always think about the chorus every year at this time:

"As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change
Come whatever
We will still be friends forever..."

-Vitamin C

As I reported last month, May began with me having to resort to Plan C for the prom, then having the school officials call my house when I didn't show up for the After Prom.  If I couldn't take my 1st choice, or even my 2nd choice, to the darn thing, I might as well go home to bed.  Most of my 'other' friends were juniors anyway.

What followed next was a round of award banquets, in which the other seniors and I were honored for our achievements in Band; I attended the Honors Award Banquet to watch B receive his scholarship award money; and at a special dinner for the H.E.R.O program, we watched a slide show, capturing little moments we did while on the job.  The day Mrs W had showed up to photograph me, one little girl, Chandra, followed me around and made sure she was in every shot!

I also attended my cousin's graduation party, and several people and relatives showed up for my own.

Finals were taken, and we were released a full week ahead of everyone else.  I showed up for Graduation practice and discovered a snafu.

Graduation Disaster???
I was sitting in the bleachers with three friends, and I knew alphabetically I came before Djuana McIntyre, so it was a shock when I heard her name and not mine.  Then as they continued to call names, Kelly's wasn't called, nor Tonda's, nor Pam's.  WTH???

After everyone had been seated, they then called our names.

Turned out whomever had been in charge of providing a list of orchestra seniors had sent the wrong list.

"We're going to set up a row at the back, and it will be your responsibility to watch for your spot in the line."

We practiced it, and they also urged us not to panic if for some reason we received someone else's diploma.  It could be sorted out after the ceremony.

As it turned out, this proved good for my family, though we were all a little put out and jokes made about our 'special' row.

My grandparents flew in from Florida and brought me a wonderful set of luggage; my other grandparents and disabled aunt attended and since I was in the back row, Aunt Julie was thrilled to be able to see me.  I was ready to kill Doug Lumley's family, since someone's camera kept going off in my right eye.

I did manage to find 'my spot' in the dark, and walked off with the right diploma.

After the ceremony, B caught up with me and we exchanged cards and hugs:)

"Hey Molly!  You've just graduated from high school!  What are you going to do next?"

Next Month:  FLORIDA!!!!!

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Present Day:
I'm almost caught up on all DVR'd shows!  I still have to make it through the Lone Ranger, then Tiger Eyes and Transformers 1 and 2:)  

Tomorrow's Karaoke Songs:
The Great Escape
Edge of 17
The Great Pretender
Greatest American Hero

Flashback Friday: "But I Wanna Be Held Back!"

1974:
Last month of my 2nd grade year.  I checked out and returned my final 'big books' of the year, made a new friend, Gloria, and looked forward to the summer.  I also wasn't thrilled about the choice of teachers for 3rd grade, so I rather hoped I'd get held back/

Didn't happen.

Mrs. H assured me she'd see me in the hallway, since 3rd and 2nd grades were separated by the bathrooms., and on the other side of the 'little' library.

I'm fuzzy on the details, but I ended up going home with G on the final day of school, and while I had fun playing with her sister and brother, I remember getting homesick and asking to be taken home on day #2 or 3.

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Present Day:
We've been approved for the K-12 Home Schooling Program, and I still have mixed feelings.  The spouse is just going to HAVE to step up and help take care of the granddaughter, or else be the Support Team for youngling.  I may even have to take a sabbatical from writing, since I'm already stressed out so much I'm not writing anyway!  I'm barely keeping up with this blog, in case you've not noticed, lol...

This Sunday is Mother's Day, and since we're too broke to go out (spouse had to make a truck payment, and we over-indulged last week for our anniversary!), I'm envisioning a quiet afternoon in front of the TV or computer.  Hamburgers or steaks on the grill.  My usual Sunday night shows.

Since I have to sing at the 8am service, I probably will NOT go to karaoke.  But if I DO, I plan to sing two or three of my 'good' ones:

What's Up
Night The Lights Went out in Georgia
You Haven't Seen The Last of Me

Happy Mother's Day!

May Reading Schedule and April Recap

April:
For a month that only had 30 days, it sure dragged!  Must have been the rain.

Books Read: 12, with two DNF.

Karaoke:  Added two:  Endless Summer Nights (Richard Marx) and God Bless the USA (Lee Greenwood)

Health/Exercise:  With two sick days, somehow managed to drop 8 pounds:  The two I gained in March, plus six more:)  That makes nearly 20 pounds since September!

Writing:  No word on submission yet; I'm well into Ch 3 on 2nd alien book and began AU #9, Love is a Gamble.  But with stress hitting, haven't written anything in about 2 weeks.  I did polish my hotel story, only to have the deadline pushed back to June 30th.  With mine done, maybe I can edit the other stories???

May Reading Schedule:
Print:
Hotel Vendome- Danielle Steele Okay
Just Ella-Margaret Haddix Excellent!
Something Borrowed-Emily Giffin RR!  Could NOT put it down!
Deadly Desire-Brenda Joyce DNF
The Clique Summer Collection (Dylan)-Lisi Harrison Love the narcissistic teenage angst!
TCSC (Massie)-LH Ditto!
Princess Academy-Shannon Hale Good story, but too long.
Fiona Range-Mary McGarry Morris DNF  Boooorrrrrring.....
Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert DNF


E-book:
Her Story antho-Dorothy Abrams, Lori Johnson, et al Very good!  Enjoyed most of the stories and enjoyed the historical aspect:)
Mark's Crush (Finding Happiness)-Diana DiRicci Why did I think this was worth reading? Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for an M/M.


Karaoke Songs:
Got My Mind Set On You-George Harrison Bleh
Grand Illusion-Styx Good, but blew the ending.
Grease-Frankie Valli \How the hell did I blow this?
The Great Escape-Boy meets Girl?? Bleh...
Great Pretender-The Platters Okay, but never again.