Winter Wonderland

Well, it's about time the Northland got some snow!  Leave it to Mother nature to wait until the end of February to deliver.  I only hope it isn't the start of a trend, no one likes snow in April.  I'm not sure how much we've gotten so far.  The car looks to have about six inches on top of it, and there's a foot in the street.  The winds are strong, so the front porch is totally clear.  I'm betting the usual three foot drift is up against my garage door, which would be why I can see my car out my front window.  It's easier to leave it out and clean it off than to shovel out the garage and then hope for the best in the alley.  Usually the landlord will send over his crew (he owns a building company) to plow out the back, and they'll do the alley at the same time.

I started my new job yesterday, and that went well.  The silence was deafening.  I am used to so much more noise!  I was supposed to be working today, but got a snow day instead!  I will go in tomorrow on my day off to lend a hand, because I'm sure with the cancelled appointments from today and the shoveling, it's going to be a busy Thursday at the chiropractor.  As long as the kids don't get another snow day tomorrow I will also be swinging by the daycare in the morning (payday) to read and sing with them.

I wonder when this is supposed to settle down?  As soon as the snow quits I will bundle up, venture out, and dig out the car.  Perhaps make a snow angel or two?  Which of course makes me think of my Sammy Girl.  She would have LOVED this snow day! 

Flushed

As many of you know, Bachelor #2 has been flushed.  I toyed with writing a scathing blog, to which I would tag his real name, thus saving it for all eternity on the Internet, but I am going to take the (mostly) high road.  For those of you who know some of the guys I have dated, it's Mike B.  Sunday night I found out that he has a girlfriend down in the cities.  Now, if she would have been someone new it would have been fine, because we certainly have no "relationship."  However, he's known her for about a year, so that's just not cool. 

Maybe they don't have a committed relationship, so that's why he is on a dating website up here, but in my experience with men, that has never been the case.  The women assume they are all nice and cozy comfy, while the men are out trolling for fishies.

In this age of the Internet, especially with facebook, all it takes is a friend of a friend tagging you in a photo with your "lady love" and another friend of the woman you're trying to hook up with happening upon said post.  Game over.  At least on this end.  The mutual friends talked, and I am assuming since I haven't received one text from Mike that the woman he is seeing down in the cities is aware of his extra curricular activites up here.  UGH, SO NOT COOL!

I actually considered contacting this gal via facebook, because I now also know who she is.  If it were me, I would want to know.  Then I just decided to let the fates handle her and get myself clear.  After I finish writing this I wont waste one more ounce of energy in his direction.  Unless he is dumb enough to ever contact me again......... :)

If you read back a few blogs I wrote about my gut telling me that something just wasn't right with him.  Always, always, always trust your gut!  Gee...... I wonder why they call me a man hater?

Goodwill Fashionistas

I had a visit recently from the dynamic duo that make up "Goodwill Fashionistas".  Their mission?  To provide high quality clothing to people on a budget.  I am hoping that the video from my experience will be following this blog soon.  It was HILARIOUS! 

I spent an hour at a high end store on Friday and left with three pair of pants that really don't fit right, but are the closest my crazy figure is going to come to "right".  I tried on at least fifteen tops.  NONE of them were what I was looking for, or looked good on me.  *sigh* I hate shopping.  The Goodwill Fashionistas went bin diving on Saturday and found me the coziest dress pants ever, (that FIT) a blouse that looks good on me and fits like it was made for me, a silky black jacket that I can't wait to use for a dress up occasion, and a Talbot's jacket for .50.  Yes, a Seventy five dollar jacket in perfect condition for fifty cents.  The entire purchase came to two dollars.  I spent about seventy five on Friday.

I think these ladies may just become my professional shoppers!   Stay tuned for the video, I hope we can make it work!

Bits and Pieces

Well, today was my last day as a Child Care teacher.  Honestly, I thought it would be a little more bittersweet than it is, which tells me that I'm making the right decision.  The day was super busy/hectic, and I didn't really have time to dwell on the fact that it was my last day.  There were several reminders of why I just don't want to do this anymore, and then some very sweet moments that reminded me why I just love kids, in general.  I'm going back next Thursday to read/sing so I will see them all again soon.

I had some really nice cards and gifts from the parents, even a bouquet of flowers from my little "bug", and a pot luck lunch with the staff.  I'm still too full to eat dinner!  Nice compliments all around, and it felt like a very fitting "retirement".  If only it were!  I will be starting with Lake Superior Chiropractic on Tuesday morning, and while I'm excited to start this new adventure.  I honestly hoped to be taking a small vacation between the two, but timing, the price of an airline ticket, and the I.R.S. who find it amusing to mess with the little preschool teacher who doesn't even make 20,000 a year, have brought a quick end to that plan.  (insert a bad word here)

Lets see......... ah, the bachelors. *shaking my head*  Well, I think I have a get to know you date with Bachelor number four this Sat night.  He fits the criteria, I have been able to do a bit of a "check" on him through mutual acquaintances, and we hit it off pretty well on the phone, so......... we'll see how it goes.  This bachelor business has about worn out my patience.  Although things have settled down now that I have clearly stated "I'm not interested in a hook up" on my profile. *big eye roll*

One odd moment from the week:  My xhub stopped over and while we were chatting he asked if I wanted to go with him and Basil to the Berkebeiner ski race on Saturday.  I said "I can't. I have a date with a stranger."  We laughed about our individual dating dramas, said our good-byes, and I thought, wow.  How far I have come to be just casually chatting with xhub like that.  It is nice that we can be friends, more like family than friends really. 

Looks like we might finally have some snow on the way.  Of course.  I waited with baited breath last winter, and this one, for my first snow day in years.  Plus "spring" is just around the corner.  Why shouldn't we have a blizzard?  :)

Get Me To The Greek......Yogurt

Last weekend I finally decided to try some Greek yogurt.  The continual TV hype finally got me curious enough to see just what all the hullabaloo is about.  I guess sometimes commercials do work, though usually not on me.  It must be that damn John Stamos.  During my teen age years his picture was pinned to my wall, black leather....... yep.  I'm sure it was Stamos in those yogurt commercials that got me to finally try it.

I stood in front of all the yogurt, trying to figure out just where the Greek ones were.  Once I had that tackled I had to decide what to buy.  There are two major brands, so I decided to get one of each and see if there was a difference.  Then another lady comes up and starts scooping them by hand fulls into her cart.  "So you like the Greek yogurt?"  Holy cow, did she ever!  I got a three minute infomercial on all the benefits of Greek yogurt, and when she finished and moved on, another lady, who was listening, took her spot and continued.   Yikes!  So one blueberry and one strawberry for me, and away we go.  "You should try pineapple!  It's the best!!"  Not for me sister, I hate pineapple!

So I tried the strawberry when I got home.  My first thought?  That's not a lot of yogurt for a dollar.  My second thought?  This is kind of like eating sour cream with fruit in it.  The texture, not the taste.  My third thought?  That's a weird after taste, and it feels like I have cotton mouth.  John Stamos, I'm not to fond of your brand.  Although it was amazingly filling.  That would be all the protein.  I know this from the infomercial ladies at the grocery store.

This weekend (If I really liked it it wouldn't have taken me this long to try the other one.)  I tried the competition in blueberry.  I still have an issue with the texture, but it didn't leave the aftertaste.  Once again, that bit of yogurt filled me right up.  I'm pretty impressed with that part of it.

I saw Annie eating yogurt at work this week, and asked her about Greek yogurt.  Another enthusiastic response.  She prefers to get the kind that has granola on the top to mix in, so that's what I bought at the store today, from yet another brand of yogurt.  I want to see if that mix can hold me from breakfast til lunch, or maybe be a good mid afternoon snack.  I am going to be putting in some pretty long days with my new job, and it would be nice to have something healthy to have for a quick snack that will hold me until dinner.

While I wouldn't do a crazy infomercial for Greek yogurt in the middle of the grocery store, I do recommend you give it a try!  A very healthy and filling snack.  I would also like to say, that I can not spell yogurt correctly to save my life.  Now that I've written it fifty times in this blog, perhaps I will have a better handle on that too.  :)

Gone To Soon

~Lacey Joy Gayken  March 11,1983 - February 14, 2012

I was going to write about the death of Whitney Houston, about how sad it is that she died at such a young age.  Then something else happened in my own life, and it put things in perspective.  We are all saddened about the Whitney tragedy, but lets face it, she made choices in her life that eventually led to her death, and no one is surprised that it ended this way.

Last night my friends' daughter passed away from Huntington's disease.  Huntington's usually strikes older adults, and being diagnosed at my age would be considered relatively young.  Lacey was diagnosed at 18, and after watching her aunt die from the disease, and then her own father, she knew exactly what she was in for.

I met her when she was five, and for whatever reason that is always the image I have in my head of her.  Long blond hair up in a bun, huge blue eyes, and a little button nose, hiding by her Mom with the little giggle she always had.  Spoiled rotten, mostly by her father, who absolutely adored her.

She always wanted so badly to be a Mom, to have her own baby to love, but with a diagnosis of Huntington's, that wasn't possible.  Well, it was possible, but not advised.  It's a hereditary disease that physically ravages it's victims, but until closer to the end their mental capacity remains in tact.  So you are totally aware of what is happening to you and just become more and more trapped in your own body.  So at the age of eighteen she learned that her dream was not possible.  The disease moved so rapidly back then that soon lots of things weren't possible.

It was about three years ago that Deb was able to get a Make a Wish trip for Lacey to go Disney or Sea World....maybe it was both, in Florida.  The people there were wonderful, helping Lacey do everything she wanted, even keeping a dolphin exhibit open after hours so she could get in and swim with them.  I remember seeing the joy on her face in the pictures, and hearing the joy and gratitude in her Mom's voice as she proudly showed them off.  The doctors back then said that was probably near the end, but she held on.

Lacey did not quite make it to her twenty ninth birthday.  She really didn't have the chance to even be an adult, getting so sick at a young age.  Over the past ten years so many of us have wondered aloud why this happens.  We have talked about the unfairness of it all, and how desperately sad it is.  It broke my heart to watch her deteriorate over the years, and it took a lot for me to put my big girl panties on and treat her normally when I saw her, instead of hugging her and crying like I wanted to.

I know that she is in a better place now, free of all the things that were holding her back.  Free of the pain and frustration.  Probably sitting in a rocking chair singing a baby angel to sleep.  Dozens of puppies and kitties at her feet.  We wont ever get the answer to the why questions, not in this lifetime anyway.  The best we can do is honor her memory, and live our own lives to the fullest. 

I will miss you Lacey Lu, you rotten kid. ;)  Love you sweetheart. ♥

Seasons

I'm not sure how the date is going to come out on this one.  It was originally written on February first, because I just needed to write it!  Due to some circumstances I was asked to hold it until now, and while I don't care for  things like that, I respect the person who asked, so there you go.
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"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  Ecclesiastes 3:1
Or if you prefer, it is set to music by The Byrds.  This song has been running on a continual loop through my brain for the last several weeks.  So here it is, the reason the writing has slowed down.  I'm not going to share all of the things that have been shifting around in this old head of mine, but the result.

I have made the decision to give up my career as a Child Care/Preschool teacher.  It's the first time in my life that I have had to take a hard look at things and make a decision based on money.  That doesn't sit well with me, because it just isn't who I am at heart.  On the other hand, I have goals that I can't meet if I stay in this field.  It isn't a slam on the people I work for, it is the sad fact of my chosen profession.  Parents pay a lot for childcare, but it just doesn't usually trickle down to the people who actually watch your kids. 

This isn't just something that I'm thinking about doing.  I am never a girl without a plan.  Sometime in the near future I will be starting my new job, at the front desk of Lake Superior Chiropractic, here in town.  That doesn't look very exciting to me on paper, but let me tell you, it is.  I have known the folks I will be working for a long time, and I know that it is a good fit for me.

Last week I wanted to take the girls ice skating.  My work days are so busy and hectic that I  had to give their Mom the old, "I will text you after work to let you know how I'm feeling." because chances are to tired, or to crabby would be holding me back.  I didn't manage to get to my girls until Saturday, and that was the deciding factor.  I want to enjoy MY kids.  I don't want to be to crabby or tired to want to play with them.  My new job has Thursdays off.  That will mean Goover Thursdays this summer, and I am very excited about that!!  I can't wait to plan a family zoo day!

Once I am settled into my new routine I hope that I can take my "super powers" and use them for good, in the form of some volunteer work with kids.  Working with children isn't just what I do, it's who I am right down to the core, so I can't turn my back on that.  I'm just going to do a bit of a shift to make life a little better for myself, and hopefully, ultimately, for some children who really need me. 

To everything there is a season, and this chapter of my life is coming to a close.  Bittersweet to be sure, but I'm looking forward to what the next season will bring.

Garage Date

Our friend Melanie, who will be now known, at least to me, as Babyface Swanson, asked me to go on a little adventure with her today.  Babyface and Boomer are really big into the online garage sales on facebook, and she had a video cam up for sale, that a rather nefarious looking gent wanted to purchase.  In a seedy part of town, well...... down at the Anchor Bar.  She just wanted a little company, and since I am always up for a blogging opportunity, and am excellent with creepers in general, I agreed to tag along as backup.

Babyface already had one adventure with a woman she met on the online garage sales, and I likened it to online dating.  This time, she got stood up!  Better luck next time.  She did get some good fries, good tunes, and a good nickname though. 

When we sat down at the bar to wait for said gentelman the bartender asked to see Babyface's I.D.  I started laughing and said "Are you serious?"  She was, and Babyface had to go back out to her car and grab it, just to have water and french fries.  Babyface is actually in her thirties, has a good job, is married, and has a one year old.  She's definitely of age.  I'm jealous, I think I've maybe been carded once in my entire life!

Now Boomer and Babyface like to pull some goofy antics, and right after we got there Babyface had to run back to her car for some money for our snack.  Sitting alone at the bar it did cross my mind that it was some set up of one kind or another.  I fully expected some big goon to come in and start hitting on me.  Boomer punking me would not be a surprise. :)  I was glad when she returned!

Color My World (part 2)

I'm going to start this off with an expert from a blog that my friend Marie used to have. 

"This is actually a topic that I have thought about for some time. My mom and dad both started going gray in their thirties, and sure enough my brothers and I are following suit. But even in my twenties, I thought about whether or not I would try to make myself look younger when the time came. And I always came back to no. Not that I think people who do this are somehow bad, it’s just not for me. I don’t want to try to hide the fact that I am getting older, to try to hide the way nature has made me. I have been known to put a few washable rinses in my hair from time to time (with girlfriends, or nieces, for fun), but I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I have done that. I also try not to make it do things it doesn’t normally do (like straightening or curling). It’s my hair, it’s who I am, I keep it for myself and I’m happy with it."

Reading that last line, I think we feel the same way about our hair, but she is choosing to go gray and I am choosing to color my natural color for awhile longer.  I have to also interject that both Marie and I are making these decisions on our own.  I don't have a man pestering me about such things, and her husband loves who for who she is, not her hair color.  (LUCKY GIRL) 

Time has passed, and Marie is now faced with the reality of noticeably gray hair.  Her post about it on facebook the other night is what actually inspired these blogs.  

"For years, I've said I'm not going to color my hair - it has been a little gray for a while. This week, it sort of turned more gray. I am still not coloring my hair, but it is a little harder having to come to terms with obviously gray hair."

I admire Marie so much for accepting who she is.  It's a very brave and self confident thing to do.  I also thank her for giving me permission to use her words in my blog!  This is a very personal matter for women, and I guess the bottom line is, whatever choice you make, as long as you are comfortable with it, embrace it wholeheartedly!

Color My World (part one)

This is going to be a two part blog.  Part one is all about me, (go figure) and part two will be about my friend Marie, who is the other side of the coin in this case.

Two summers ago I let my hair go a few weeks to long without color, and when I walked into my sister in laws' house the first thing I heard out of her mouth was "OH MY GOD JO, YOU'RE GOING GRAY!"  Thanks for noticing. Oh, and thanks for loudly pointing it out to everyone else. :)   Last summer one of the five year olds was looking at me funny, and when I asked him what was the matter he said. "Miss Joanie your hair is blue."  I said, "What?"  His reply, "Oh, no......it's just gray."  Colored it that very night.

The truth, however, is that I'm not just starting to go gray.  I have needed to color my hair regularly to keep out the gray since my mid twenties, but I always stick close to my natural color.  If I actually let my hair go now it would be total salt and pepper.....easy on the pepper.  My mother was almost six feet, skinny mini, nice legs, and she handed down two things to me, crooked middle fingers, and gray hair.  Thanks Mom.  Whether I have it colored it at the salon, or do it myself at home, the best I can hope for now is six weeks.  I don't bother with the salon anymore.

I also happen to have very long hair right now, and I love it.  I had short (and I mean short) hair all through the 90's, mostly due to my xhub's particular taste, not my own.  Although I do look good in it short.  I think gray running through short hair on me would be o.k.  Gray running through this long hair makes me look haggard.  When I color my hair I step out of the shower at the end, look in the mirror, and usually say "Hey!  There you are!"  I am not a vain person, but for this one thing.  I am an in your face, accept me or don't, I could care less, kind of gal.  This particular issue is because I care about it.  If it didn't bother ME I wouldn't bother, I assure you.

The last thing is, dating.  It's a shame, but you have to put your best possible self out there.  Cover up the flaws, remember to shave your legs, pretend not to be a man hater, blah, blah, blah. :)  Again, I'm pretty confident, but I feel more like myself if my hair is the color it "should" be.  Although, maybe the young ones would leave me alone if I went down the road to gray.  (probably not..... ewwww)

It's funny, my Mom wore her hair shorter and I only have memories of her with gray hair. (Most of my memories start around the age of four, she would have been 37.) She colored it once and it turned orange.  Her very upset little kids asked her not to do that again, and she didn't.  That's what part two is all about.  Having the guts to go gray!  My plan ( I always have one.) is to reevaluate when I turn 50.  If I am ready I will chop off most of my hair and let it go.  It will be sexy, sassy, and salty.  For me, forty two is just too early to do it.

I guess the question for me is:  If I was in a solid committed relationship with someone who loved me for who I am, would it matter to me if I let it go?  Maybe someday we'll find out......... 

1986

The writing floodgates have opened and I just can't stop!  The other floodgates have opened, and now that the crying jag has settled down, mostly fixed by dancing and singing in the kitchen to "Our Lips Are Sealed" by the Go-Go's........ ( Hope my neighbors enjoyed it.) Let me tell you 'bout it.
I was doing some straightening up in the living room, when I realized all my junior and senior high school year books were still under the coffee table.  I took them out last May to show off some spectacular photo's of someone, to a mutual friend.  I'm not telling who.  I'm not that dumb.  Anyway, there they were, and there I was, so I thought I'd look at one of them.  The best years from that time would be 9th grade, and my junior year of high school.  My Uncle passed away at the end of ninth grade, and I missed the last day, so my yearbook has no writing in it.  My junior year is full of writing.  Apparently I was a good friend, did a great job in the musical Hello Dolly (I was Minnie Faye) and am a fabulous singer.  Oh, and the ever present "Good luck with Wally."  Even a few "Be nice to Wally" showed up.  Nice to Wally?  I let him hang around me, and after everything that happened, that WAS nice.

It's funny, but the people in my junior yearbook who wrote things to me are, for the most part, friends with me on facebook today!  That's why I love facebook, because I can keep tabs on all my old friends and we truly are  F/A !  I was sitting there reading all of the nice comments and inside jokes that I can not recall anymore, and was planning to write about what a bunch of nerds we all were.  (Well, I assume I wrote nerdy things in your yearbook.....)  There are some things I do remember.  Sudafed, and "Reach the beach" come to mind at the moment.

Now, I knew that reading the yearbook would be dangerous territory.  I don't pull them out very often.  Wally and I were together off and on (and off and on and off and on....) from the time I was 14 til the time I was 20.  Ok, lets be honest.  There were several guest appearances until I was almost 22.  The minute I met my x hub we were done.  Well..... plus the part where he got someone else pregnant.  That kinda put the capper on it too.  This isn't something I can usually talk about so we must be deep down in the soul tonight.  I knew that I would see whatever he wrote to me that year, but luckily it was near the end.  I got to enjoy all of your odd, quirky, sweet comments and laugh a bit before the bottom fell out.

Usually he would write something short and to the point.  See you this summer, love you, HSA, the end.  This year he apparently told me he would fill a page.  He wrote a bit, then whined about having to fill up the page, then filled the rest of the page with a giant I LOVE YOU, and several random sayings around it.  HSA of course, (No, I'm never going to tell another soul.  Live with it.) but I had forgotten there was one about getting married.  Just seeing his handwriting was enough, but then I well and truly lost it.

I don't let myself go down the road of " What if?" very often, if at all.  Especially where he is concerned.  The facts are brutal, and there can never be a what if, ever.  There really isn't any point in dwelling on what could have been.  Especially when the reality of what could have been wouldn't have been very good.  My heart questions and my head lectures.  The reality is that I would still be 42 and either widowed or divorced.  More than likely divorced, and then losing him a few years later.  I just would probably be trying to support a pack of children on top of it.  Although there is one child who really could have used my support, influence, love, whatever.  It's hard to believe she's an adult now.  I have kept tabs from a very long distance all this time.  The last time I actually saw her was at his funeral, running around in his high school football jersey.  The one I used to wear.......

I chose not to attend my twenty year reunion, for a few reasons, but this is the big one.  I couldn't stand to be there when he was not.  Our twenty-five comes up this summer....... and I intend to try, at least something.  There are other faces I want to see, important people to me in their own right.  Hugs to be given, hands to be held, stories to be told.  Perhaps a few tears to shed.  I can't believe I'm finally writing about any of this.  If I write it I can't bury it any longer.  Apparently it's time.

Ice Princess x3

Here they are ladies and gentlemen!  Princesses on ice, or goovers on ice, which I prefer.  Another blog last New Years already has that name.  Again I'm behind on the blogging, but sometimes even though the need to write is there, the will is not I guess.  I had the words, just some other stuff rattling around up there mucking up the works.  If I had waited two more seconds to take the picture I would have had all three of the goovers down on the ice. :)

This was my first adventure with the little goovs on skates.  Ashlyn and I have been skating together for years.  They did a really good job!  Hannah, who is eight, skated very well for her third time on skates.  She was slow and cautious and working her way around the edge of the rink near the boards for the most part.  She was able to balance well on her own and didn't fall too many times.

Caitlin, as usual, was another story all together.  If there are any Olympic coaches out there reading this you might want to glom on to this child.  I have some video, but I'm not sure I can hook it onto the blog.  Every time I add mobile posting things go horribly wrong.  Where she is lacking in skill she more than made up for in speed and balance.  We were working hard on slowing down and using two feet to skate.  She skates like she is running, or she skates like she is riding on a scooter.  One foot stays still and the other one pushes her along.  She is six years old, it was her third time on skates, and she was doing laps around the rink.  During the video she got tangled up a bit, did a spin and kept on going without losing her balance.  Twice during Hannah's video she blazes on through.  That child is fearless.  Which I equally admire and fear.

Ashlyn?  Well, she skated around helping her sisters.  She doesn't have friends who ice skate, so she thinks it's nice that they can do this as a family. (the kids)  That's a pretty good attitude for a fifteen year old.  Me?  I didn't have my skates on because I didn't know how much help the goovers were going to need.  Next time I will wear them, but when I do I want to SKATE, forwards, backwards, little bit of a jump cause I still can!  I love to ice skate, but I don't want Caitlin to get any bright ideas.

We are having a very odd winter here.  It was snow covered and freezing last weekend.  We actually tried to go to the Alloueze rink (Franklin) but the lazy (read the story about my stalker in Goovers on Ice) dumb ass who works there didn't bother to shovel.  In his own words to my sister in law "Not my job.  I'm just an underpaid glorified babysitter."   Ha.  Mind you, he probably makes more than I do per hour.  So then we went to east end where they did at least shovel off the hockey rink.  Sorry for the pick marks hockey skaters.  NOT !   This weekend the snow is just about gone, and we are going to be in the forties, so the rinks will all be melting. :(  Glad we went last weekend when we had the chance!

Bunco Babe

Playing a little bit of catch up with my blog!  This is me last Saturday night.  I went with the girls to play BUNCO.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a dice game.  My Mom used to play in bunco club when I was a teenager, so it kind of made me feel old to be heading out to play bunco.  One difference though, my mother's bunco was not played in a bar, nor did it involve money or drinking.

In my mothers club you won prizes for the most/least bunco's, or the most/least games won, or a bigger prize for the final bunco of the night.  There was  a pot luck involved, but no alcohol.  In bar bunco the prizes are cash, there is a pot luck, and the booze is flowing like a river.  You can pay 20 to drink the whole time, or just start a tab.  Raise your glass and the bartender will be right there to refill.  I, however, did not drink.  I had to pay attention and re-learn the game, so no alcohol could be involved.  Too much stimuli to pay attention sober, let alone tipsy.

I had been avoiding bunco like the plague, for two reasons.  One, it made me feel old.  Two, I wouldn't really know anyone besides Kerri and Lisa and you switch partners every round.  While I am friendly, I don't like it.  I'm not fond of being thrown in with people I don't know.  I never saw Lisa at a table the rest of the night, and I sat with Kerri once in the middle, and the last game.  We did have our delicious pot luck together somewhere in the middle though. 

Over all it was o.k.  I relearned the game quickly, as it isn't complicated, but three plus hours of small talk is a lot for me.  I haven't the patience for it.  Next time I will consume alcohol and probably have a problem getting on and off the big girl bar stools every three-five minutes, but I bet I will be more entertained.

I did get to talk with Wally's sister for a little bit when we happened to play at the same table a few times, but that was frustrating because I would have loved to have had more of a conversation with her. 

Then it was the last round.  I thought maybe I would win for least games won, it wasn't a lucky night.  I thought maybe I would win for least bunco's, because it wasn't a lucky night.  Then somehow I got the last bucno, which is actually the biggest prize!  I won this tshirt, a hat, and sixty dollars!  So all in all not a bad night for five bucks, and some crackers and dip!

I am definitely not going to become an avid bunco player, but it might be fun to go from time to time.  I have to wear this tshirt somewhere!

Fish or cut bait

Down at the old fishing pond (of Internet dating) I seem to be cutting the line immediately after baiting my hook.  While I am proud that I am more than able to recognize crazy these days, I can't believe that there are no normal fish, who are looking for more than a hook up in this pond! 

I've had to toss a ton of them back because they were under my legal limit.  I can't help it, I am just not interested in younger men.  I would go a few years younger now, bachelor number two is a little younger, but I want someone who is settled in their life and knows where they are headed.  I didn't date men in their thirties when I was in my thirties, I'm certainly not interested in them now. 

The other night I had several messages from some pretty unbalanced gentlemen.  My phone was going crazy.  I use it to access the site, not from text messages, they certainly don't have my phone number!  My facebook status:  I feel like the belle of the ball..... in an insane asylum!  That pretty much sums it up.

You don't get the label "Bachelor" unless you get face time, except for Bachelor number three who did secure a date, then blew it.  He's a tenacious little fish. He blew it yet again the other day.  Bachelor number two is still around.  He sends me texts every day, texts that HE initiates, but he cancelled a date, and hasn't rescheduled anything.  I'm a little confused, and since I don't need any more "pals", I'm just going to cut the line.  Bachelor number four might be stepping up to the plate..... we will have to stay tuned on that one. 

I actually felt the need to go back to my profile and add this at the end:   I am not looking for a hook-up, so if that is what you're after please don't waste my time, or yours.  I am thinking that they aren't even reading my SHORT (because I know men) profile........ so I might just have to lead with that statement. ;)

I have some other news, and the blog is written, I just have to wait for some clearance to share it!