Staying true to my procrastinating ways.....

Here it is the end of the month. At work, they have assigned us a report that tells what we have done for the previous month. What better time to blog? I must be avoiding something.

About a month ago, I drove down my street toward the nicer part of town and noticed that my street had been cut off about 2 blocks down from my house. I almost never travel this way so there is no telling how long the street had been torn up. At first, I thought nothing of it, but the place where it is torn up is right by the uber conservative church down the road from my house. Apparently, the church has taken it upon themselves to acquire that part of the road for extra parking.

This has really gotten by blood boiling. When I bought my house a little over 2 years ago, I said that as long as I was closer to the nicer part of the neighborhood I didn't mind living where I lived. Well now, the church has decided to CUT me off from the rest of my avenue. Must be nice to just take over a road. I wonder how many members of the church are working with the city. I just don't understand how they can do that without letting the neighborhood know. I don't remember hearing anything about the construction. What do you think about this? Have our voices been silenced? Life sure is different these days. Sometimes I wish that I wasn't so aware of the way things used to be. Why can't I be a normal member of the X generation?

Not Much to Write About

Nothing is really going on here in the big town of Waco. I have been working as usual and I have been coming home as usual and trying to stay out of the heat. I do have something coming up tomorrow that I am not looking forward to. Jury Duty. Yuck!! There is something about getting a whole room of strangers together and asking them very personal questions. I just don't like it. I know it is my civic duty and all that but I would rather be at work.

School is starting up for the kids in Waco tomorrow. It makes me realize how much I loved being in school. NERD! I loved all of school. I wish I could think of something I could go to school for then I could go back. New pens and notebooks. Those were the days.

I will write more on music but I am looking for inspiration on that one.

Music Part One

I will begin this first post in my LONG series on music with the beginning.

"The Letter" by The Box Tops. The first song I knew every word to and would sing at the drop of a hat. Vivid memories of Holly Funderburks' dad playing this song as we rode very dangerously sitting on the rag top of the old MG. Starcrunch in hand. I think I must have been about 5. Drives by the lake on Valley Mills with the water shimmering and the wind in our hair. I still know every word. I think it is the only song (with the exception of the Gilligan's Island theme song set to the tune of Amazing Grace) that I will sing out loud.

Then comes the geeky songs that I knew as a child. Of course, there was Prince. "When the Doves Cry." I think I liked this song because it talked about Mothers and Fathers and when I was six those were the people that I hung with all the time. My best friends that whole year.
Then I was in a church program where we sang "We are the World." Another music memory with Holly.(many to come) We were in a group of girls that sang Cyndi Lauper's part. Oh that must have been a trip for the church congregation. Somehow we got it in our heads that if we sang Cyndi's part we needed to act like she did. So I sang it with that special flair that only Cyndi would have given off. I think everyone was laughing. That was the end of my rockstar dreams. Damn it.

Of course, as I grew I listened to so much music over the years that I wouldn't be able to hit on every song like I did at first. I can talk about the oldies. Everytime we were in the car we were tuned into 98.7 (the Dallas oldies station). A tear comes to my eye as I remember listening and singing songs with Dad on the way to the office supply store. A weekly adventure. It didn't matter what song was on, it was good. It got to the point that I knew what song it was with the first few notes. A talent that comes out to this day. And country. Not the new stuff. But old country like Mac Davis and Hank. Everytime I hear a Wilie (Nelson that is) song I think of my Grandmother's white Oldsmobile 2 door. The doors weighed about a hundred pounds. I had to run to get it to latch and it would still be cracked a little. But there was always Willie in that car. When I asked my grandmother about it a couple of years ago, she denyed it and said that she only listened to Willie in her single days. I guess we have that in common but I hope to listen to Willie in my not so single days soon. Someday I will look into someone's eyes and hear the words to "I'd have to be Crazy." Great song.

You know I(and I don't intend to)

But should there come a day,

when I say that I don't love you

They'll lock me away ay ay.

It sure would be weird

to live in an envelope

waiting along for a stamp

You'd swear I was loco

to rub for a genie

while burning my hand on the lamp

And I may not be normal

but nobody is

so I'd like to say 'fore I'm through

I'd have to be crazy

plum out of my mind

to fall out of love with you

Favortie part is when he talks about "I may not be normal but nobody is." Singing the truth. That is enough for now stay tuned and let me know what you think so far.

Ideas??

I have been having a VERY hard time thinking of things to write. I don't know if anyone still looks at this. If you do, drop me a line with any suggestions on a topic I could write about. I would also like questions. If you don't want me to know who you are, post anonymously.

HELP ME, PLEASE!!!

"Vacation" to end soon

The Washburns (my cousins) will understand when I say "vacation." I did get a job on Friday. Pending a background check, I start after that. It is strange how everything has worked out the way that it has these last few months. I was all set to move to San Marcos and take a job at The Gristmill, but I backed out of it unexpectantly without much vision as to why. Then about two weeks later Dad died. I was able to be there for the family and do all the things I needed to do. Then it was like I needed some time for myself to ponder everything that had happened. I am not done with that part, but I can tell that I was ready to get on with things. I know that everyone has been very patient with me (especially Grandma).

I watched a movie this weekend that I first saw before Dad died. It was "Elizabethtown." I remember crying the first time I saw it. My fears of Dad's death looming in the background. I cried the second time but this time I saw just how true of a movie it is. I saw that sometimes it takes you awhile to cry and really reflect on relationships. I felt like my few months off of work was like Drew's roadtrip that he took. It was my time to reflect and reconnect to myself. If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it. But I warn, IT IS SAD. It can be hard to watch.

I am glad that I had the time to spend with my cousins when they came to town. Since I am younger than they are, it was the first time in my life that I was able to spend good quality time with them. Thank you to them for letting me get to know more about them. And to Nathan, thank you for showing me that sometimes when life gets shitty, all you have to do is make jokes about it.

Procrastination

Why is it that everytime I have something I should be doing I will do anything but that thing? When I was in college, my apartment was always spotless and my checkbook was always balanced. I once waited until 12 noon to start writing a speech I had to give at 2 pm. I am always able to find something else to do other than what I need to. But now I have a problem. Since I really don't have any deadlines, I just haven't been doing anything. The laundry is still in the dryer. The bed is unmade. The applications are stacking up. Whoa do I need a kick in the pants! Or maybe I just need to assign myself a paper or a book to read and then I will be back on track. Any suggestions?

This really works

I tried this out and I can't believe how well it worked for me.

http://www.crushcalculator.com/content/love/475664388

Let me know how it all works for you.

A New Name?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name) Tigger Trice

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandmother's maiden name on your mother's side, your favorite candy) Majors Skittles

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL" NAME: (first initial of last name, first two or three letters of your first name) R. Car

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite animal, name of high school) Boxer Midway.

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Ellen Waco.

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name) Ran IthBea.

7. JEDI NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your father's middle name spelled backwards) Nelle Ssor.

Gaps

Sorry it has taken so long for me to post. I am having blogger's block. I just don't have much to write about. When I look at some of your blogs, I must say it seems like we are all going through this in some way. I am kind in limbo with my life. I am definately in a state of in-between. If anyone has any ideas of what I can blog about, leave me a comment.

I vote for Happy Hour!!

As some of you may or may not know, I have a special place that I go for Happy Hour. It isn't loud and there aren't any annoying men trying to get me to tell them my sign. Oh no. This is a quiet place. You can't smoke. The drinks are VERY cheap. In fact, they are free. The name of the place is catchy and it is Grandma's. About 2-3 times a week, I head over to my maternal grandmother's for a drink with "the girls." The girls include me, my grandma, and her friend who is in her nineties. I love that they have this tradition every day. At 5 o'clock , during the news, we crack open a bottle of sherry for the other girls (it is too strong for me, I am a wimp), and wine for me. Sometimes I just drink a soda, but the point is that we get together. I must admit that these ladies are seriously my best friends. We laugh constantly. I love that we always give a toast. I love that we bad mouth Bush (there is just something about my 86 year old Grandma getting mad at him). I just love it all. As some of you know, my father died about a month ago. I have seen that things in life do come to an end. I am so thankful though that for the rest of my life I will have the best memories of the best Happy Hour in town.

Happy Hour

One Job Down

With everything that has been going on with me and my family, I decided that I would not apply for a lot of jobs. I applied for 2 and I would wait to see what happens with those. Well I went for testing today at one of the places. I didn't pass the test. I got close. To move on, you had to have 90% in accuracy and I had 89%. Oh well. I would have liked the money, but I am not sure that I would have been able to stay at a desk all day long. I like having customers that I can see and help in person. I think I am better off. Now I am closer to finding out where I am needed. My sister is a teacher and I could go be a aide there at her school. It doesn't pay anything, but I could find out if I like teaching and maybe get my foot in the door. I might go talk to the principal tomorrow. I also could go back to my mom's to help her with everything she has to do. I want to stay around here though. I am becoming a home body.

The Gristmill River Restaurant and Bar

Restaurant where I worked in college.

Four Things about Me

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Worked at a Sno-Cone stand in high school with all my friends. Best job.
2. Waitress at The Gristmill in Gruene during college
3. Teller and Customer Service at Bank One/Chase
4. Applying now for the next job. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. Office Space
3. Almost Famous
4. Arsenic and Old Lace (it is an old black and white probably my favorite)

Four books I could read over & over:
1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
2. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. anything that Roald Dahl has written

Four places you have lived:
1. Waco, Texas
2. Garland, Texas
3. San Marcos, Texas
4. Austin, Texas

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. CSI (The original version)
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Lost

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Northern California Monterrey
2. Vermont
3. Pawley's Island, South Carolina
4. Seattle, Washington Area

Four web sites I visit daily:
1. My Bank Account (I miss checking it 20 times a day like I did when I worked at the bank)
2. MySpace
3. My blog
4. Other blogs

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake (Grandma's Best)
2. Shrimp
3. Anything from The Gristmill
4. Beef Tips and Rice

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. At work. (I am going crazy not having a job)
2. Florida
3. Some place where it never goes cooler than 60 degrees. I don't like cold weather.
4. Back at the coffee shop we would go when I was younger to play all those games of Spades.

Adventures in Babysitting

Today I did a crazy thing. I watched all three of my sister's kids from about 9 this morning until about 5 or so. I had such a great time. I went to my good friend, Jennifer's house to babysit so that the kids would have some other kids to play with. I also was excited about watching with two experienced mothers in case anything went wrong. Thanks Jennifer and Dorothy. Everything went off without a hitch, except for the last ten minutes we had to ourselves before Mommy got there. Grace, the seven year-old middle child, decided that she was going to do a "special lecial" trick for the room. She did a couple twists like she was skating in the Olympics and then staying true to her name she slammed head first into a closet door. At first I knew I had to stay calm so I wouldn't upset her. So I played it off like "ok your ok don't worry." But then I looked at her ear and it was already swelling. It was beat red and getting bigger. I went straight for the ice as I have always been instructed in my household to do for every single ailment. NO ice. So I grabbed my half-drunk Bush's sweet tea and put the huge cup on her ear. After awhile(probably out of embarrassment), Grace said she was ok and to take the huge growth of styrofoam I had growing on her head off of her ear. I looked at her and said "we don't have to tell Mommy that you are real hurt we can tell her what happened and that you are just fine, Right?" and she turned to me and looked in to my eyes and said " Ok it can be our little secret" I honestly don't know how all you moms do it all. I would crack up all the time at the stuff that kids say. I was worried when I saw Alice, my sister, pull up but I told her what happened and I think after about a couple of weeks she will forgive me. Grace just kept saying that she isn't going to do anymore special tricks for awhile. One day I will have kids and I will know that stuff like this happens all the time, but until that day comes I get to have heart attacks when my sister's kids use their bodies as their preferred brand of brakes. This picture was taken right after Logan, who is now four, was born. They are not as angelic as they look.

Cary circa 1998 

Explanation of the Title of This

Well, I caved. I decided that it was time to give this a try. I might not update it very often, but I will try. The title of this blog is from one of my favorite books, On The Road by Jack Kerouac. It is a great one. My favorite lines is in that book and here it is.

"But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!""

Now you all know something new about me.