Mixed Thoughts & Movie Review!

Yesterday evening I found myself doing something I hadn't done in a long time. Wait! On second thought, I don't believe I've EVER done this before! I went to see a movie, alone. It was not fun.

I forgot how awkward it feels to be somewhere ALONE. I'm not used to it. I usually have at least one of my offspring with me, or my husband with me, or a relative or a friend to accompany me somewhere, and to not have the other warm body around felt very uncomfortable. It caught me all off guard, and it kind of surprised me. I wasn't always this way! When I was single, I was more adventurous! I used to leave the house alone at night and go to bars for God's sake. I used to go on blind dates (some would have gone better if I was actually blind to tell you the truth) but I thought of nothing of going anywhere by myself. Gee, I have changed.

Instead of sitting down somewhere to eat, I chose to buy myself a sandwich and eat it in my car in the parking garage. Have I become that paranoid? I walked to the sandwich place and ordered my sandwich. The eatery was nice, clean and almost empty. The guy who made my sandwich was quite pleasant actually. I could have just sat there in this nice and safe place and read the newspaper. I could have been more comfortable there, than sitting in my van in the dark and noisy parking garage. Sitting in my van, I found myself pondering on worrisome things like how long it would take for the rescue parties to find my body if the parking garage should collapse suddenley in an earthquake. They would find me sitting there behind the wheel holding my cheese and avocado sandwich, with garden sprouts still stuck in my teeth. "How sad, and pitiful!" they would say. I can see the headline in the local paper now: "Local woman dies alone in family van while eating her veggie sandwich ..." Without further thought, I proceeded to stuff the rest of my sandwich down my throat, and get out of the van.

Something really strange happens when you go up to the window and buy ONE ticket for a show. You get that LOOK. You know, that LOOK that only you really notice. The guy behind the window gave a sad and sympathetic look. I tried to ignore it as I handed my one ticket to the lady inside. I kept on telling myself that I was being so silly. I'm not the first person to go see a movie alone! People do it all the time! It's supposed to me fun and relaxing! Right? I went up the stairs, avoiding the escalator. I had purchased a Tolverine candy bar earlier and hid it in my purse (I still think someone is going to ask to search my purse for candy), and I could not afford talking the escalator--I needed all the exercise I could get at that point. As I made my way into the dark theatre, I was happy to see that the theatre was still pretty empty. I found the perfect spot to watch my movie, so I try to quietly go for my chair, hoping to enter unnoticed, when suddenly, KERPLUNK! I SLIP and SLIDE on a puddle left in front the next chair. Thankfully, I break my fall and don't land on my ass. I was just thankful no one noticed..or did they? I was too embarrassed to look up to find out.

Suddenly the people started pouring in; mostly women. I was there to see Julie & Julia, the story about Julia Child, and the story of a young woman named Julie who decides to blog about her pursuit to complete each recipe written in Child's cook book, never realizing that in fact she was learning more about herself.. Okay, I'm not going to write about the movie. Go and see it for yourself, it is worth watching! Meryl Streep was awesome! More of chick flick---looked like the same sort of audience when I went to see Mama Mia. Just a reminder however: If you are a vegetarian, I suggest you may want to think twice before viewing this film. I was sitting by two young women who actually hid their faces and turned in disgust. This is not the film for you! You will see lobsters boiled to their deaths, RAW MEAT, and dancing, dead chickens and ducks being de-boned. Also, it may be a good idea to actually EAT something before this film. If you to see it on an empty stomach, don't be surprised to hear LOUD and growling sounds coming out of your person. The other women who sat on my left kept on "eeewing and awwing" at all the food. Not a movie for people with eating disorders either, I may add.



Anyway, you are probably asking WHY I went to see a movie alone in the first place. Well, I was stuck downtown, with an awful sore throat, waiting for my son to get out of a hip hop gig of his downtown. I'm very proud of my son, but going to a club at night full of teenagers and preteens, with loud hop hop music alone did not interest me. I'd probably be tempted to do something really embarrassing, like jump on stage and say, "That's my boy!" or insist on combing his hair or readjust his clothes. I've heard Andrew say far too many times to me: "You are turning into Grandma!" Am I really? I don't know, but I can tell you I was so RELIEVED to get Andrew in the van later that night. He was so happy and excited about his performance, and I got a private bee bop session all the way home up and down Hwy 17. As soon as I saw my hubby waiting for me, I was so relieved I didn't have to go to bed alone that night, and when Nicolas crept his way into our bed and snuggled beside me, and did not mind one bit.

Micky Moused Out

My love bug.. :)

We are back from our little vacation from Venice & Disneyland, and as the title describes, we are pretty much "Micky Moused Out" for awhile. We had a really fun time, but we are all tired, a little sore, and pooped! Pictures will be posted later...no time today!

This week since we have been gone has been still pretty busy with loads of laundry, and lots of pre-school preparations. School starts Monday for Andrew, Matt leaves for Sonoma State next Saturday, and Nick starts school on the 26th. Lucky Lizzy has a month off; she finished her summer session last week. Work starts again for me on Monday, and that is okay. I'm THRILLED beyond belief that I am able to keep my 6 hour day work schedule! Yay!! The way the budget is at they have approved it all the way until next year! Hurrah!! Yipppee!!! Can you tell I'm happy?

Well, I don't have much time today to write much because I have a retirement party to go to tonight, so here is a Meme in care of Dawn! Thanks Dawn! I wanted to write something since it's been so long, and it's nothing like a Meme sometimes...

Feel free to do one yourself, why don't you?

If you could do your wedding all over again, what would be the one thing you would change? Damn, this is kind of hard. I've been married twice. I can't really say I wouldn't have married the first husband--I mean, that would be easy to say, but I have two great kids from that marriage--no matter how ugly it was. It was hard, and I went through a lot, but I learned a lot. Well, if I could do that wedding over again I would have had it overseas in the Azores. As for my second marriage, I think I would have liked more family around, but at the time, it was pretty much perfect.

If you could re-do one room in your house, which would it be and why? I would add another room upstairs, and make a master bedroom suite with a bigger bathroom. The bathroom the kids share is too small, so I would tear down the wall and make our bathroom an extension to theirs.


If you could go back to high school, what is one thing you would change? I would be more out going---not be as shy and get more involved. High school wasn't that much fun for me.


If you had a son born tomorrow, what would his name be? ANOTHER SON?! Okay, his name would be Joseph Franklin---after my dad and my husband's step-father. We would call him "Joe".

A daughter? Audrey Kate Just because... :)

(It ain't going to happen. BABY FACTORY IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED!!)

If you had an infinite amount of money and health, how many children would you have? Um...we have enough, thank you!! 4 is good.

If you won the lottery tomorrow what is the first thing you would buy? A pool. It's on the agenda. If not a pool, a bigger house, with a Granny quarters on it for my mother who hates living alone.

If you could have chosen your family how many siblings would you have and be specific about their sex and ages? The same that I have now..two brothers and an older sister. ONLY I wish I had known my second brother. I enjoy being the youngest.

What is on your desktop wallpaper? The island picture that comes with the computer.

What is your favorite zoo animal? Tigers....they are beautiful! Then, I guess it would be the bears.

What was your favorite activity in gym class? UGG.. Jazzercise. Whenever I hear Stevie Wonder's "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" I remember doing the "doggie" (lifting up your leg while on your knees like you have to pee) position and it makes me laugh.

What is on the shirt you are wearing right now? I'm wearing a boring white v-neck t-shirt.

What is the picture nearest to you a picture of? I have multiple pictures on the wall in front of me. One of me and my two kids that I took after my divorce, one of my two kids alone when they were younger, one of Nicholas posing near a turtle, and one of my step-son in a tie, looking unusually sweet.

What is your favorite salad dressing? Evil Ranch dressing.

What do you do on a Sunday night? Watch T.V. and dreading Monday morning.

If you could use only one condiment on your food for the rest of your life what would it be? Ketchup, I guess.

What are the color of your sheets? Beige or green.

What pair of shoes do you wear most often? Sandals in the summer, or black pumps.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? Sweet potatoes!!

Trouble With Bras..

Well, we all know about our troubled economy. People are losing their jobs, and stores are closing everywhere. I am happy to report however, I have not seen a real decrease in people submitting Avon orders for braziers!

A large store (I used to work there part-time) closed down in the town where I’m from, and now the women of the county have one less store to shop for their undergarments! This may explain why my Avon sales for bras have gone through the roof! (Avon doesn’t make the bras—they carry brand names like for example, Platex..etc.)

I only have one problem. I have a customer who cannot find a bra that actually “fits”. She has bought 4 braziers from me, and I’ve had to return every single one of them because “they just don’t fit”. Well, due to Avon's 100% full guarantee policy for returns, I have to send them back-at my expense. I don’t get too many returns, but this woman just placed another order for a bra in the same size today, and I can almost guarantee you that it will be returned, because it will not “fit”. Well, I don't have the heart to tell her that I'm sick of returning bras she orders that don't fit, and that I'm actually losing money each time she orders a bra that she returns. I just can't! I feel sorry for her. She can't find a bra that fits. What a nightmare! Hopefully the brazier I've ordered for her today will be the GOLDEN EGG of bras, and it will actually fit, and she’ll in turn order dozens more from me because of it... I’m trying to be positive.

It must be sad to not find a bra that will fit you. I could NEVER go bra less, could you? Some women have no problem just letting their “girls” just hang there, swinging to and fro, bouncing up and down…etc. Then you have women that wear their bra to extremes, even actually sleep with one on. I could not do that, but I couldn’t leave the house without one either. I guess I’m just not the Earthy Type woman.

Yesterday afternoon I saw many Earthy Type women walking around downtown. I think I've mentioned to you before that I come from a very laid back, earthy, hippie kind of surf town. I didn't realize how different it was until I actually moved to another town. Well, lets just say this town is full of very EARTHY women. It was a beautiful day outside, and there was an open Farmer’s Market downtown, and a group of hippie looking guys, and earthy women were playing their drums, and dancing about with tamborines, while preppie types were holding their lattes intermingling with the more conservative types shopping for tomatoes and brussel sprouts. They looked like they were having a fun time, but I wasn't. I was not at the market, no rather I was driving up and down the main street, dodging the happy Earthy People of downtown Santa Cruz, looking for my teenage son who could not be reached by his cell phone. I did eventually find him 45 minutes later, after he had realized his "ringer was off". However, I didn't leave town without causing a disturbance. I did the unthinkable and honked the horn at my son who suddenly went blind, (I was pissed) startling a few Earthy women who were engaged in convesation at the organic super market. I'm sure they were talking about vegetables or hemp, or something Earthy, and I'm sure they are still talking about my loud, gas guzzling van, and my rude horn honking, and how women like me will ruin the Mother Earth one day, but what the hell. At least I'm wearing a bra that fits! Sometimes that is all that matters.

Cheap Hair

I’ve been kind of “down” a few days due to my boys both catching colds, and then passing them down to yours truly. You’d think I’d be immune by now from all the exposure, but I got a small dose of it, so it didn’t hit me too hard.

It’s August already… Yesterday, 7 years ago my dad passed away. Weird. It doesn't seem that long ago. It seems like yesterday. I look at Nicholas and that is when I realize how the years are just flying by. Nicholas will be six years old in November already. My daughter, Lizzy is going to turn 21 next month. Damn. Dad was right. When you get older the years zoom by.

We have one more little trip to do before the kids start school this month---the long awaited trip to Disneyland! Yay! This time my husband is going! Yay! He isn’t that thrilled, but who knows when the next time will come when we can go on a road trip with all the kids. We’ll be stopping in Venice for a short time to visit his step sister, Janet, and the kids are as much looking forward to that as much as Disneyland. We had a lot of fun there last year, and the weather was beautiful.

My hair has gotten really long, so I went to get a hair cut yesterday. I will be the first to tell you that I really don’t spend that much money on my hair, unless I get a perm-which I haven’t in many, many years. If I color my hair, I do it from the box. I go to Super Cuts to get my hair cut. I don’t need anyone to tell me my hair is dry on the ends when it gets long. Duh.. That is what happens when my hair gets long, so when the guy who is cutting my hair starts telling me in his broken English that my hair is dry because I don’t use a certain shampoo, I know it’s just a ploy to get me to buy shampoo that is going to be more expensive than my actual haircut. I just humor the guy to not come across rude, but I never say I’m going to buy anything. I know my hair is healthy. I have a lot of thick, wavy, hair. Normally, I get compliments on my hair. He then starts spraying something in my hair, and goes on to say, “Doesn’t that smell good?” Sure it smells good. It’s not going to smell bad. I nod my head to say, yes it smells good. I’m not going to contradict anything this guy says, especially when he is holding a scissors to my head.

After the cut, he starts raving about my “now beautiful hair” and what a difference that “spray” had done! My hair is nice now because my dry ends are cut-it isn’t the spray. As he proceeds to take off my apron, he shows me the sale of shampoo on display. Two bottles for $35! What a deal, right. I politely tell him, “No thanks, not this time, but thank you.” What does the guy do? He just goes and on in front of the people in the waiting room. “But this is sale price! This is a good deal!” He goes on to plead his case. I tell him, “Sorry, no thanks.” Well, he turns away with a sad look on his face like a wounded dog. Oh brother. If I wanted to spend $35 on shampoo, I wouldn’t be going to the neighborhood Super Cuts. I’m cheap, okay? Deal with it. I gave him a nice tip, but I didn’t even get an “I thank you.” The girl who took my transaction mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” Whatever, but I do like my haircut.


Nick playing between his daddy's legs at his brother Matt's graduation.