Like sands through the hourglass... so are the Days of Our Lives

Where to begin… To say the least I’ve had some pretty interesting things happen to me in the past couple of weeks. Some things I’m choosing to leave out so I do not incriminate myself or others involved. So I’m going to tell you two different stories. The first story is one that will make you laugh and also wonder about the individuals, and the second one is well… a situation that nobody wants to be involved but find it entertaining when it is happening to somebody else. But with out further adieu…. Story number one…

I was in the lovely not so crowded Wal-Mart. So that is a contradiction in terms since I am living in a college town where college co-eds run rampant in the streets and Wal-Mart is somehow the local watering hole for the co-eds… during the day that is, but back to the story. I was there running an errand and just to waste some time while I was there, so I headed into the sporting goods section. As I was approaching I see three girls standing in the aisle of where the soccer balls were. These girls were looking at the soccer balls very intently but also with very confused faces. They had multiple soccer balls down and then I hear why they were confused. “I cannot find anywhere on here that lets you know if it is a right or left footed ball! It should be on here!” I’m not kidding. You cannot make this kind of stuff up. I saw the man behind the counter enjoying the mad confusion of these girls. He was doing everything he could NOT to laugh hysterically at them. He looks at me shaking his head and looks back at them. I couldn’t help myself. I walked up to them and asked them what they were looking for. So they told me they needed two different soccer balls b/c one of the girls was right footed and the other was left footed. The third girl had no idea if she was left or right footed. So what I did next probably was mean but I seriously couldn’t pass this up. I picked up two of the same sized soccer balls but in different colors. I held them slightly differently and said, “See you can see a slight difference in the curvature of the ball. It makes for a more accurate shot and control. But if you can shoot with both feet then you can play with (I’m picking up another soccer ball) this one. You can see that the curvature of this ball is perfect for playing with since it suited for both left and right footed players.” I somehow managed to keep a straight face during this whole scientific farce of an explanation. The three girls looked at me and thanked me for clearing things up for them. They bought the three soccer balls at the counter behind me, and left happy customers. They guy at the counter looked at me and said, “Where did you come up with that? I almost believed you.” All I could say was, “I couldn’t help myself. But they just bought three of the same balls in different colors.” The guy at the counter just laughed.

*This next story, names and locations have been changed to protect those involved*

The other night I met up with some friends I haven’t seen in a while. I will dub them as Elliott, Carrie, Gwen, Drew and some others met up and City Grocery to have some drinks and catch up. We were there for a little while and then went and had dinner at one of the hibachi grills in town. During dinner I get a phone call from a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. I’ll dub him Jason. He was calling to let me know he was in town for the night and wanted to hang out. I was up for it so we decided to meet at Rooster’s around 10:30 or so. So Jason and I are at the upstairs bar catching each other up on what was going on in our lives, and he was in mid sentence when he says, “Oh Shit.” This, of course, confused me. I turned to see where he was looking but before I saw anything I heard one of the doors coming in from the balcony slam shut with some ummph behind it. It was one of those moments when everybody, even the bartenders, stops what they are doing or what they are saying to see what is about to go down. Get a mental picture of an outlaw in an old western movie walking into the saloon. He is looking for somebody and everybody is getting out of his way as he is walking up to whomever. This is what it looked like but instead of an outlaw with boots and stirrups on, it was a scorned ex with red stilettos storming towards Jason and me. I have my drink in hand and I don’t know if I should jump over the bar for protection or haul butt out of the bar. So what do I do… I stayed on my bar stool and listened to what was about to unfold… “Just what the hell do you think you are doing?! What makes you think you can just come to town and not call?! AND why the hell are you with a slut like her?...” I was entertained and laughing, to myself, at what was happening right in front of me. The bartenders were like whoa!!! People around us were of course watching and were like whoa… People were even looking in the windows to see what was going on. Talk about making a scene. I finished my drink looked at the bartender that took our order and mouthed… “this was on him…” I got up waved inconspicuously by to Jason and walked out very casually but made sure that my back was never towards the girl. I was getting looks from people like… “Is she really just walking away and leaving him to deal with that?!” or “Smart move… I would have done the same thing…” Lets just say I called it an early night this night. But I did get a call from Jason a little bit later saying he was sorry about that and that they had been broken up for 4-5 months now and why I left the way I did. I told him it was an interesting point in the night and that he would have done the same thing in my shoes.

There are some other stories I could tell that has happened in the past week, but sad to say it, but story time has come to an end. Don’t worry… there are sure to be more stories to come.

Mississippi Wedding

The weather for this past weekend could not of been any better for August. I don’t think it got above 85° and there was the perfect cool breeze blowing in as well. Friday night I drove to Grenada with my dad to visit my grandparents then we went to the football game my sister was mascotting. It is funny b/c GHS is also the Chargers but their colors are blue and red, Oxford is blue and gold. Oxford ended up winning 42 or 43-12. But the best part of the weekend was Saturday.

A friend of mine from growing up sister had her wedding on Saturday. Over the years her and I have become friends as well. We had the wedding day brunch and got to see a lot of the out of town guests and catch up. It was a lot of fun surprisingly. The wedding itself was out at one of my favorite churches in Oxford, College Hill. Techniquely it isn’t in Oxford but regardless it still is. When the time comes for me to get married that is one of the two churches I wouldn’t mind getting married in. I could go on forever about the service itself but honestly my words could not do it justice. I think how simplistic it was and not so “frou-frou” is what I loved about it.

The reception was at her house. It was beautiful. She originally planned on having a large tent set up beside their lake but her dad commented saying that it was way to expensive for a tent when he could build a pavilion himself, which he did. It was amazing. Driving down their driveway the reflection on the lake from the lights on the pavilion and the lights from the house were amazing. Mason jars with candles lined the walkways and where hanging from the trees. The Motown band played and dancing was expected. According to the band, “Y’all gotta get out here and dance up a storm so A’s dad can lay down some more sod b/c I think he has some left over! So lets get to it!” It was so much fun seeing everybody and catching up. I don't think you can go wrong with good food, friends and a Motown band. I got to speak to A before she left. As we were talking one of her brides maids walked up and told us she heard a little girl say, "I want to be like A when I get married." "Now what is A like that you want to be like?" "She is eating. All other brides I've seen never ate on their wedding day." It was a priceless moment. I think another key part to the night was that it was in the 60s and there wasn't a mosquito in site! 

I've been to my fair share of weddings over the years. The ones that I've enjoyed the most have been in the same group of friends. They are all older than me but all of their weddings were distinctly unique. They are the ones I remember the most. Their receptions, the bands, etc were all fun and laid back. I have a handful I have to attend in the next coming months. A few in September, a few more in October, actually a few each month till the end of December. It seems like wedding season is never over. I am just glad I have a bunch of dresses I can wear now. Should be fun though. 

 

Today started out kind of crappy. Yeah everybody has those days when you are just out of sync with yourself. I'll describe how my morning went...

 

So I'm up at 6 and rolling out of bed to get on some running clothes. I'm not a morning person at all. I don't speak to anybody because I would much rather still be in bed. This morning I literally rolled out of bed. I had no idea I was on the edge. I hit my head on my nightstand and the picture fell off and broke. It is funny looking at it now... but one should know that you are always close to the edge when you are on a twin bed. So I pick up the pieces of glass and the frame. I managed to make it to the bathroom with a casualty. I turned too soon and my big toe decided to pick a fight with the door jam. Shooting pain up my leg is what really wakes me up in the morning. There really isn't a whole lot you can do w/ a toe that doesn't want to bend. So what did I do... still go running. Run through the pain. Yeah that makes sense. I should of just turned around and climbed back into bed and not run. But no... I pushed through and continue to get ready to go running. Wash of my face and teeth and head downstairs.

 

So I'm almost to the point of talking but I'm still not because of how my morning was going, it was better for everybody if I just kept to myself. I get my water bottle; grab my headphones and head to my car to get my iPod. I spent most of Sunday afternoon washing my car. It was getting a little dirty so I cleaned it. I even armoralled the tires and cleaned the leather seats. My car this morning looked like I haven't washed it in a while and leave it parked in a chicken coop all the time. My car was covered with bird crap. I think every bird in Oxford decided to hang out over my car or they had this clean car radar and decided to mark territory or something. By this point it is 6:30 and close to 80 something degrees. So I moved my car to the shade and hosed it off so the bird's love droppings wouldn't be so hard to wash off later. I finally got to my run @ 7:15. It was a good 3-mile run/walk. Had to walk more than run b/c of my big toe at the start, but running through the pain was the best thing. I lost about 8 pounds of water weight on the run. 

 

Things continued on the rough path all morning. I was taking down my framed bid day pictures from freshman year and I some how managed to drop the one of the whole sorority, on my foot and managed to hit my pledge class group photos. So, more broken glass. So at that point I made a mental note.... DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING BREAKABLE. So I'm taking that photo and the pledge class photos to be re-framed.  

 

The turn of my day happened @ noon today. Ironic? Maybe, but the mail came early today. This is significant. There was a package in the mail for me. I love getting stuff in the mail. Letters, packages, post-cards, etc. I wasn't expecting anything, never am, but it was a nice surprise. I got a late graduation gift from our good family friends from Houston, TX. We might as well be related b/c they are as close as family to us. They sent me two cookbooks. I know this probably sounds mundane but I love cookbooks. I have about 20 or so books of all different kinds and none could top the ones I got today. One of the cookbooks was made/put together in 1949. It was an original. The “Home Demonstration Clubs” of Sunflower County put it together. There are hand drawings through out it and little notes and stains in it as well. The other was a copy of the 1899 White House cookbook. Completely different style of cookbook than what I'm use to. Each recipe is a paragraph or more w/o an ingredient list. You have to read the whole recipe to know what you need before you get started. That is one way to get somebody to read the directions before they get started. It made my day. 

I'm easy to please. If anybody every has any doubt on what to get me as a gift... if it is cooking related; I'm sure to like/love it. For instance, I was given an apron, a cookbook, random cooking utensils, and some spices one time as a gift... I loved it. I'm the kind of person that will go into an antique store and look for old cookbooks, cooking pans, pots or skillets, and so forth. Yes, I might look at the furniture, but I'm always finding myself looking at old kitchen stuff. These two new additions to my cookbook collection are amazing. If I every throw a late 40s themed food party I'll know where to look. So besides my rough morning, I hope things don't continue to dismantle around me.