our assignment tonight was to think about a narrative passage we might include in our book. then to take a "philosophical tangent." our passage was to start with "This much I know is true..." the prof told me that what i had written was extraordinary! i am still floating. :) after class he reiterated that it was remarkable. he was really impressed. *blush* here's what i wrote and read in class:
This much I know is true: life goes on. The problem with not knowing what you want is that life goes on—ready or not.
I don’t know what I expected after having been gone for seventeen years, but I certainly didn’t expect to return home to find my friends middle-aged.
I was the one who had had it rough: I was the one who wandered and wondered. I was the one who had moved more than once a year for the last seven years. I was the one who had lost two jobs due to downsizing in the last two years. I was the one who leaped before I looked. I was the risk taker. Wasn’t that supposed to age me?
I had gone to seek fame and fortune—or at the very least, more excitement than one could find in Letart. To find a mate—a good looking son of a gun who didn’t care that I couldn’t cook but was impressed with the number of miles I had traveled and the things I had seen. Someone more than the “good ole boys” I had known since first grade.
I moved home, jobless and still single. I came back with my tail tucked between my legs and my head hanging low, but with a lifetime of memories and an address book full of friends. I thought those I left behind would be…what? Still twenty years old? Still fresh faced without a care in the world? Well, yes. They who had reached their life-long goal of getting married and having children. They had their families, their mortgages, their mini-vans. What in the world could have aged them? They knew what they wanted and had gotten it. I expected to find them just as I had left them.
I came home to find divorce, grandparents, death, joblessness. And I found they were as surprised by my stories as I was by theirs.
The problem with reaching your life-long dream so early is that life goes on.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
catching up with you
ok, it's been a good few days and i need to write about them before i forget.
last tuesday i drove to morgantown to meet my friend schmaaron. her mom had made banana nut bread for me!! i LOVE bnb, especially her mom's!! (but don't tell my mom!!) we went to a bar to watch the WVU women's basketball team lose the championship. :( we stayed at her parents' house and it was really good to see them again. i knew them when we all lived in p'burg, but haven't seen much of them since we all moved away from there. anyway, she had to get up early the next day to go to work...she lives and works in maryland. since she had the bad luck to have to be up by 5 a.m., i got the spare room and slept like a baby!! well, not really. ha. i mean, i really did get the spare room, but didn't quite sleep like a baby.
her mom had warned me to be sure i shut the bedroom door all the way--"'til it latches!" so the dog and cat wouldn't get in. the cat thinks it's his room. so i was sure to shut the door all the way. but after a couple of hrs of sleep, i got up to use the bathroom. i figured they were asleep somewhere else by this time so i left the door ajar while i went to relieve myself. big mistake. when i came back, the 25 lb cat was sprawled out on the floor. now don't get me wrong, i love animals!! so much so that i can't make myself leave them alone. but i'm allergic to them. so i try to chase him out. he let's me roll him across the floor until we get to the door. then he whips out the claws, digs into the carpet and refused to go through the door. i hiss at him. he hisses back. i try to pick him up. lol, i'm not kidding about the 25 lbs thing. what a lug. again, i make it to the door. then he hisses again. it scares me (cause i'm already nervous and thinking he might scratch me) so i drop him. finally i realize the more i fool with him the more hair and dander i'm going to disturb so i figure letting him sleep in the floor is the best option. well, really the only option at this point. ha
just as i'm dozing off, i hear this THUD and feel something hit the bed. yep, 25 lbs of fur. so i nudge him off with my feet. this happens three times. finally i decide, again, that i'm causing more harm to myself this way so i finally let him stay. he curls up between my feet and sleeps soundly the rest of the night. not too bad. and i didn't have an allergy attack. thank goodness for allergy meds!
next morning i got up around 8:30. schmaaron was long gone. her mom had gone to work also. so i chatted with her dad a bit and ate some more banana nut bread then headed east. i stopped and got gas. i could have kicked myself. on the way into town the night before gas was $1.12. this morning it's $1.18. i took 81 east to 70 south to 270 south. along the way i stopped at a rest area/scenic overlook in a national or state park. i think it was called green ridge. i took some really cool pics.
as i got close to her exit, i realized i was very near to DC. i wasn't sure what she had planned for the wknd and i would have hated to have been that close to DC and not gone on into town. so i stayed on 270 south to 495 south. (i think it was south). that's known as the outer belt. i had an atlas in the car, but it's very small and not very detailed and i couldn't reach it. but i have traveled some and i figured 495 went all the way around the city. thing was, i wasn't sure how much of the city i could see from there. i didn't want to stop anywhere, just wanted to see things from the road. so i took an exit that said downtown. this was 395. i went through one tunnel and entered a second one where traffic stopped. dead stopped. and i'm not a big fan of tunnels. however, i didn't think these tunnels were under water and that helped. (if they are under water, please don't tell me.) then i saw a sign that said 395 ends 1000 ft. hmmm. well, that would explain stopped traffic. but there has to be another road or something...well the something turned out to be new york street or ave. i think. all traffic must turn right. by this time i had found my atlas. it was almost no help. i could see i was heading northeast and i wanted to go northwest. well, straight west would get me back to 495, but i was going east. i thought, no sweat, i'll just turn around up here. i was in the left lane. there are 3 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and i have no hopes of getting to the right lane. and for several miles, left turns are not allowed!! by this time i'm almost in delaware. HA. i finally see a sign that says 495 straight ahead. low and behold i finally ran back into 495 but am on the opposite side of town from where i need to be. but i head west on 495 and end up back on north 270 to my exit. it just took a lot longer than i thought.
schmaaron came home from work and we decided to go get something to eat at olive garden. her friend jamie joined us. we had a good visit. i started to get a cough though. no sore throat, no other pains, just a cough that won't stop. it was very annoying. and it started to rain. jamie left and marna and i headed to a book store. neither of us bought anything, we just love bookstores. then we tried to find a store that has cough syrup. well we went to a grocery store. they have gobs of cough syrup, but none that are just for coughs. i found some cough drops and some of those new melting strips that are just for coughs, but alas, everything is cherry flavored. blech. i hate cherry flavored anything. :( i finally decided on the melty strips though because i'm afraid i'll choke on a cough drop if i fall asleep.
saturday we thought about going to either gettysburg or harper's ferry. i have been to gettysburg, and i loved it!! i would go again in a heartbeat, but i also really wanted to go to harper's ferry cause i've never been there. so i asked her if she had been to either; she had not. so i decide on gettysburg cause everyone needs to see that. but it was all a moot decision, it rained really hard on saturday!! so we went shopping instead! we went to virginia and shopped at IKEA then went to a mall called potomac mills. OMG what a huge mall!! again, neither of us bought anything. haha. on the way there we ate at a place called hamburger hamlet. this was her idea--and she's a vegetarian!! it was really good. and the waiter was cute too. don't tell howard. i mean, i already told him and he didn't take it very well. LOL so we'll just keep that between us.
we were going to head back towards maryland and eat in a mexican restaurant, but when we got to the interstate, traffic heading north was backed up for MILES!! so we decided to eat where we were. we found a chile's and had a good dinner. we were worn out from the mall experience. we went home and crashed. all night fri night and all day saturday i sucked those stupid cherry flavored melty strips. YUCK. but they do work.
sunday i got up and showered. when i got out of the shower, she was watching the movie "love actually." no i'm NOT a big hugh grant fan, but this movie is so funny. i do like liam neesom and colin firth though, so it was ok. we talked for a while about relationships after the movie. then i had to hit the road. i was going to visit howard!! :D
last tuesday i drove to morgantown to meet my friend schmaaron. her mom had made banana nut bread for me!! i LOVE bnb, especially her mom's!! (but don't tell my mom!!) we went to a bar to watch the WVU women's basketball team lose the championship. :( we stayed at her parents' house and it was really good to see them again. i knew them when we all lived in p'burg, but haven't seen much of them since we all moved away from there. anyway, she had to get up early the next day to go to work...she lives and works in maryland. since she had the bad luck to have to be up by 5 a.m., i got the spare room and slept like a baby!! well, not really. ha. i mean, i really did get the spare room, but didn't quite sleep like a baby.
her mom had warned me to be sure i shut the bedroom door all the way--"'til it latches!" so the dog and cat wouldn't get in. the cat thinks it's his room. so i was sure to shut the door all the way. but after a couple of hrs of sleep, i got up to use the bathroom. i figured they were asleep somewhere else by this time so i left the door ajar while i went to relieve myself. big mistake. when i came back, the 25 lb cat was sprawled out on the floor. now don't get me wrong, i love animals!! so much so that i can't make myself leave them alone. but i'm allergic to them. so i try to chase him out. he let's me roll him across the floor until we get to the door. then he whips out the claws, digs into the carpet and refused to go through the door. i hiss at him. he hisses back. i try to pick him up. lol, i'm not kidding about the 25 lbs thing. what a lug. again, i make it to the door. then he hisses again. it scares me (cause i'm already nervous and thinking he might scratch me) so i drop him. finally i realize the more i fool with him the more hair and dander i'm going to disturb so i figure letting him sleep in the floor is the best option. well, really the only option at this point. ha
just as i'm dozing off, i hear this THUD and feel something hit the bed. yep, 25 lbs of fur. so i nudge him off with my feet. this happens three times. finally i decide, again, that i'm causing more harm to myself this way so i finally let him stay. he curls up between my feet and sleeps soundly the rest of the night. not too bad. and i didn't have an allergy attack. thank goodness for allergy meds!
next morning i got up around 8:30. schmaaron was long gone. her mom had gone to work also. so i chatted with her dad a bit and ate some more banana nut bread then headed east. i stopped and got gas. i could have kicked myself. on the way into town the night before gas was $1.12. this morning it's $1.18. i took 81 east to 70 south to 270 south. along the way i stopped at a rest area/scenic overlook in a national or state park. i think it was called green ridge. i took some really cool pics.
as i got close to her exit, i realized i was very near to DC. i wasn't sure what she had planned for the wknd and i would have hated to have been that close to DC and not gone on into town. so i stayed on 270 south to 495 south. (i think it was south). that's known as the outer belt. i had an atlas in the car, but it's very small and not very detailed and i couldn't reach it. but i have traveled some and i figured 495 went all the way around the city. thing was, i wasn't sure how much of the city i could see from there. i didn't want to stop anywhere, just wanted to see things from the road. so i took an exit that said downtown. this was 395. i went through one tunnel and entered a second one where traffic stopped. dead stopped. and i'm not a big fan of tunnels. however, i didn't think these tunnels were under water and that helped. (if they are under water, please don't tell me.) then i saw a sign that said 395 ends 1000 ft. hmmm. well, that would explain stopped traffic. but there has to be another road or something...well the something turned out to be new york street or ave. i think. all traffic must turn right. by this time i had found my atlas. it was almost no help. i could see i was heading northeast and i wanted to go northwest. well, straight west would get me back to 495, but i was going east. i thought, no sweat, i'll just turn around up here. i was in the left lane. there are 3 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and i have no hopes of getting to the right lane. and for several miles, left turns are not allowed!! by this time i'm almost in delaware. HA. i finally see a sign that says 495 straight ahead. low and behold i finally ran back into 495 but am on the opposite side of town from where i need to be. but i head west on 495 and end up back on north 270 to my exit. it just took a lot longer than i thought.
schmaaron came home from work and we decided to go get something to eat at olive garden. her friend jamie joined us. we had a good visit. i started to get a cough though. no sore throat, no other pains, just a cough that won't stop. it was very annoying. and it started to rain. jamie left and marna and i headed to a book store. neither of us bought anything, we just love bookstores. then we tried to find a store that has cough syrup. well we went to a grocery store. they have gobs of cough syrup, but none that are just for coughs. i found some cough drops and some of those new melting strips that are just for coughs, but alas, everything is cherry flavored. blech. i hate cherry flavored anything. :( i finally decided on the melty strips though because i'm afraid i'll choke on a cough drop if i fall asleep.
saturday we thought about going to either gettysburg or harper's ferry. i have been to gettysburg, and i loved it!! i would go again in a heartbeat, but i also really wanted to go to harper's ferry cause i've never been there. so i asked her if she had been to either; she had not. so i decide on gettysburg cause everyone needs to see that. but it was all a moot decision, it rained really hard on saturday!! so we went shopping instead! we went to virginia and shopped at IKEA then went to a mall called potomac mills. OMG what a huge mall!! again, neither of us bought anything. haha. on the way there we ate at a place called hamburger hamlet. this was her idea--and she's a vegetarian!! it was really good. and the waiter was cute too. don't tell howard. i mean, i already told him and he didn't take it very well. LOL so we'll just keep that between us.
we were going to head back towards maryland and eat in a mexican restaurant, but when we got to the interstate, traffic heading north was backed up for MILES!! so we decided to eat where we were. we found a chile's and had a good dinner. we were worn out from the mall experience. we went home and crashed. all night fri night and all day saturday i sucked those stupid cherry flavored melty strips. YUCK. but they do work.
sunday i got up and showered. when i got out of the shower, she was watching the movie "love actually." no i'm NOT a big hugh grant fan, but this movie is so funny. i do like liam neesom and colin firth though, so it was ok. we talked for a while about relationships after the movie. then i had to hit the road. i was going to visit howard!! :D
the woods
Just beyond the potato patch was a patch of woods. I had lived all my life in town until we moved to Letart. I experienced a lot of culture shock. While I loved the gardening and few other things about rural life, I was deathly afraid of the woods. I never ventured past the last row of potatoes but David often did. That boy worried me to death!; so much so that I had a recurring nightmare.
In this nightmare, he had gone into the woods and I was sent in to get him. I found him in a cave with a monster! In the middle of the cave was Ruth’s black metal phone stand and their phone. The monster refused to let us go and refused to let us use the phone. Then it started raining. The cave started to flood, but still the monster kept us. Soon the water was at David’s chin. The monster instructed me to hold him on my shoulders if I was afraid of him drowning. So I did. When the water to my chin, the monster finally said I could call for help. When the phone rang, I woke up.
In this nightmare, he had gone into the woods and I was sent in to get him. I found him in a cave with a monster! In the middle of the cave was Ruth’s black metal phone stand and their phone. The monster refused to let us go and refused to let us use the phone. Then it started raining. The cave started to flood, but still the monster kept us. Soon the water was at David’s chin. The monster instructed me to hold him on my shoulders if I was afraid of him drowning. So I did. When the water to my chin, the monster finally said I could call for help. When the phone rang, I woke up.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
garden & potato patch
To one side of our house was a garden. There is nothing like home grown tomatoes, corn on the cob, cucumbers, and peas. My dad says there’s nothing like West Virginia homegrown vegetables. He left here when he was sixteen and has traveled all over the United States but has yet to find a tomato like the ones his dad raised. The first several rows of our garden were strawberries. They were small and full of holes, but were the best strawberries in the world to me. Ruth made great strawberry pies and a lot of people wanted her glaze recipe. She said the secret was to add just a couple drops of oil to the glaze to improve the consistency.
Just beyond the garden was our potato patch. There has to be Irish blood somewhere in this family. When I got older and started visiting other people, I couldn’t believe they could serve a meal without potatoes. And was even more shocked that other people have never even tasted a raw potato! We had potatoes at almost every meal (except when pasta was our main dish).
The Stove Top Stuffing commercials used to drive us crazy. “Have Stove Top Stuffing instead of potatoes.” Instead of potatoes!? We were incredulous. Why not with potatoes? I’m sure others would have laughed at our holiday spreads. We often had mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes or yams, and potato salad too. Sometimes we even had Stove Top Stuffing with all those potatoes.
Recently I was discussing food with my Grandma and I mentioned that I thought peas were my favorite vegetable. She got the strangest look and said, “What about potatoes?”
I said, “Grandma, potatoes are my favorite food! They are in a class all by themselves and cannot be considered with mere vegetables.”
I loved helping during hoeing time in the potato patch. I rarely got to hoe because I wasn’t careful enough. I often swung the hoe with too much force and would plant it deeply into a potato damaging it. Sometimes I cut them clean in two. So my hoeing days were short lived. But I was allowed to pick them up and carry them to the wagon after Jack uncovered a pile of them. I loved the smell of the dirt and potatoes.
After the potatoes were dug, we took them to the back yard water pump—we called it a spigot. We washed the potatoes carefully and dried them. Ruth explained that we couldn’t let the sun dry them because they would get sunburned and sunburn on a potato is poison to little bellies. After drying them, we sorted them. Any that had damage were taken straight into the house to be used first. The rest we carried down into the cellar under Jack’s tool shed. There they were kept cool and out of the sun’s damaging rays.
The door into the cellar was in the floor of the shed. I hated going completely into the cellar. I was the one who handed the potatoes down into the cellar. Ruth often asked me to go get potatoes for our next meal. I would take David with me and make him stand on the stairs with his head above the door so nobody would shut it accidentally. When he got to the age that I thought he might try to shut it on me as a joke, we changed roles. I made him go into the cellar while I stood guard.
Just beyond the garden was our potato patch. There has to be Irish blood somewhere in this family. When I got older and started visiting other people, I couldn’t believe they could serve a meal without potatoes. And was even more shocked that other people have never even tasted a raw potato! We had potatoes at almost every meal (except when pasta was our main dish).
The Stove Top Stuffing commercials used to drive us crazy. “Have Stove Top Stuffing instead of potatoes.” Instead of potatoes!? We were incredulous. Why not with potatoes? I’m sure others would have laughed at our holiday spreads. We often had mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes or yams, and potato salad too. Sometimes we even had Stove Top Stuffing with all those potatoes.
Recently I was discussing food with my Grandma and I mentioned that I thought peas were my favorite vegetable. She got the strangest look and said, “What about potatoes?”
I said, “Grandma, potatoes are my favorite food! They are in a class all by themselves and cannot be considered with mere vegetables.”
I loved helping during hoeing time in the potato patch. I rarely got to hoe because I wasn’t careful enough. I often swung the hoe with too much force and would plant it deeply into a potato damaging it. Sometimes I cut them clean in two. So my hoeing days were short lived. But I was allowed to pick them up and carry them to the wagon after Jack uncovered a pile of them. I loved the smell of the dirt and potatoes.
After the potatoes were dug, we took them to the back yard water pump—we called it a spigot. We washed the potatoes carefully and dried them. Ruth explained that we couldn’t let the sun dry them because they would get sunburned and sunburn on a potato is poison to little bellies. After drying them, we sorted them. Any that had damage were taken straight into the house to be used first. The rest we carried down into the cellar under Jack’s tool shed. There they were kept cool and out of the sun’s damaging rays.
The door into the cellar was in the floor of the shed. I hated going completely into the cellar. I was the one who handed the potatoes down into the cellar. Ruth often asked me to go get potatoes for our next meal. I would take David with me and make him stand on the stairs with his head above the door so nobody would shut it accidentally. When he got to the age that I thought he might try to shut it on me as a joke, we changed roles. I made him go into the cellar while I stood guard.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Thurs 3/17/2005
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!
What a week. Howard came to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen each other since the week of Valentine's Day! Ugh, what a horrible month it was.
He got here Sunday evening and went to church with me. A Catholic in a Baptist Church!! Everyone survived. LOL. Monday we went to Parkersburg to visit Martha and Becky at WVUP. We had planned on going to dinner and a movie. We went to the mall and ate in the food court. (I had Chik-fil-A and he had Burger King.) Then we went to check on the movie times. We would have to wait 2 hours! Sooo...
We decided to leave Parkersburg and drive towards Indianapolis to visit his mom. We decided we'd drive an hour or two then stop and see a movie then stay all night. We were aiming for Columbus. Along the way we decided to skip the movie. We drove a little past Dayton and got a hotel. We got up the next morning and ate at the Waffle House. We drove on to his mom's house in Indianapolis.
We stayed with her until Wednesday afternoon. It was quite an emotional time for Howard. His mom is under Hospice care. Say a prayer for her and for him. And for his brother too.
Wednesday afternoon we left Indianapolis. We drove to Dayton and visited my Uncle Jr. and Aunt Hazel. It was really good to see them, but they are not doing very well healthwise. I need to get back out there soon.
We made it all the way back home on Wednesday.
Thursday turned my week around. I had a very good Thursday. Howard and I went to my Writer's Group meeting. The facilitator, Joan, asked if anyone had any readings. I did not (for a change!). Others read then Joan said, "Well, I brought something to read this week. I don't usually write fiction, but Suzie has been my inspiration. She inspired me to write."
WOW!! I felt soooooo good about that!! And what she wrote was very good! I have had this dopey grin on my face since then!
THEN...
After the meeting I went to the Ladie's room and ran into Toni there. Somehow we got to talking about stand up comedy and she said she'd like to try it. I told her I had done it and it was a lot of fun. So she got really excited and started talking about all these places we could try to get to let us do it. She, Joan, Howard, and I went to a cafe on Main Street (Red Parrot, or something like that) to talk to the owner about doing it there. She sometimes has musicians so we wondered if she'd be interested in allowing our group to do readings or comedy.
They kind of put me on the spot and asked me to do some comedy there. I was very nervous but came up with a few jokes. They thought it was pretty good and the owner said she'd think aobut it. But Toni wants to do the show next month! I don't know if that's enough time for me to come up with a routine. Anyway, Joan and Toni went into the other room to play the poker machines. Then the owner of the cafe...what was her name??? She looked at me and said, "You really have some talent there. You need to persue this comedy thing. I look forward to having you here. Good luck!"
:) I feel really really good about this.
But on the downside...during that meeting, Howard got a phone call from his ex wife. He knew his daughter had stones in her neck/throat (like gall stones or kidney stones, but in her neck). His ex was calling to tell him that their daughter needed surgery and it was scheduled for the day after Easter. Not a good week for him! :(
After that, Howard and I went to dinner at the Golden Corral (sp?) across the river. Then I wanted to drive him across Route 2. But we had made plans to be at Pat's by 7. We had 45 mins. We started out Rt 2. I stopped to get gas. $2.08!! And that's a GOOD price. It's $2.25 in most places. We went out Rt 2 to Plain Valley Rd. We went across to Sand Hill. I had to check my msgs before going to Pat's. I had left a msg to make plans to visit and told them to let me know via the phone. There were no msgs!! I picked up the phone to call and realized my computer was still online! We had left it online to finish downloading something. But I really thought it would kick offline when it was done. So Connie had tried to call, but couldn't get through! Yes, it was ok to come over and visit.
We had a really nice visit with them.
Today we met Mom and Grandma for lunch at the Corner Cafe. After that Howard wanted to go to the dam. We went, but couldn't get very close to it. So he asked if we could get closer on the Ohio side. I didn't know, but told him we'd find out. We drove to Ravenswood and crossed the river. Then went down Rt 124 to the dam. There is fishing access to the river on the south side of the dam. We walked down and watched the water for a little bit.
Then we drove back to Butch's and Howard fixed mac n cheese. The three of us visited for a while then Howard left to go home. He should be home any second now! I can't wait to chat with him. And I will not wait another month to see him!!!!!!!
What a week. Howard came to visit on Sunday. We haven't seen each other since the week of Valentine's Day! Ugh, what a horrible month it was.
He got here Sunday evening and went to church with me. A Catholic in a Baptist Church!! Everyone survived. LOL. Monday we went to Parkersburg to visit Martha and Becky at WVUP. We had planned on going to dinner and a movie. We went to the mall and ate in the food court. (I had Chik-fil-A and he had Burger King.) Then we went to check on the movie times. We would have to wait 2 hours! Sooo...
We decided to leave Parkersburg and drive towards Indianapolis to visit his mom. We decided we'd drive an hour or two then stop and see a movie then stay all night. We were aiming for Columbus. Along the way we decided to skip the movie. We drove a little past Dayton and got a hotel. We got up the next morning and ate at the Waffle House. We drove on to his mom's house in Indianapolis.
We stayed with her until Wednesday afternoon. It was quite an emotional time for Howard. His mom is under Hospice care. Say a prayer for her and for him. And for his brother too.
Wednesday afternoon we left Indianapolis. We drove to Dayton and visited my Uncle Jr. and Aunt Hazel. It was really good to see them, but they are not doing very well healthwise. I need to get back out there soon.
We made it all the way back home on Wednesday.
Thursday turned my week around. I had a very good Thursday. Howard and I went to my Writer's Group meeting. The facilitator, Joan, asked if anyone had any readings. I did not (for a change!). Others read then Joan said, "Well, I brought something to read this week. I don't usually write fiction, but Suzie has been my inspiration. She inspired me to write."
WOW!! I felt soooooo good about that!! And what she wrote was very good! I have had this dopey grin on my face since then!
THEN...
After the meeting I went to the Ladie's room and ran into Toni there. Somehow we got to talking about stand up comedy and she said she'd like to try it. I told her I had done it and it was a lot of fun. So she got really excited and started talking about all these places we could try to get to let us do it. She, Joan, Howard, and I went to a cafe on Main Street (Red Parrot, or something like that) to talk to the owner about doing it there. She sometimes has musicians so we wondered if she'd be interested in allowing our group to do readings or comedy.
They kind of put me on the spot and asked me to do some comedy there. I was very nervous but came up with a few jokes. They thought it was pretty good and the owner said she'd think aobut it. But Toni wants to do the show next month! I don't know if that's enough time for me to come up with a routine. Anyway, Joan and Toni went into the other room to play the poker machines. Then the owner of the cafe...what was her name??? She looked at me and said, "You really have some talent there. You need to persue this comedy thing. I look forward to having you here. Good luck!"
:) I feel really really good about this.
But on the downside...during that meeting, Howard got a phone call from his ex wife. He knew his daughter had stones in her neck/throat (like gall stones or kidney stones, but in her neck). His ex was calling to tell him that their daughter needed surgery and it was scheduled for the day after Easter. Not a good week for him! :(
After that, Howard and I went to dinner at the Golden Corral (sp?) across the river. Then I wanted to drive him across Route 2. But we had made plans to be at Pat's by 7. We had 45 mins. We started out Rt 2. I stopped to get gas. $2.08!! And that's a GOOD price. It's $2.25 in most places. We went out Rt 2 to Plain Valley Rd. We went across to Sand Hill. I had to check my msgs before going to Pat's. I had left a msg to make plans to visit and told them to let me know via the phone. There were no msgs!! I picked up the phone to call and realized my computer was still online! We had left it online to finish downloading something. But I really thought it would kick offline when it was done. So Connie had tried to call, but couldn't get through! Yes, it was ok to come over and visit.
We had a really nice visit with them.
Today we met Mom and Grandma for lunch at the Corner Cafe. After that Howard wanted to go to the dam. We went, but couldn't get very close to it. So he asked if we could get closer on the Ohio side. I didn't know, but told him we'd find out. We drove to Ravenswood and crossed the river. Then went down Rt 124 to the dam. There is fishing access to the river on the south side of the dam. We walked down and watched the water for a little bit.
Then we drove back to Butch's and Howard fixed mac n cheese. The three of us visited for a while then Howard left to go home. He should be home any second now! I can't wait to chat with him. And I will not wait another month to see him!!!!!!!
US 33
Just beyond the railroad tracks was a highway. At the time, it was US Route 33. Mom used to sit on the porch swing with me and drink sweet iced tea and watch the traffic go by. Sometimes she would wonder out loud if they were locals or travelers. We knew most of the locals’ cars and most locals beeped their horns as they passed. Those cars we didn’t recognize and didn’t beep must have been the travelers. Mom would look at me and say, “That highway right there will take you anywhere you want to go Suzie. If you ever leave here that’s the road you’ll take. But you’ll come back some day on that same road.
I knew that the road went lots of places. I could get to Mt. Alto or New Haven on that road. It’s also the road we came in on from Illinois when we moved here. And it was the road I would watch patiently at the end of the school year waiting for my dad to come and get me.
Turns out Mom was right about it being the highway I took when I left town. And, although it was no longer US33, it was the same stretch of road I came home on.
I knew that the road went lots of places. I could get to Mt. Alto or New Haven on that road. It’s also the road we came in on from Illinois when we moved here. And it was the road I would watch patiently at the end of the school year waiting for my dad to come and get me.
Turns out Mom was right about it being the highway I took when I left town. And, although it was no longer US33, it was the same stretch of road I came home on.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
the train tracks
The front yard was a very small patch of grass between our front porch and the gravel lane. Our house was the last house on this end of the lane. The gravels were actually small smooth stones. I could sit for hours examining them carefully. I picked out the prettiest ones—or sometimes the ugliest ones when I felt sorry for them—to keep. I remember one time, after a particularly long and hard rain, building a dam out of those stones. I watched how the water slowed as it reached the little dam then flowed faster again after it went over the dam.
Just beyond the lane was the railroad tracks. I dreamed about the railroad a lot back then. I’ve always wanted to take a long train ride, but I never have. Well, not that I remember. The story goes that when I was two years old my family took a train ride through the English countryside. Apparently I mooed to every cow we passed. Mom swears the other passengers love it; Dad rolls his eyes.
My brothers and I used to put pennies on these tracks at night and rush out to get them the next morning. The coins were now worthless as legal tender but lucky as a rabbit’s foot. We stopped that after someone at school warned us we could get arrested for defacing government property.
My younger brother and I knew the train schedule. The train went twice a day: once around noon and once around 9:30 p.m. Between noon and bedtime we were brave enough to walk on the tracks. A few years earlier I was in training to be a gymnast. Now I pretended the track was my balance beam and would sometimes do cartwheels on it. This never failed to stop Ruth’s heart.
We waited for the school bus at the railroad crossing, which was not quite half way down the lane from our house. It was the only access to our gravel lane from the main road. One morning we were waiting for the bus and a train whistle blew. A train was coming down the tracks at the wrong time of day! I ran back up the lane to assure Ruth that we had heard it and were off the tracks. I thought she’d be relieved to know it. Instead, she worried that I would miss the bus.
“Run!” she said. “Run! Don’t miss the bus!”
I ran as hard as I could, which wasn’t very hard for a child with activity induced asthma. I barely beat the train and I ran right in front of it. I know I scared the engineer; he blew the whistle and hit the brakes. But I made it across. I peed my pants in the process though and ended up missing the bus anyway.
Sometimes the noon trains had passenger cars. If we were home from school, Dave and I would stand in the lane and wave at the passengers. They always waved back. I was sort of a prissy thing back then, so sometimes I would dress up for the occasion. I watched them go by and wondered who they were and where they were going.
At night we would listen for the 9:30 train. Some nights we tried to be asleep before we heard it. Actually I think this was a game I made up to get David to go to sleep. I loved the whistle and can’t imagine that I would have tried to be asleep before I heard it. I think the nights that I did fall asleep early, I heard the whistle anyway and these are the nights I dreamed of riding the train.
Just beyond the lane was the railroad tracks. I dreamed about the railroad a lot back then. I’ve always wanted to take a long train ride, but I never have. Well, not that I remember. The story goes that when I was two years old my family took a train ride through the English countryside. Apparently I mooed to every cow we passed. Mom swears the other passengers love it; Dad rolls his eyes.
My brothers and I used to put pennies on these tracks at night and rush out to get them the next morning. The coins were now worthless as legal tender but lucky as a rabbit’s foot. We stopped that after someone at school warned us we could get arrested for defacing government property.
My younger brother and I knew the train schedule. The train went twice a day: once around noon and once around 9:30 p.m. Between noon and bedtime we were brave enough to walk on the tracks. A few years earlier I was in training to be a gymnast. Now I pretended the track was my balance beam and would sometimes do cartwheels on it. This never failed to stop Ruth’s heart.
We waited for the school bus at the railroad crossing, which was not quite half way down the lane from our house. It was the only access to our gravel lane from the main road. One morning we were waiting for the bus and a train whistle blew. A train was coming down the tracks at the wrong time of day! I ran back up the lane to assure Ruth that we had heard it and were off the tracks. I thought she’d be relieved to know it. Instead, she worried that I would miss the bus.
“Run!” she said. “Run! Don’t miss the bus!”
I ran as hard as I could, which wasn’t very hard for a child with activity induced asthma. I barely beat the train and I ran right in front of it. I know I scared the engineer; he blew the whistle and hit the brakes. But I made it across. I peed my pants in the process though and ended up missing the bus anyway.
Sometimes the noon trains had passenger cars. If we were home from school, Dave and I would stand in the lane and wave at the passengers. They always waved back. I was sort of a prissy thing back then, so sometimes I would dress up for the occasion. I watched them go by and wondered who they were and where they were going.
At night we would listen for the 9:30 train. Some nights we tried to be asleep before we heard it. Actually I think this was a game I made up to get David to go to sleep. I loved the whistle and can’t imagine that I would have tried to be asleep before I heard it. I think the nights that I did fall asleep early, I heard the whistle anyway and these are the nights I dreamed of riding the train.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Intro to House Story
My favorite childhood home was a two story white house in rural West Virginia. The house was built in the 1800’s by my grandma’s great aunt’s husband. The house was sold out of the family for years then in the 1950, my grandma’s parents bought the house. In 1969, my grandparents bought it from them. Through the years the old house had served as a hotel or bed and breakfast-type establishment. There was a train station right out front for many years. (But not in my lifetime.)
I moved into this house in 1975 when Mom packed up her three youngest children and moved back to West Virginia. She and Dad had divorced a couple of years earlier and she decided she wanted a stronger support system. We moved into this two-story white house with her parents whom I didn’t know very well. I had met them several times before, but it was almost a year before I felt comfortable enough with them to call them Grandma and Grandpa.
I love this house. And I love that I grew up with my grandparents so close.
The front yard was a very small patch of grass between our front porch and the gravel lane. Our house was the last house on this end of the lane. The gravels were actually small smooth stones. I could sit for hours examining them carefully. I picked out the prettiest ones—or sometimes the ugliest ones when I felt sorry for them—to keep. I remember one time, after a particularly long and hard rain, building a dam out of those stones. I watched how the water slowed as it reached the little dam then flowed faster again after it went over the dam.
I moved into this house in 1975 when Mom packed up her three youngest children and moved back to West Virginia. She and Dad had divorced a couple of years earlier and she decided she wanted a stronger support system. We moved into this two-story white house with her parents whom I didn’t know very well. I had met them several times before, but it was almost a year before I felt comfortable enough with them to call them Grandma and Grandpa.
I love this house. And I love that I grew up with my grandparents so close.
The front yard was a very small patch of grass between our front porch and the gravel lane. Our house was the last house on this end of the lane. The gravels were actually small smooth stones. I could sit for hours examining them carefully. I picked out the prettiest ones—or sometimes the ugliest ones when I felt sorry for them—to keep. I remember one time, after a particularly long and hard rain, building a dam out of those stones. I watched how the water slowed as it reached the little dam then flowed faster again after it went over the dam.
Monday, January 10, 2005
disney world trip
we went to kennedy space center on tuesday, stayed all night in orlando that night, then hit disney wednesday. magic kingdom opened at 9 and we made it! david had advised us to park at epcot because parking would be better. so we parked there and rode the monorail to the transportation and ticket center. on the way, howard commented that he loved the monorail and could ride it all day. he'd ride it instead of paying admission to the park. when we got to the transportation center, he and i discussed buying tickets there, but decided to wait until we got to the magic kingdom. we got there...and discovered there was a reason they sell tickets at the transportation center...it's because they don't sell them at the magic kingdom gates.
howard rode the monorail back to the ticket center while the kids and i went through security at the magic kingdom and waited for him by the gate. and waited. and waited. the bricks paving the walk ways had names and dates and hometowns on them. we found several from kentucky, including a couple from paintsville. or was it prestonsburg? we got bored. we watched every passenger walking down the ramp from the monorail stop. we really didn't think it would take that long. after about 1/2 an hour, alyssa (the 5 yr old), who was holding my hand, looked up at me and seriously said, "Do you remember when my dad said that he could ride the monorails all day? I think that's what he's doing." we all had a good laugh at that. a little later she added that if he didn't come back soon, she was going to eat his lunch...AND his dinner!
finally, ginny (13 yr old who got a tracfone for Christmas) decided to call him. the computers had gone down and he was still in line to buy the tickets!! he finally got back to the magic kingdom around 10 a.m.
we went into the park and walked through the swiss family robinson tree house. next we did the magic carpet ride. the person directing the guests asked, "How many?" well, we had already decided who was going to sit with whom, so sarah and ginny were first in line and replied, "Two." so the lady sends the two of them to one car. it ws a car that had room for at least 4 ppl. next was howard, alyssa, and thomas; they were sent to a different car. finally the party of two known as ann e and suzie were sent to a third car. we learned to tell the person running the ride that we were a party of 7 so there wouldn't be so much wasted space!
while on the magic carpet ride, alyssa and thomas spotted the tiki room and wanted to go to it. so we got a speed pass for the jungle cruise then went to the tiki room. that was a cute singing bird show. it got a little dark which freaked out alyssa a little bit, but it was kind of neat. the birds were really funny and the faces on the totum poles sang along.
that show ended and we went to the jungle cruise. i gotta tell ya, that not standing in line thing was great!! we felt kind of guilty walking right up to the front. i think we learned though that at that time of day we should have gotten a speed pass for one of the more popular rides (one of the mountains maybe). but who knew? the jungle cruise was pretty cool. the guide..."rhonda"...made it more enjoyable. she was a hoot. i put rhonda in quotation marks because, even though she told us more than once that rhonda was her name, her name tag said "jenny." as we came to the end of the cruise, she said, "If you enjoyed your trip today, I'm Rhonda and this is the Jungle Cruise. If you didn't enjoy it, my name is Stacy and this is Space Mountain." she called herself rhonda again. i had to ask. i raised my hand and she said, "I know what you are going to ask. Do I do parties??" we all laughed and i said, "No, I wanted to know why you keep telling us your name is Rhonda but your name tag says, 'Jenny'?" her response was, "Well, a couple of weeks ago I lost my name tag. About that same time, Jenny lost hers too." there seemed to be some sort of delay in us being able to disembark--there were two boats in front of us still waiting to unload. so at this point i think she started improvising. she said that before she started working the jungle cruise, she worked "it's a small world." she asked if we wanted to hear her presentation on that ride. we all agreed that we did. so she started: "How many? How many? How many? How many?" it's a good thing we had already ridden the magic carpet ride and had heard that presentation--it probably wouldn't have made sense if we hadn't known the presentation. ha
after this, we went to lunch. we ate at pecos bill's. it was pretty crowded and as i turned around to leave the food counter, my pop slid off of my tray. it fell straight down and landed sitting up. unfortunately, it hit so hard that it exploded like old faithful. pop went everywhere!! i mean everywhere!! even before it hit the floor i was saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" well, the pop sprayed all up the back of this cheerleading looking chick in shorts and a tank top. OMG, she went nuts. she had that little cheerleader "tsk" thing down perfectly. i tried not to laugh, but i failed. i at least kept my hand over my mouth and face while giggling, "I'm so sorry." i had to turn away to keep from totally losing control and the girl behind me was smirking too. i swear she almost winked at me. we enjoyed a good laugh at the prissy girl's expense. i did feel bad. but wow it was funny. to my credit, i was looking in my bag for some handi-wipes while they were giving me a new pop. but i couldn't find any. :(
after lunch we planned to get speed passes for splash mtn, but return time wasn't until 6:30! and we couldnt' get any other speed passes while holding this one. so we decided to get speed passes for thunder mtn which had an earlier return time. then we could stand in line for splash mtn. but the wait time posted for splash mtn was was longer than for thunder mtn. so ann e and ginny went to get speed tickets for splash mtn after all and we stood in line for thunder mtn.
this was going to be alyssa's first ride that wasn't a kiddie ride! and it was a roller coaster! she was so excited. while waiting in line she kept showing us how she was going to hold up her arms as we sped down the drops! but once we got on, she got a little spooked and started to fuss a little bit. she kept trying to look for her dad who was in the car behind us. so to get her mind on other things, i said, "Aren't you going to hold up your hands?" that made her kind of grin and she just shook her head no. her knuckles were white holding on to the bar. when we got off the roller coaster, howard said he heard her looking for him and asking for him. he asked if she was ok. she said, "Yes Dad. That was just fake scared." they were all looking forward to space mountain!
we didn't find out until later that it was ginny's first roller coaster too! more about it later, but her second roller coaster was space mtn!! that's a wild second coaster ride. :)
after thunder mountain, we went to the haunted mansion. we stood in line for over an hour when we finally got to the graveyard. the kids thought the tombstones were funny. but then they started hearing the moans, slamming doors and chains from inside the mansion. alyssa got a bit scared. she started crying and didn't want to go in. then it was announced that they were experiencing technical difficulties on the ride. but we decided to wait it out a bit. the noises kept going and alyssa couldn't help but hear them. i think if it wasn't for the noises she might have been ok. but she cried more. we waited longer. she cried harder. a few people around us decided not to wait longer. a group of people were finally let into the mansion--we JUST missed it! we would be the next people let in. we finally got into the stretching room of the mansion. it went dark and the noises got louder. howard had to hold alyssa. we were lead out of the room to stand in line again and wait to get onto the cars that take us through the mansion. another announcement came that they were experiencing technical difficulties again. more people left. alyssa really started crying hard now. we decided to ditch the ride. as we headed for the exit, we were offered speed passes to come back later in the day. while someone was getting them for howard another employee knelt down to talk to alyssa. he was so sorry that she was so scared. to make her feel better he told her where one of the hidden mickeys was on the ride. that cheered her up some, but she didn't want to come back to find it. so we didn't use the speed passes. it kind of put a damper on alyssa's enthusiasm for riding the rest of the day.
then we ate again. but i don't remember where. :( we headed towards splash mountain. ann e, ginny, sarah, and thomas all rode it!! they had speed passes, so we didn't have to stand in line with them. we stood on the bridge waiting for them to come down. alyssa got a little bored and asked if she could call a friend. she knew the number, so we called nicole. she talked for a little while. she was so excited, but nicole wasn't all that interested. it kind of hurt alyssa's feelings, but she was glad she got to talk to her. when the others got off of splash mountain, we rode the train over to mickey's toontown. as we boarded the train, i had it in my mind that the kids would all sit together in one row and howard and i would sit behind them. that's just what i expected. well it didn't work out that way. the kids split up and howard sat in one row with them and that filled up that seat. i actually stomped my foot and said, "But I wanted to sit next to you!" and i kinda whined when i said it. well i heard what a brat i sounded like so i forced myself to laugh it off and act like i was kidding. but i was a little bothered. the kids were being so good! they weren't at all tired and cranky like me.
we headed straight towards space mountain. ginny and sarah asked alyssa if she was going to ride. she really didn't want to, but didn't want to say no. so she said, "Maybe I won't be tall enough." we got to the ride and there was a measuring stand--she was JUST tall enough. man, she really got a look of disappointment when they told her she was tall enough. so i told her she had at least an hour to think about it and if she didn't want to ride she wouldn't have to. we got pretty close to the front of the line when there was an announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties. we were getting tired by this point and this was NOT good news. LOL the kids really were great. they were patient and understanding. they didn't get cranky. alyssa got quite tired though and really wanted us to hold her a while. so howard and i took turns for a while. she was really getting nervous about the ride and finally told me she didn't want to ride it but she didn't want us to leave her alone. i promised her we wouldn't leave her alone. i told her we would take turns riding so someone could stay with her. the way it works is that everyone except me and her would get on the ride. i would stand with her. then when the others got off the ride, they would wait with her while i took my turn. she said that she didn't want to wait in line again though. i told her she wouldn't have to; the people running the ride would let me get on it right then. she still didn't understand and begged me not to leave her alone. i promised i would not leave her alone. while we were waiting in line, howard found the hidden mickey in the asteroids flying across the sky. so we got to the front of the line and daniel asked us "How many?" LOL, i thought about rhonda. howard told him there were 7 of us in the party, then explained that one was not going to ride at all and that i would ride when the other 5 got back. so daniel sent the 5 who were going to ride towards a lady who would help them board the ride. meanwhile, he took alyssa and me to the side and explained that this ride would not stop here to let them out. we would have to start down the exit ramp and hang an early left. there would be seats there for us to wait. he said the ride would last for about 4 minutes. as soon as our family got off the ride, we should come back up the exit ramp to him. he warned us that nobody else would or could let us on the ride but him. so we walked down to where they would get off the ride. she watched my watch and counted how many times the second hand passed 12. they were back before it passed 4 times. we hiked back up to the loading area. daniel let the other kids ride again. well, sarah didn't go, but ann e, ginny, and thomas all rode with me. i screamed through the whole ride. i'm sure i embarrassed them! first i yelled, "I want my mommy!" to which ann e replied, "Who's the crybaby now??" (funny inside story...maybe i'll post it sometime.) i think i went over the top when i yelled, "I have to peeeeeeeeee!!"
sarah really wanted to see the stitch show so we found it after space mountain. but it was close to time for the fireworks. so we watched the fireworks first. the fireworks were awesome. i took lots of pictures, but they really don't do it justice. after that we went back to stitch. at last we got to sit down!! i closed my eyes and tried to relax for a few minutes. it was kind of scary for alyssa. we finally figured out it was the dark that freaked her out. everytime she was brought to tears, it was dark. stitch ran around the audience, he farted on us, spit on us, then he asked each of us if we would be his friend. the fart was really hot, stinky, and just gross! we smelled it the rest of the night. ugh. we decided as a whole that we didn't like it very much overall. and so much for my nap during the show! yuck.
after this we looked for ice cream. we finally found it after asking 3 employees and walking for what seemed like 1/2 an hour. but it was really really good!! it was right beside the winnie the pooh ride. we thought alyssa would want to ride that, but she didn't notice it. i was kind of glad because there is a part of the ride that gets dark as you go through a thunder storm. i don't think she would have liked that.
as we were eating our ice cream she commented that she had not seen mickey or winnie the pooh. ann e and ginny tried to explain to her that they were getting ready for the parade. they had to get dressed, etc. she thought about this for a minute then she said, "What about Winnie the Pooh? He only had to put his shirt on!" This cracked us up!
after the ice cream break we made our way to the carousel. that was a nice end to the evening. we all kind of relaxed and enjoyed the ride. i still didn't get to sit next to howard though. at least this time i didn't throw a fit. LOL after this they wanted to walk through the castle. i thought we could. we headed that way and found that some kind of show was going on and we could not walk through it. :( but we took a few pictures around it. then we headed towards the monorail. we rode to the transportation center through the hotel. we stopped at the hotel to let people off there. as we were slowing down, i was watching out the window and saw...ED!! (the husband of a woman i used to work with!!) i waved and he waved back and smiled, but i didn't think he recognized me. so as the doors opened, and i jumped up and yelled, "ED! It's me, Suzie." he grinned and came and hugged me. i told him i'd call sandi...which i haven't yet. i really need to do that. so that was kind of exciting. then the monorail took us to the transportation center. we changed monorails and went to epcot. the monorail seemed to go right through the middle of the park. it was cool to see all those rides. the park was completely closed up and dark. we got off at the platform in epcot and ran towards the tram. it was a good thing too...as we were getting on, they announced this was the last ride out to the parking lot!! this guy was pretty funny, but now i can't remember everything he said.
we got to the van and drove back to dad's. we were so very tired and exhausted, but happy. it was a really good day!
howard rode the monorail back to the ticket center while the kids and i went through security at the magic kingdom and waited for him by the gate. and waited. and waited. the bricks paving the walk ways had names and dates and hometowns on them. we found several from kentucky, including a couple from paintsville. or was it prestonsburg? we got bored. we watched every passenger walking down the ramp from the monorail stop. we really didn't think it would take that long. after about 1/2 an hour, alyssa (the 5 yr old), who was holding my hand, looked up at me and seriously said, "Do you remember when my dad said that he could ride the monorails all day? I think that's what he's doing." we all had a good laugh at that. a little later she added that if he didn't come back soon, she was going to eat his lunch...AND his dinner!
finally, ginny (13 yr old who got a tracfone for Christmas) decided to call him. the computers had gone down and he was still in line to buy the tickets!! he finally got back to the magic kingdom around 10 a.m.
we went into the park and walked through the swiss family robinson tree house. next we did the magic carpet ride. the person directing the guests asked, "How many?" well, we had already decided who was going to sit with whom, so sarah and ginny were first in line and replied, "Two." so the lady sends the two of them to one car. it ws a car that had room for at least 4 ppl. next was howard, alyssa, and thomas; they were sent to a different car. finally the party of two known as ann e and suzie were sent to a third car. we learned to tell the person running the ride that we were a party of 7 so there wouldn't be so much wasted space!
while on the magic carpet ride, alyssa and thomas spotted the tiki room and wanted to go to it. so we got a speed pass for the jungle cruise then went to the tiki room. that was a cute singing bird show. it got a little dark which freaked out alyssa a little bit, but it was kind of neat. the birds were really funny and the faces on the totum poles sang along.
that show ended and we went to the jungle cruise. i gotta tell ya, that not standing in line thing was great!! we felt kind of guilty walking right up to the front. i think we learned though that at that time of day we should have gotten a speed pass for one of the more popular rides (one of the mountains maybe). but who knew? the jungle cruise was pretty cool. the guide..."rhonda"...made it more enjoyable. she was a hoot. i put rhonda in quotation marks because, even though she told us more than once that rhonda was her name, her name tag said "jenny." as we came to the end of the cruise, she said, "If you enjoyed your trip today, I'm Rhonda and this is the Jungle Cruise. If you didn't enjoy it, my name is Stacy and this is Space Mountain." she called herself rhonda again. i had to ask. i raised my hand and she said, "I know what you are going to ask. Do I do parties??" we all laughed and i said, "No, I wanted to know why you keep telling us your name is Rhonda but your name tag says, 'Jenny'?" her response was, "Well, a couple of weeks ago I lost my name tag. About that same time, Jenny lost hers too." there seemed to be some sort of delay in us being able to disembark--there were two boats in front of us still waiting to unload. so at this point i think she started improvising. she said that before she started working the jungle cruise, she worked "it's a small world." she asked if we wanted to hear her presentation on that ride. we all agreed that we did. so she started: "How many? How many? How many? How many?" it's a good thing we had already ridden the magic carpet ride and had heard that presentation--it probably wouldn't have made sense if we hadn't known the presentation. ha
after this, we went to lunch. we ate at pecos bill's. it was pretty crowded and as i turned around to leave the food counter, my pop slid off of my tray. it fell straight down and landed sitting up. unfortunately, it hit so hard that it exploded like old faithful. pop went everywhere!! i mean everywhere!! even before it hit the floor i was saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" well, the pop sprayed all up the back of this cheerleading looking chick in shorts and a tank top. OMG, she went nuts. she had that little cheerleader "tsk" thing down perfectly. i tried not to laugh, but i failed. i at least kept my hand over my mouth and face while giggling, "I'm so sorry." i had to turn away to keep from totally losing control and the girl behind me was smirking too. i swear she almost winked at me. we enjoyed a good laugh at the prissy girl's expense. i did feel bad. but wow it was funny. to my credit, i was looking in my bag for some handi-wipes while they were giving me a new pop. but i couldn't find any. :(
after lunch we planned to get speed passes for splash mtn, but return time wasn't until 6:30! and we couldnt' get any other speed passes while holding this one. so we decided to get speed passes for thunder mtn which had an earlier return time. then we could stand in line for splash mtn. but the wait time posted for splash mtn was was longer than for thunder mtn. so ann e and ginny went to get speed tickets for splash mtn after all and we stood in line for thunder mtn.
this was going to be alyssa's first ride that wasn't a kiddie ride! and it was a roller coaster! she was so excited. while waiting in line she kept showing us how she was going to hold up her arms as we sped down the drops! but once we got on, she got a little spooked and started to fuss a little bit. she kept trying to look for her dad who was in the car behind us. so to get her mind on other things, i said, "Aren't you going to hold up your hands?" that made her kind of grin and she just shook her head no. her knuckles were white holding on to the bar. when we got off the roller coaster, howard said he heard her looking for him and asking for him. he asked if she was ok. she said, "Yes Dad. That was just fake scared." they were all looking forward to space mountain!
we didn't find out until later that it was ginny's first roller coaster too! more about it later, but her second roller coaster was space mtn!! that's a wild second coaster ride. :)
after thunder mountain, we went to the haunted mansion. we stood in line for over an hour when we finally got to the graveyard. the kids thought the tombstones were funny. but then they started hearing the moans, slamming doors and chains from inside the mansion. alyssa got a bit scared. she started crying and didn't want to go in. then it was announced that they were experiencing technical difficulties on the ride. but we decided to wait it out a bit. the noises kept going and alyssa couldn't help but hear them. i think if it wasn't for the noises she might have been ok. but she cried more. we waited longer. she cried harder. a few people around us decided not to wait longer. a group of people were finally let into the mansion--we JUST missed it! we would be the next people let in. we finally got into the stretching room of the mansion. it went dark and the noises got louder. howard had to hold alyssa. we were lead out of the room to stand in line again and wait to get onto the cars that take us through the mansion. another announcement came that they were experiencing technical difficulties again. more people left. alyssa really started crying hard now. we decided to ditch the ride. as we headed for the exit, we were offered speed passes to come back later in the day. while someone was getting them for howard another employee knelt down to talk to alyssa. he was so sorry that she was so scared. to make her feel better he told her where one of the hidden mickeys was on the ride. that cheered her up some, but she didn't want to come back to find it. so we didn't use the speed passes. it kind of put a damper on alyssa's enthusiasm for riding the rest of the day.
then we ate again. but i don't remember where. :( we headed towards splash mountain. ann e, ginny, sarah, and thomas all rode it!! they had speed passes, so we didn't have to stand in line with them. we stood on the bridge waiting for them to come down. alyssa got a little bored and asked if she could call a friend. she knew the number, so we called nicole. she talked for a little while. she was so excited, but nicole wasn't all that interested. it kind of hurt alyssa's feelings, but she was glad she got to talk to her. when the others got off of splash mountain, we rode the train over to mickey's toontown. as we boarded the train, i had it in my mind that the kids would all sit together in one row and howard and i would sit behind them. that's just what i expected. well it didn't work out that way. the kids split up and howard sat in one row with them and that filled up that seat. i actually stomped my foot and said, "But I wanted to sit next to you!" and i kinda whined when i said it. well i heard what a brat i sounded like so i forced myself to laugh it off and act like i was kidding. but i was a little bothered. the kids were being so good! they weren't at all tired and cranky like me.
we headed straight towards space mountain. ginny and sarah asked alyssa if she was going to ride. she really didn't want to, but didn't want to say no. so she said, "Maybe I won't be tall enough." we got to the ride and there was a measuring stand--she was JUST tall enough. man, she really got a look of disappointment when they told her she was tall enough. so i told her she had at least an hour to think about it and if she didn't want to ride she wouldn't have to. we got pretty close to the front of the line when there was an announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties. we were getting tired by this point and this was NOT good news. LOL the kids really were great. they were patient and understanding. they didn't get cranky. alyssa got quite tired though and really wanted us to hold her a while. so howard and i took turns for a while. she was really getting nervous about the ride and finally told me she didn't want to ride it but she didn't want us to leave her alone. i promised her we wouldn't leave her alone. i told her we would take turns riding so someone could stay with her. the way it works is that everyone except me and her would get on the ride. i would stand with her. then when the others got off the ride, they would wait with her while i took my turn. she said that she didn't want to wait in line again though. i told her she wouldn't have to; the people running the ride would let me get on it right then. she still didn't understand and begged me not to leave her alone. i promised i would not leave her alone. while we were waiting in line, howard found the hidden mickey in the asteroids flying across the sky. so we got to the front of the line and daniel asked us "How many?" LOL, i thought about rhonda. howard told him there were 7 of us in the party, then explained that one was not going to ride at all and that i would ride when the other 5 got back. so daniel sent the 5 who were going to ride towards a lady who would help them board the ride. meanwhile, he took alyssa and me to the side and explained that this ride would not stop here to let them out. we would have to start down the exit ramp and hang an early left. there would be seats there for us to wait. he said the ride would last for about 4 minutes. as soon as our family got off the ride, we should come back up the exit ramp to him. he warned us that nobody else would or could let us on the ride but him. so we walked down to where they would get off the ride. she watched my watch and counted how many times the second hand passed 12. they were back before it passed 4 times. we hiked back up to the loading area. daniel let the other kids ride again. well, sarah didn't go, but ann e, ginny, and thomas all rode with me. i screamed through the whole ride. i'm sure i embarrassed them! first i yelled, "I want my mommy!" to which ann e replied, "Who's the crybaby now??" (funny inside story...maybe i'll post it sometime.) i think i went over the top when i yelled, "I have to peeeeeeeeee!!"
sarah really wanted to see the stitch show so we found it after space mountain. but it was close to time for the fireworks. so we watched the fireworks first. the fireworks were awesome. i took lots of pictures, but they really don't do it justice. after that we went back to stitch. at last we got to sit down!! i closed my eyes and tried to relax for a few minutes. it was kind of scary for alyssa. we finally figured out it was the dark that freaked her out. everytime she was brought to tears, it was dark. stitch ran around the audience, he farted on us, spit on us, then he asked each of us if we would be his friend. the fart was really hot, stinky, and just gross! we smelled it the rest of the night. ugh. we decided as a whole that we didn't like it very much overall. and so much for my nap during the show! yuck.
after this we looked for ice cream. we finally found it after asking 3 employees and walking for what seemed like 1/2 an hour. but it was really really good!! it was right beside the winnie the pooh ride. we thought alyssa would want to ride that, but she didn't notice it. i was kind of glad because there is a part of the ride that gets dark as you go through a thunder storm. i don't think she would have liked that.
as we were eating our ice cream she commented that she had not seen mickey or winnie the pooh. ann e and ginny tried to explain to her that they were getting ready for the parade. they had to get dressed, etc. she thought about this for a minute then she said, "What about Winnie the Pooh? He only had to put his shirt on!" This cracked us up!
after the ice cream break we made our way to the carousel. that was a nice end to the evening. we all kind of relaxed and enjoyed the ride. i still didn't get to sit next to howard though. at least this time i didn't throw a fit. LOL after this they wanted to walk through the castle. i thought we could. we headed that way and found that some kind of show was going on and we could not walk through it. :( but we took a few pictures around it. then we headed towards the monorail. we rode to the transportation center through the hotel. we stopped at the hotel to let people off there. as we were slowing down, i was watching out the window and saw...ED!! (the husband of a woman i used to work with!!) i waved and he waved back and smiled, but i didn't think he recognized me. so as the doors opened, and i jumped up and yelled, "ED! It's me, Suzie." he grinned and came and hugged me. i told him i'd call sandi...which i haven't yet. i really need to do that. so that was kind of exciting. then the monorail took us to the transportation center. we changed monorails and went to epcot. the monorail seemed to go right through the middle of the park. it was cool to see all those rides. the park was completely closed up and dark. we got off at the platform in epcot and ran towards the tram. it was a good thing too...as we were getting on, they announced this was the last ride out to the parking lot!! this guy was pretty funny, but now i can't remember everything he said.
we got to the van and drove back to dad's. we were so very tired and exhausted, but happy. it was a really good day!
Sunday, January 09, 2005
church
i went to church this morning and this evening. i've been going pretty regularly the last couple of months. i went regularly from the time i was 12 until i left WV 7 yrs ago. it's not that i didn't want to go or that i was growing away from God. it was just that i couldn't find a church i liked.
my little Baptist church was very fundamental. we only used the King James Version Bible. the females wore dresses. we had 4 sunday school classes: up through grade school; jr high, sr high, and adult. those who were too little to go to the grade school class sat with their parents. they behaved. those who graduated from high school stayed in the high school class until a) younger kids were promoted, b) they got married, or c) they finally said, i'm in my mid-20's and i think i'm an adult. that's how it happened for me. we had very few kids in church back then. we took up the offering once on sunday morning. we didn't have technology such as video, audio, or "canned music." we had a preacher--yes preacher. he didn't take offense to that title because that's what he did, he preached. it was the congregation's problem if they thought of preach as a derogotory term. preacher joe did not. and we had maybe 30 ppl on a good sunday morning. a nice size crowd for a small country church.
that was a tough act to follow. i went to churches that used Bibles that left out things like "Blood" and "virgin" and sometimes even "hell." seems as a Christian society, we are getting lazy about reading and understanding the Bible. so in trying to find an "easy to read" Bible, we lose some of the important stuff. sorry, i know that offends my boyfriend. we have agreed to disagree about that. i went to churches where the men and women wore jeans and printed t-shirts. now i know God really doesn't mind how you dress. the improtant thing is to be there. and there are ppl who just don't have that many dressy clothes for church. that is fine. but really, the printed t-shirts are more than i can handle. this is God's house. we are to respect Him. people forget that i think. they just throw on any old thing and go. again, i know being there is more important. but people, let's have some respect. and speaking of respect--why do parents allow their kids to run all over the church, talk with others, play loudly, etc. i know i know...at least they are in church. but i can't concentrate when junior is counting his cheerios as he smashes each one deeply into the carpet and then laughs while loudly asking his older sister, did you see me smash that to smitherines?? i went to churches that had more sunday school classes than they had members. i went to churches that took up the offering during sunday school and church. and they used guilt tactics to get $$. it appeared to me that the $$ was used to buy the "pastor" a new car or his wife a new suit. iand i went to churches that had so many attendees, they had to have 2 worship services. i like ppl and i like crowds and i loved living in the city. but how do you even start to function as a congregation when 1/2 of you go at a different time????? and some churches even had "traditional" services and "contemporary" services. WHAT?? contemporary? can you say new age? can you say satan? yes i know i sound like church lady, but someone has to!
i never found a church i liked in florida. then i moved to milwaukee. i found the perfect church! it was very small. and very fundamental. they would tell you from the pulpit every sunday that they used the KJV Bible. women wore dresses that covered their knees. (ok, so it took me a few weeks to catch on to that "covers your knees" part.) granted, some were denim skirts and that was fine. but they weren't wearing beavis and butthead shirts with them!! women wearing slacks is fine with me--just be neat about it. you don't have to have on the best...but at least be clean and have no tears. ok, there i go again. LOL can you tell that bugs me? let me stress again, jeans and pants are ok....printed tshirts or sweats are not.
um, where was i? oh yes, the little church in milwaukee. the only thing i didn't like about this little church was that they never allowed time for prayer requests or praise from the congregation. i found that odd.
but i moved back home a few months ago and was excited to be back at my little church. my little church where they now dress casually, let the million children who attend there ramrod the adults, have audio/video equipment, take up the offering twice, and have started a new sunday school class. HA. ok, i'm living with it because i love the people. we have a new preacher--a guy i graduated from high school with. he's great. it's taking some getting used to, but i'm adjusting....
then today i walked in and our piano was gone. GONE!! the piano my grandma used to play every sunday morning until she got sick and had to quit coming to church. the one that caroline has played ever since. the one on which caroline's daughter, rachel, learned to play for church. GONE!! in it's place some wierd synthesizer looking thing that caroline seemed overwhelmed with. OMG, GONE!! without so much as asking ME about it. LOL and on top of that...
the sunday school teacher used a NON-KJV Bible today!! HELLO!!
ok, so that's my rant about the downhill ethical and moral freefall of the church.
don't get me wrong--i am not slamming the faith. i am a Christian and i know i'm going to heaven. i know the people who wear printed tshirts are going to heaven--if they are saved. i was just overwhelmed by pet peeves today.
my little Baptist church was very fundamental. we only used the King James Version Bible. the females wore dresses. we had 4 sunday school classes: up through grade school; jr high, sr high, and adult. those who were too little to go to the grade school class sat with their parents. they behaved. those who graduated from high school stayed in the high school class until a) younger kids were promoted, b) they got married, or c) they finally said, i'm in my mid-20's and i think i'm an adult. that's how it happened for me. we had very few kids in church back then. we took up the offering once on sunday morning. we didn't have technology such as video, audio, or "canned music." we had a preacher--yes preacher. he didn't take offense to that title because that's what he did, he preached. it was the congregation's problem if they thought of preach as a derogotory term. preacher joe did not. and we had maybe 30 ppl on a good sunday morning. a nice size crowd for a small country church.
that was a tough act to follow. i went to churches that used Bibles that left out things like "Blood" and "virgin" and sometimes even "hell." seems as a Christian society, we are getting lazy about reading and understanding the Bible. so in trying to find an "easy to read" Bible, we lose some of the important stuff. sorry, i know that offends my boyfriend. we have agreed to disagree about that. i went to churches where the men and women wore jeans and printed t-shirts. now i know God really doesn't mind how you dress. the improtant thing is to be there. and there are ppl who just don't have that many dressy clothes for church. that is fine. but really, the printed t-shirts are more than i can handle. this is God's house. we are to respect Him. people forget that i think. they just throw on any old thing and go. again, i know being there is more important. but people, let's have some respect. and speaking of respect--why do parents allow their kids to run all over the church, talk with others, play loudly, etc. i know i know...at least they are in church. but i can't concentrate when junior is counting his cheerios as he smashes each one deeply into the carpet and then laughs while loudly asking his older sister, did you see me smash that to smitherines?? i went to churches that had more sunday school classes than they had members. i went to churches that took up the offering during sunday school and church. and they used guilt tactics to get $$. it appeared to me that the $$ was used to buy the "pastor" a new car or his wife a new suit. iand i went to churches that had so many attendees, they had to have 2 worship services. i like ppl and i like crowds and i loved living in the city. but how do you even start to function as a congregation when 1/2 of you go at a different time????? and some churches even had "traditional" services and "contemporary" services. WHAT?? contemporary? can you say new age? can you say satan? yes i know i sound like church lady, but someone has to!
i never found a church i liked in florida. then i moved to milwaukee. i found the perfect church! it was very small. and very fundamental. they would tell you from the pulpit every sunday that they used the KJV Bible. women wore dresses that covered their knees. (ok, so it took me a few weeks to catch on to that "covers your knees" part.) granted, some were denim skirts and that was fine. but they weren't wearing beavis and butthead shirts with them!! women wearing slacks is fine with me--just be neat about it. you don't have to have on the best...but at least be clean and have no tears. ok, there i go again. LOL can you tell that bugs me? let me stress again, jeans and pants are ok....printed tshirts or sweats are not.
um, where was i? oh yes, the little church in milwaukee. the only thing i didn't like about this little church was that they never allowed time for prayer requests or praise from the congregation. i found that odd.
but i moved back home a few months ago and was excited to be back at my little church. my little church where they now dress casually, let the million children who attend there ramrod the adults, have audio/video equipment, take up the offering twice, and have started a new sunday school class. HA. ok, i'm living with it because i love the people. we have a new preacher--a guy i graduated from high school with. he's great. it's taking some getting used to, but i'm adjusting....
then today i walked in and our piano was gone. GONE!! the piano my grandma used to play every sunday morning until she got sick and had to quit coming to church. the one that caroline has played ever since. the one on which caroline's daughter, rachel, learned to play for church. GONE!! in it's place some wierd synthesizer looking thing that caroline seemed overwhelmed with. OMG, GONE!! without so much as asking ME about it. LOL and on top of that...
the sunday school teacher used a NON-KJV Bible today!! HELLO!!
ok, so that's my rant about the downhill ethical and moral freefall of the church.
don't get me wrong--i am not slamming the faith. i am a Christian and i know i'm going to heaven. i know the people who wear printed tshirts are going to heaven--if they are saved. i was just overwhelmed by pet peeves today.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
it's a whole new year
happy 2005!!
i spent Christmas in florida at my dad and stepmom's. dave & thea, and billy were there. the day after Christmas howard and the kids got there. we took them to kennedy space center and disney world! but more about that in another blog.
we were all still there for new year's eve. the kids wanted to stay up through the new year. i think 4 of them made it. well ok, most of them were asleep early with wishes for us to wake them up in time. it wasn't the same without dick clark. :( and of all people, they chose regis to cover for him. ugh, i hate that guy!! but we watched the ball drop. then everyone was in bed before 12:01. LOL
i had been having kind of a rough week personally. so howard stayed up with me for a little while. we sat at the bar in the kitchen and i cried on his arm. it was kind of bittersweet. i hated crying in front of him. but it was so nice to have his arm there to lean on. i'm not sure why i cried. well, there are a few reasons that could have been part of the reason. i always hate to see the old year go out. but this year i didn't feel that so much. i'm really looking forward to 05. i always cry when i leave my dad and i was leaving the next day to come back to WV. also, i get nervous when i travel. but i think mostly it was being harassed by my stepmom all week.
the stepmom story i'll save for another post also.
do you make resolutions? i always think a lot about it. but i don't think i've ever seriously made a resolution that i had any real thoughts of keeping. i guess the same is this year. oh wait, i did make one resolution--TO GET A JOB!!!
i have been out of work since aug 30. and i have been so stinking lazy, i have done nothing. i was going to organize my life, start writing my novel, find part time work for a while, make beautiful homemade Christmas cards this year, work on my scrapbooks, travel, etc...
well, ok, i did travel. i've been to florida twice, to pikeville, ky countless times, and if i can count parkersburg as traveling, well i've been there a few times too. oh, and i did have adorable Christmas cards this year! i used a picture of my oldest brother from his second Christmas. it was really cute.
school starts again for me this coming friday. i'm excited about that. it's so tough 'cause of the format--4 wknds per semester. it's so intense for those few wknds. but then i have a lot of time between terms. but if i get a job it's going to be insane. :O
speaking of getting a job, i had an awesome interview at marshall a few days ago. i am trying not to get my hopes up, but i think i did really well. i should tell you the funny part about that day.
i walked across the courtyard on my way to the interview and it had been raining, but had slowed to a drizzle. well, these 2 huge drops plop down from a tree right in front of me. so close in front of me that if they had been any bigger i would have felt the wind from them! i checked my jacket and didn't see anything, whew!! well, i got into the office where i was supposed to meet the head of the hiring/interviewing committe and then i see it...a BIG blob of brown bird poop on the tail of my jacket--right in front!! well, my suit was dark, and thankfully the dropping was brown, not white!! so i asked for a tissue and got most of it out. i walked proudly into the interview room where everyone was patiently waiting for me. we went through the interview then i had a break before meeting the second group. i went to the restroom and as i was leaving the restroom, i glanced at myself in the full-lenght mirror. and that is when i noticed the WHITE blob of bird poop on my skirt!!!!!!!! Oh My Gosh! i could have died. LOL i got most of it out before meeting with the second group. i just hope the first group hadn't noticed too much. yikes.
wow, and this is just the beginning of week 2 of 05. :)
i spent Christmas in florida at my dad and stepmom's. dave & thea, and billy were there. the day after Christmas howard and the kids got there. we took them to kennedy space center and disney world! but more about that in another blog.
we were all still there for new year's eve. the kids wanted to stay up through the new year. i think 4 of them made it. well ok, most of them were asleep early with wishes for us to wake them up in time. it wasn't the same without dick clark. :( and of all people, they chose regis to cover for him. ugh, i hate that guy!! but we watched the ball drop. then everyone was in bed before 12:01. LOL
i had been having kind of a rough week personally. so howard stayed up with me for a little while. we sat at the bar in the kitchen and i cried on his arm. it was kind of bittersweet. i hated crying in front of him. but it was so nice to have his arm there to lean on. i'm not sure why i cried. well, there are a few reasons that could have been part of the reason. i always hate to see the old year go out. but this year i didn't feel that so much. i'm really looking forward to 05. i always cry when i leave my dad and i was leaving the next day to come back to WV. also, i get nervous when i travel. but i think mostly it was being harassed by my stepmom all week.
the stepmom story i'll save for another post also.
do you make resolutions? i always think a lot about it. but i don't think i've ever seriously made a resolution that i had any real thoughts of keeping. i guess the same is this year. oh wait, i did make one resolution--TO GET A JOB!!!
i have been out of work since aug 30. and i have been so stinking lazy, i have done nothing. i was going to organize my life, start writing my novel, find part time work for a while, make beautiful homemade Christmas cards this year, work on my scrapbooks, travel, etc...
well, ok, i did travel. i've been to florida twice, to pikeville, ky countless times, and if i can count parkersburg as traveling, well i've been there a few times too. oh, and i did have adorable Christmas cards this year! i used a picture of my oldest brother from his second Christmas. it was really cute.
school starts again for me this coming friday. i'm excited about that. it's so tough 'cause of the format--4 wknds per semester. it's so intense for those few wknds. but then i have a lot of time between terms. but if i get a job it's going to be insane. :O
speaking of getting a job, i had an awesome interview at marshall a few days ago. i am trying not to get my hopes up, but i think i did really well. i should tell you the funny part about that day.
i walked across the courtyard on my way to the interview and it had been raining, but had slowed to a drizzle. well, these 2 huge drops plop down from a tree right in front of me. so close in front of me that if they had been any bigger i would have felt the wind from them! i checked my jacket and didn't see anything, whew!! well, i got into the office where i was supposed to meet the head of the hiring/interviewing committe and then i see it...a BIG blob of brown bird poop on the tail of my jacket--right in front!! well, my suit was dark, and thankfully the dropping was brown, not white!! so i asked for a tissue and got most of it out. i walked proudly into the interview room where everyone was patiently waiting for me. we went through the interview then i had a break before meeting the second group. i went to the restroom and as i was leaving the restroom, i glanced at myself in the full-lenght mirror. and that is when i noticed the WHITE blob of bird poop on my skirt!!!!!!!! Oh My Gosh! i could have died. LOL i got most of it out before meeting with the second group. i just hope the first group hadn't noticed too much. yikes.
wow, and this is just the beginning of week 2 of 05. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)