I Don’t Get It

You know those songs that have a part in them where the singer starts to talk?  Yeah, like “You’re My Soul and My Heart’s Inspiration” where, if you look up the lyrics, the part I am talking about, is indicated as such:

[Spoken:] Baby, I can't make it withoutcha. And I'm, I'm tellin' ya, honey-you're my
reason for laughin', for cryin', for livin', and for dyin'.

“Spoken” – no, sing it.  It’s a song. It’s lyrical, indicating there is melody involved.  Yes, I know, the definition of lyric doesn’t indicate it has to be sung, but I stand by my opinion that it should be sung not spoken.

You might have guessed it already, but I don’t like the songs that have the “Spoken” part in there.  I get embarrassed.  I don’t know why, but I do.  I feel embarrassed for them and for me.  I have to fast forward through “Stranded at the Drive-In” when I watch Grease.  Not only because of the “Spoken” but mainly ‘cause that song in general is my least favorite song in the movie.  I do enjoy that part where she get’s him in the goods with the door knob right before he starts singing though.

Clothesline Etiquette?

I love hanging my clothes on the line to dry.  Today is the 1st day this year that I have been able to do so.  I can’t wait to smell the clothes as I am folding them.

I often wonder about the etiquette involved with hanging clothes out though.  I mean, is it OK to hang underwear & bras out there?  I do.  And since I don’t care much for one of my neighbors, I usually giggle as I do so…it’s not like my bras are easy to miss, so I know they can tell what they are even from a great distance.

The fact that I get such great pleasure simply on the assumption that it makes my neighbors uncomfortable…probably answers my question of appropriateness.

Woot.

2.8 more pounds.  I am only a couple of weeks away from the 16 week milestone as well as the 10% milestone with Weight Watchers.  I am hoping to obtain both milestones at the same time. 

I was actually surprised that I had lost anything, much less 2.8 pounds.  My WW Meeting Manager called me out on why it didn’t seem like I was happy about it.  I didn’t have an answer.  I think I was still in shock or denial.

The important thing is that it is indeed moving in the right direction, down.

Latest Accomplishments

This is a bookmark for a friend.  I have been done with the cross-stitch part for ages, but I was trying to figure out how to finish it off.  I had delusions of grandeur, but at this point…I just wanted to make sure I send it.

The other, below, is for a friend’s wedding gift.  I am giving it as the shower gift along with a picture frame & a note that will state I will pay to have the cross-stitch framed as the wedding gift.  Hopefully she doesn’t think it’s a crappy gift!  And hopefully she doesn’t all of the sudden have the urge to look at the blog…I think I am safe though!  I have already started on another cross-stitch that I should have done a year ago for another set of friends.  Thankfully, the grid of the fabric is larger for this one.  I was really starting to feel my age while trying to work on the one below!

How I Love Thee, Hairbrush!

It was 1978. My Mom threw a surprise party for me. Even at that age I was a snot. I remember thinking there was something special going on because Dad not only took me to the store, but he also bought me a book. The book was about mothers and their babies. It had a hot pink cover and a duck & duckling on the cover. I also remember clearly that I was by perusing the books by myself while Dad was meandering through the store. No one thought anything of it. That would never happen in this day and age.

Other than the box of 48 Crayola Crayons that I opened from the wrong end, the only other gifts I remember are the Winnie the Pooh 100 Acre Woods pajamas (that ended up being my official wrestling outfit when my brother & I had WWF tournaments in the basement) and the pink Avon hairbrush. The hairbrush was rolled/wrapped in the pjs.

I was never a big fan of pink. Blue has always been my color. But golly I loved that hairbrush. It had stayed with me through my life. Then, one wintery day, it was gone. I had it when I left my parent’s house, but it wasn’t in my car. It wasn’t in my house. Damn it. Where’d it go!? A part of my life had disappeared.

2 months later, the snow had melted and the mourning period had passed. I had stopped wearing black. My Mom was visiting and as we pulled away from the house…THERE IT WAS! MY PINK HAIRBRUSH!!…in the gutter…where it had been for 2 months…

What a dilemma! Do I pick it up? Do I leave it? It’s been out there for 2 months. Eww. I left it.

I regretted it.

I searched eBay for a replacement to no avail. I even thought of stealing my sister’s. But I would have been busted. Hers is light pink, mine dark. And she knew I was on the prowl.

I wrote to Avon.

THEY WROTE BACK! Seems I have a flair for the dramatic and they enjoyed the imagery that I included in the letter. They published it in their newsletter. I ended up receiving a call and an email from 2 Avon Consultants that had the brush. I called the number and the Avon Consultant’s stoner son answered. I think he must have just taken one hit too many because he didn’t seem to know that his Mom sold Avon. I never heard back.

Poo.

I emailed the other person. SHE REPLIED! She said my story was touching and funny and that she indeed had the brush in question. I believe she only charged me $5 plus shipping and handling.

It was better than Christmas when the package arrived.

It doesn’t look like much. It’s not really. Just plastic with plastic bristles, I covet that darn brush. It was every bit worth the effort. In true ‘me’ form, shortly after I received it, I melted a couple of the bristles with the hairdryer. But all-in-all, it’s still a-ok in my book!

Boobenemblem… German for Shirt, Right?

In 1988 we had our 1st German Exchange Student, Charlotte “Tina” Jordan. She was a hoot.  We loved her dearly, but have unfortunately lost contact with her over the years.  About a week before she left the States, I acquired my 1st job, working at Shakeys.

There are a few things that tend to happen with exchange students.  For example, most Japanese girls will, almost immediately, paint their fingernails, pierce their ears, and perm their hair.  Another commonality is that as they are preparing to return home, their accents start to thicken and their English skills regress a little.  It makes sense; they know they will need to be reassimilating to life back at home.

I put on my uniform which consisted of black pants (jeans) and a light brown polo shirt.  The shirt had Shakey’s logo on it.  As I was modeling the shirt, Tina says “Nice boobenemblem.”   I don’t speak German, nor does anyone else in the family, so we all think ‘boobenemblem’ means “shirt.”

It doesn’t.  Tina laughs and says in her fake falsetto trilly voice “No! I said nice BOOB EMBLEM”  She liked the tacky logo that appeared on my boob.

What makes this even funnier is that I was relaying this very story to my dear friend who was married to a German and she apparently wasn’t paying attention to the story because she went home and tried to sound impressive by using “booben-emblem” in place of the word “shirt” and didn’t understand why he didn’t understand what she was saying.  Good times.  Maybe you had to be there.

On a similar note, I tried to look for a picture of the ugly tannish/brown shirts, but when I put id Shakey’s uniform in Google images, this came up:

yeah…that wasn’t what we had to wear.  Can tell they don’t really work there…they’d have fryer burns all over those exposed bellies!

Sadly, I would have looked descent in this back then, but didn’t have the self confidence to see it.  Oh to be young again…

Moti what?

I have been lacking motivation lately.  I would 'not say I have been lazy really.  Just unmotivated.  I have dishes in the sink ~ clean dishes mind you.  I just haven’t had the desire to put them away.  I washed clothes a week ago.  They are all crammed into the laundry basket.  Still not folded.

My house is actually pretty darn clean considering how unmotivated I am.  Even with the Weight Watchers, I have been lackluster.  There were 2 trivia nights (2 Saturdays of tailgate-like foods) that hit me pretty hard.  Actually, it was the 1st one that did me in.  I gained .8 pound that following week, but then lost .2 of it the following.  If that 2nd trivia night wasn’t in there, I may have recouped the whole .8, but oh well. 

Now is time to refocus.  Already this morning my “Naked Morning Weight” was lower than it has been since it passed this mark on it’s way up. By the end of April I will have been with WW for 16 weeks.  I am 7.2 lbs from the 10% goal.  I can do it.