Secrets …

Secrets are interesting things, aren’t they?  That which is kept hidden.  I mean, think of all the different kinds of secrets!

Government secrecy
Corporate security secrecy
Technology secrecy
Military secrecy

Then we have personal secrecy and such sites as PostSecret.com (one of my personal favorites, btw). The problem is, when you have such a secret, one that makes you sad, happy, anxious … you want to share it.  You want to tell others.  Which is why I love the brilliance behind PostSecret.com, actually.  You can tell your secret to everyone but no one would know it’s you.  Brilliant I tell you!

Secrets, skeletons, concealment … yup, we all have them.

I really sort of dig that.

My Mother, My Father, Me and My OB-GYN

I love my parents.  I really do.  But sometimes, I want to run to Ireland and hide in a pub somewhere, not having any communication with them whatsoever.

My parents are awesome people.  They really are.  They divorced when I was eleven, and I couldn’t have been any happier about that.  They are much better off,  individually, as friends than they ever were a married couple.  My mom remarried a great dude and they just celebrated their 18th anniversary together.  My dad never remarried but to anyone who knows him, this is not a shocking thing.  At all.

Yet … sometimes … I have days like this.  My mom calls me this morning at 9.23am.

A Day in the Life of QT and RE

Every day since … well, perhaps over well, hmm … a year ago?

I talk to Random Esquire.  Every damn day.

If a day does go by and we somehow do not get to chat with each other, there are text messages back and forth to explain why we aren’t talking.  On the weekends, if there are not phone calls, there may be emails or text messages again.

It is a wonder our significant others put up with us.  Besos is a saint, for sure.  Yet … OH WAIT A MINUTE.  I don’t have a significant other, now do I?

Let’s say, hypothetically,  that I am not going to be a cat lady. That I have a prospect in the picture.  Someone I’m interested in.  And let’s say, I talked to RE about this prospect.  In depth.  And we spoke of all aspects of what this hypothetical prospect could be.

Hypothetically of course, I think the conversation would go something like this …

The Leagues of Dating

I should apologize in advance for stumbling around this post a little bit, this is a topic that leaves me feeling confused and disoriented.  In short, I just don’t get it.

It is quite obvious that there are in fact, dating leagues.  You’ve heard the term, “She’s out of my league!” or vice versa, “He’s out of my league!”  It’s my contention that this thought comes from looks.  Pure and simple, based on the way someone looks.  If a chick is super hot model type material and then is with a man who is deemed a nerd and has the proverbial tape around his horn rimmed glasses … won’t everyone gawk and wonder, WTF?  This is an outside perspective of course, because on the inside these two could have a love like no other.

Sometimes, I’m sure, people have felt like they are dating out of their league because of, for lack of a better word, class.  Perhaps he is a waiter with no college degree and she is a successful attorney.  Or of course, vice versa (again).  While I admit to perhaps having a better understanding of this concept, I still question it.   If they get along well due to their love of common things, and the fact that they have similar values, does it really matter what the other does for a living?

I’m Just Sayin

1) Warm weather has arrived in my little state, and it’s quite a happy thing.  I even got outside and did yard work last weekend.  Something that I almost enjoyed doing.  Notice the almost.

2) I’ve made a new friend in the male variety.  He’s a nice man, and has been helping me with some things I need done around the house.  And the best part is, it’s just a friend thing.  Don’t think he’s going unrewarded however, I’ve been helping out at his place too with things that confuse him – how to have streak free mirror’s, for example.

3) This St. Paddy’s Day, I was standing at the bar in the Irish Pub when I hear a voice behind me, “Hey Blondie, why don’t you and I get outta here and go get ourselves a hotel room?”  I turn around ready to verbally abuse someone when I see a very old, very very dear friend of mine from my high school days.  I immediately threw my arms around him and laughed and hugged him some more.   How fun is it to run into old friends on the best drinking day of the  year?

4) Upon arriving at work today, I walked into my office to see a very short woman wearing what I thought was, a helmet.  Please note she was a bit of a distance from me, and I did not have my corrective lenses in my eyeballs.  I squinted to see this woman more clearly, and by God, I swore she was walking around the office wearing a helmet.  I put my things down and immediately walked down the hallway to see what exactly she has on her head.  I was wrong.  It was not a helmet.  It was gauze, miles and miles of gauze.  Not only did she have her head wrapped in gauze, it looked like she made this gauze helmet herself and it was sort of coming unraveled and was trailing down her back.  So I ask you, WTF?

5) Using the phrase, “Goodbye Boobs” to your coworkers upon leaving for the day does in fact, elicit laughter.

6) My high school boyfriend, my first everything, found me on FaceBook.  We’ve traded several emails and have been getting caught up on each other’s lives.  In his last email, he sent this,  “I think you are more beautiful now than you’ve ever been, I want you to know that.”  I giggled and blushed just like I did in high school.  Hehehehee

7) I had jury duty last week.  Upon driving downtown, paying $15 to park, and entering the Hall of Justice where my civic duty was to be had, I had a homeless man approach me asking for money.  He was wearing a hat that had a banana in it. A real banana.  Yup, only in downtown I tell ya.

8 ) Now that it’s warming up, I believe a nice little weekend getaway to Chicago is in order.  What say you, RE?

Calling All Singles!

And a happy Monday to you all!  I for one, do not hate Monday’s at all, because really, what does it lead to?  Another Friday people!

Speaking of Friday’s, I had a great weekend that included heading out to a local Irish bar – here’s the kicker – ready?

I went by myself.

Yup, as my ShaNaNa had plans already, Jenn doesn’t live here, and I really could not see myself being in the company of anyone else on such short notice, I decided to get some dinner and what the hell, I’ll do it alone.  So off I go.  And the best part is, I had an incredible time.  I ended up meeting this old dude from England who I thought was fabulous in every way.  He was a charming older gentleman who filled my night with laughter and just … fun. He had a friend that came in shortly after, a younger fellow from Germany.  These two are here for business and staying in a hotel that was within walking distance from the pub.  The German Man was hilarious – he spoke English very well, but did have some trouble with what he deemed non-translation words.  For example?  ShaNaNa and I were texting a bit, and when I told him I was texting my girlfriend, he raised his eye brows and said, “You have a girlfriend?”  I smiled and said, “Sure!  A few of them actually.”  He got this funny look on his face and just kind of nodded.  I asked what was wrong and he gestured with his hand a bit, saying, “Soo …  you are, you do not like the men?”  And I stared at him for a minute in my liquor induced way and said, “I love men, I really do!”  And he said, “But you have the girlfriend? And more than one of the girlfriend?”  I laughed and said, “They are friends that are girls.  Like you know, my mates.”  And he said, “Oh this American slang!  I get your words now!”  In the end, much laughter, much liquor and much fun was shared by all.

It’s my belief that it is more common for a man to hit a bar for a drink and dinner by himself than it is a woman.  At least, around here it is.  Which got me to thinking … and now I’d like some input from any of my single lady friends out there.  Or perhaps a memory of when you were single from my married friends out there.

Have you ever gone out by yourself to a local watering hole?  And if so, what has your experience been?  Good, bad, ugly? Do share!

I Am A …

Smiler. I smile at everyone, from children to old women to men to people that make me nervous. I just smile.  Now if I’m smiling at some cute boy, it’s a different smile all together but in general, I smile at everyone.  Strangers included.

Over the past year, smiling became a bit difficult for me, as I felt I didn’t have much to smile about.  I think I was so caught up in the bad feelings that I forgot that smiling is in fact, an option.  And one I wasn’t choosing to make.  And as time went on, it was my buddy Random Esquire who pointed out to me that my smile and laughter is what makes my personality mine, because it is so a part of who I am.  I needed that reminder.

And so I decided to make it an option again.  I began smiling again, slowly but surely.  And I began to notice something.  The sheer Power in a Smile.  Whoa.

A smile creates an atmosphere.  It can be so many different atmospheres too.  From unity to friendship to the flirty “Hi there!” to a thank you to the your welcome … I could go on and on.  And the thing is, smiles are contagious.  You smile at someone and odds are, they smile back.   A smile thrown at someone solicits one in return.  It costs nothing and the best of all?  It feels good to have someone smile at you.  And single mama’s out there?  Or hell, all women out there?  Especially if a cute boy is smiling back at you.

And so today, I am smiling.  I’m smiling at Emilee because I love her more than life.  I’m smiling at ShaNaNa because I really don’t know what my life would be like if you were not in it, and I am not sure you know just how important you are to me.  I’m smiling at Jane Wonder because I love her and I’ve missed her.  I’m smiling at RE, because I love you for who you are.   I’m smiling at LetEmBreathe because you always have a smile for me, use your fingertip to wipe my tears and words of wisdom I’ve come to rely on.  I’m smiling at Tina because I love your Double D’s.  I’m smiling at Liz because she needs one.  I’m smiling at Depot Dad because he’s cute and bald.  I’m smiling at Dad’s House because he’s cute too.  I’m smiling at T because she is a hottie and so fun to boot. I’m smiling at Rachel Sarah because I love what you did with your lactating boobies.

A smile is like a jewel worn on the face. It is the gateway to your personality, or mine for sure.  So I leave with you this …

Who are you smiling at today?

The Bad Penny

I’m sure you’ve heard this saying …

“A bad penny always turns up.”

I have been thinking about this saying, I’m sure to those that read my blog with any regularity you’ll understand why.  And I’ll get to that in just a bit.  After doing a bit of research, I’ve found this general definition and am in agreement with it.

The phrase usually is heard in this country (U.S.) as ‘A bad penny always turns up,’ meaning that a no-good person can be counted upon to come back again and again. The expression was originally English and the unit of currency referred to was the shilling. Sir Walter Scott, in one of his early nineteenth-century novels, whereto: ‘Bring back Darsie? Little doubt of that. The bad shilling is sure enough to come back again.

If you’ve read the About Me section of my blog, you know that I started this blog when my boyfriend, or the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, the man I wanted to marry and have children with, the man I was truly in love with, etc., broke up with me.  Just ended it.  *Snap* Just like that.  He walked away like Emilee and I never existed, and in all honesty, I’ve struggled.  I did not have an easy time of it, I was devastated and depressed.  I leaned on my friends for support, I saw a therapist as I was concerned about Emilee, and truth be told, myself.  It was a struggle to get out of bed in the morning.  I lost weight like it was my job (okay, I’m not complaining about that one!).  I had, for sure, a broken heart.  And if I’ve learned anything, it has been that mending that broken heart has not been easy.  I work on it everyday still, but I’m not giving up.  I’m not quitting.  Even when my bad penny turns up, time and again.

I Bribed My Daughter

I did.  I admit to this.  I promised Miss Emilee she could stay up to watch ALL of American Idol if she answered mom’s questions.  Of course, my daughter being mine, renegotiated the deal and threw in the fact that she could give me a makeover as well as staying up till nine tonight.  Two goldfish sticking out of my ears later and enough lipstick to make a clown happy, we got down to business.

What does mommy always say to you?  
“Be quiet!”  She paused and then said,  ”No wait mama.   You say I love you more.”

What makes mommy happy?
“Computers and your hair spray.”

What makes mommy sad?
“Bad people.”  

What does mommy do after you go to school? 
“Mom goes to sleep” 

I’m Just Sayin

1) What is it about March that makes me think I should be seeing flowers instead of snowflakes?  I’m ready for the flowers dammit!

2) I love Doritos.  And Munchos.  I could eat them both all day, every day.

3) The movie DodgeBall – I can’t get enough of it.  I laugh, literally out loud and often at this movie.  My favorite line?

Patches: “Anybody got any questions?”
(Justin hesitantly raises hand)
Patches: “Yea. QueerBait.”
Justin: “Me, or…?”

4) Today after I dropped Emilee off at school, I was stopped at a red light and had sun visor down, looking in the mirror as I’m having one helluva bad hair day.  In the midst of trying to fix the bad hair, I heard a beep.  I looked over and saw someone giving me the thumbs up.  Kinda like, “Hey, you look great!” type of thing.  Here’s the thing.  It was a woman giving me the thumbs up.  I laughed and waved thanks.

5) Life as a spinster is going fine and well.  Emilee informed me that to get myself a boyfriend, it’s very important that I tell a man he’s hot.  Then, once you do this, he’s your boyfriend.  Hmmm … perhaps there is some Goldie Hawn logic here.

6) I miss my Wingman.

7) Emilee and I will be going to Florida to spend our Easter with my daddy.  We are so excited to get away and have some WARM weather.   Last  year I had her rub sunscreen on my back.  Bad, bad idea.  I was burnt everywhere but one small hand print between my shoulder blades.

8 ) This month, my blog is one year old.  I believe a celebration is in order.

9) I believe I’m in the mood for some dancing.  ShaNaNa and I need to get out this weekend and do just that.