9:58 PM -
Posted by Shelly -
While on Facebook this evening, I got an e-mail from an old high school friend, Jessica. It was a simple, one-line message that said "Shelly, I remember writing some wickedly funny notes with you." As I started to recall our note-passing, I remembered the goofiness that Jessica brought out in me. I also remembered another high school friend, Ashley, with whom I felt free to act very goofy. It was these two girls that brought out a creative side to me that I had forgotten was there. Or at the very least I had hushed so as not to disturb the adult I am supposed to be. Jessica and Ashley represented an artistic, creative, bohemian life that I associated with New York City. If I was to become an artist, I would live in New York and I would hang around people like Jessica and Ashley.
As I was responding to Jessica's e-mail, I noticed that another high school friend named Karyn was on Facebook. Still in a nostalgic mindset, I thought about the Karyn I knew in school and who I was when I was around her. Karyn was a very pretty girl. She wore more, and knew more about, makeup than any girl I can recall from that time. She was glamorous to me and had an air of adulthood that I looked forward to having myself. She was the physical manifestation of what I pictured my twenties to be. She embodied youth and excitement and boys; that time before marriage and motherhood gets you and turns you into a mom-jean wearing, casserole-cooking schlump that Erma Bombeck wrote about. I couldn't wait to be in my twenties so that I could be made up and glamorous like Karyn.
Of course, there are other people from high school that I remember fondly and others not so fondly. But I realized the wide variety of people we meet in our lives and how easily we miss the attributes of each person. The people we connect with are like bits of our personality scattered throughout the world. Some we only connect with briefly and others extensively. But the vast majority of those people really do enhance our lives or contribute in some way to our existence.
I know, I know, I don't normally get this deep or this nostalgic in my blog entries. But Jessica's one-line e-mail really did show me how much of an impact people have had on me.
And it was very nice to feel like I was in tenth grade Geometry again passing notes to Jessica and making up goof-ball things to amuse the two of us.
1:18 PM -
Posted by Shelly -
So Nathan and I decided last year that we wanted to get a new Christmas tree. We put off the shopping for way too long and have been scrambling a bit to find a tree to put up this year. After looking at a bunch of different stores and window shopping online, we thought we had settled on a tree at Dollar General that was affordable and simple. To be sure that we were getting a good deal before purchasing the tree, we hopped over to Big Lots next to Dollar General to compare prices.
Well, it turns out that we did purchase a tree that day at Big Lots. Here's a picture of our new Christmas tree.
Yes, we bought a cat tree in lieu of a Christmas tree. It probably sounds silly, but the cat tree was a great price (we saved about 50%) and we just couldn't pass it up. Plus, the cats just love it! It has an entrance at the bottom where they can make their way up to the top. And judging from the picture, everyone was interested in it right off the bat.
So this year, we will be celebrating Christmas around our Keebler Elf cat tree.
8:57 AM -
Posted by Shelly -
As I have been browsing other people's blogs, I wonder who all out there really reads my blog.
I've gotten hits from Poland, London and Massachusetts (which is a weird-looking word if you stare at it long enough), but I don't know anyone in any of those places. Plus, those folks didn't stay long anyway.
I know that Big Sister reads my blog because she sends me text messages when I don't update it. But I don't feel any urgency to update the blog because I really don't think anyone is reading.
But, I told Nathan last night that I should be blogging for myself and not for other people, so if I just stick to that mindset, I should be okay.
So if you're reading, thank you very much. I am glad you are here.
If you're not reading... well, I understand. There's only so much time in the day.
9:19 PM -
Posted by Shelly -
As I said in my last post, Best Friend Anna and I went to the New Kids on the Block concert in Atlanta last week. What can I say, except that IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!
We made it to our hotel with a couple of hours to spare before the concert, so we got all dolled up and went to the Waffle House for something to eat.
Our seats were good. We were higher up than I'd expected, but we were to the right of the stage, so we had a good view. It was a great show and it was way better than either of the other concerts we went to circa 1989-90. Not too many pyrotechnics, a lot of costume changes (I want to say there were four or five) and just all around good performances.
A few funny things, though: As you know, BF Anna very kindly bought me (and her) new outfits to wear, so we looked fabulous... and like everybody else. Here was the MO: white female, early- to mid-thirties, styled hair (mostly straight), cute top, boot-cut jeans, pointy-toed heels. I would say there was one man to every 20-30 women. And there were smokers. They had a smoking section outside, which just tickled me (I mean smokers? At a New Kids concert?!?) And then there was beer (I mean beer? At a New Kids concert?!?). I actually ended up getting a beer (An $8 beer!) because my throat was getting so dry from screaming. And it loosened me up a bit so that I was able to not worry about if my armpits smelled when I raised my hands up and danced.
And the swearing! Donnie asked us all how his ass looked (I mean ass? At a New Kids concert?!?) and Joe made the comment about how Donnie was all into his ass or something. And somebody made a sign that they gave Donnie that said "Donnie F**king Wahlberg" that he wore across his back for a song or two. Donnie also told all the women whose hubands brought them to the concert to be sure and "reward" them when they got home. And he offered the rest of the New Kids for those of us who didn't have our husbands with us.
The music was good (I totally got their new album after I got home) and the show was good. The company was good and the view was good. I would really say that it was the best concert I had been to, ever.
I would have posted earlier, but the day after we got home, I got a terrible cold that left me bedridden for nearly a week. The running joke is that I caught the clap from one of the New Kids.
Here's pics of the trip and the concert... It was wonderful!!
9:06 AM -
Posted by Shelly -
Today is the big day! Best Friend Anna and I are heading to Atlanta for the New Kids on the Block concert! Last night we went shopping for new outfits to wear and we will look so cute. I am very excited and feel 14 again... well, not exactly, but close enough. Don't worry, I won't be throwing any panties on the stage. But we will have a blast! I'll post pictures when we get back.
7:36 PM -
Posted by Shelly -
So the Big Sister "tagged" me and told me to post seven random things about myself. It appears that my lack of blogging has caused a crisis on her computer that can only be solved by useless, albeit interesting, information. So here goes:
1. I can spread my toes apart very widely. This has always been a talent of mine and I do enjoy showing it off. I realized some time ago after a pedicure with Best Friend Anna that she had the little toe separaters on her feet and I didn't. I thought the guy doing my feet was just lazy, but then after a pedicure about three weeks ago, I noticed that my pedicure companion from work also had the toe separaters and I didn't. It then occurred to me that apparently my toes are naturally spaced and I don't seem to need the little separaters. Neat!
2. I have a cat that likes to play fetch. Her name is Emma and she will only play fetch with a wadded up paper ball.
3. I am a beauty school dropout. I went for six months and learned enough to cut, color, straighten and perm. That's about it.
4. I can take a multi-state car ride with my husband and we can converse for nearly the entire trip. No radio, no interruptions, just talking. It's fun!
5. I love milk. It is by far one of my most favorite drinks in the whole wide world. I want to try that "drink a gallon of milk in an hour and see if you barf" challenge sometime to see if I can make it without chucking. I bet I can.
6. I like hockey. I find it to be relaxing and serene. Yes, even with the fights.
7. I could call my sister right now and say, "War, war war... there's war talk spoiling all the fun at every party this spring..." and she not only could tell me the movie that it's from, but say the rest of the lines for all three characters in the scene and probably act it out for me.
7:25 PM -
Posted by Shelly -
I have been on a big cooking kick lately, and I made low-carb, sugar-free pumpkin pie from scratch! And I don't mean from a can, I mean from an actual pumpkin.
It's really not too hard to do, but I do appreciate the convenience items more, like the canned pumpkin and the pre-made pie shells. Still, I wanted a pumpkin pie that I could eat that wouldn't send me into a sugar fit.
I made the crust from chopped almonds, a little butter and some Splenda. Then I roasted the pumpkin in the oven after scraping out the innards, and pureed it with the hand mixer. I added goat's milk (another new kick of mine), more Splenda, spices and a couple of farm eggs and voilà! A real live, from scratch pie came out of the oven.
Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the finished product. It was good, but I may have to use real sugar next time, or a better sugar substitute, because it did have that sugar-free taste to it. And I think that pecans or pumpkin seeds would have made a better crust. All in all, though, it was a good pie.
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