all tatted up

I got my first tattoo when I was 18. I was a freshman in college and went on my first "road-trip" to Waco.... Tech vs. Baylor football game. I had been wanting a tattoo pretty much my whole senior year in high school, so this wasn't an impulse buy. (Fortunately, my original idea - a rose on my upper left breast - was not what I went with. Classy, yes?) So anyway, my best friend Jenny went with me and I picked out this little ditty. It is two little hearts on the inside of my left ankle.
It worked out well, since it is on the inside of my foot. It really isn't very noticeable, and if I wear shoes with ankle straps, you can't see it all. I never really advertised it, especially once I started teaching. I didn't want to be "that teacher with tattoos." It is 15 years later, and I actually still like it. Take an up close look at it so that you can see the hearts. They even have a little white shaded area to give them some dimension:

I never thought my tiny little tattoo looked like anything other than two little hearts. Well, here is a little story about teaching high school..... Every once in awhile somebody would notice my tattoo and be all, "Miss! When did you get that tattoo?!?!?" And I would say, "Ten years ago!" And they would think I was cool and want to see it up close. I usually did not put my foot up on a chair and let them look closely at it, because I didn't really think it was appropriate. UNTIL - one day, a student said, "Miss! Do you have a mushroom tattooed on your ankle?" I was mortified. I am not, nor ever have been, the type of person that would have anything to do with mushrooms, MUCH LESS get one tattooed on my body. I was like, "NO! It is tiny hearts!!!!" Although, upon further inspection, I could see why she asked that. If you look from the right direction and are not too close, it actually does kind of look like a mushroom.

You better believe I put my foot all the way on top of the desk and pointed out the hearts.

handsome fellas

I don't really get into movie stars. But, I'll admit that, in my opinion, there are a few gentlemen that are rather easy on the eyes. I realized that I have an affinity for a more "distinguished" fella. Cases in point:

Jim Caviezel (photo)

George Clooney (photo)

Tom Selleck (photo)

Pierce Brosnan (photo)


Bruce Willis (photo)

When MWG is scruffy, he looks a lot like Bruce. No reason for this post except for the fact that I'm excited about the new Tom Selleck show that is premiering tonight. In like 30 seconds, so I've gotta go.

driving miss bee

First things first - at what point am I too old to say things like "holla!" (usually in jest, but still....) and "Word." and "Seriously?" and "I was all...." Are those phrases associated with age or personality?

Anyway. "Fill in the Blanks" Sunday edition:

1. When I get a day to myself I like to sleep late and read an entire book in one sitting.

2. High school was.... a necessary evil that we all must go through. Although I guess I was one of the lucky ones, because I actually liked school and school liked me. I learned that being president of everything helps pay for college. I learned a lot about myself and who/what friends are. I also learned that I am somewhat terrified to have an adolescent child for fear that he/she will behave the way I did.

3. A little dream I have is to finally get off my bum and do something with adult literacy. I've been "meaning" to for years, but haven't because it requires effort and commitment. But there is no reason that there should be adults out there that can't read to their kids at night.

4. A big dream I have is the "happily ever after." I don't want anyone else's version of it, I want the ending that was written just for me.

5. If I could drive any car my pick would be the car that comes with my own personal driver.

6. A time that I felt really and truly beautiful was too long ago. I need to work on that.

7. Tomorrow I will.... be working with one of my new teachers on whatever she needs help with, as her email to me tonight indicated that she is about --thisclose-- to quitting. I have to help the poor girl regain some sanity so she won't be crying every day after work. Then I'll do some grad school stuff. And maybe go to the gym. Perhaps that will help me with my answer to #6.

lucky

My dad is a Catholic Deacon. Deacons have to go through Deacon school, and during this training, he met two other men: I'll call them Godfather and Professor.

My dad, Godfather and Professor all happened to have daughters of the same age. We became the best of friends, which was fortunate since we were pretty much forced to be together all of the time. We went to school together, church together, and saw each other socially on the weekends. (We called ourselves "The Deacon Dolls.") We thought we were SO. CUTE. since there was one blonde, one brunette and one redhead. Here is the earliest picture I could find of us:

(Deacon Dolls + Erin (black hair), circa 1986?)

And a few years later, with our "flour sack babies":

(Deacon Dolls, circa 1988)

And right before 7th grade: (I know because I didn't have my braces yet)

(Deacon Dolls circa 1990)

This is where it gets crazy. Brunette and I actually went to high school together and were friends. (She is a year ahead of me.) We traveled in different circles because she was already cool and I was into the whole football game/cheerleading thing, but we still associated with each other. Redhead was "in town", and while we all still saw each other occasionally, it wasn't the same. Then we all went off to college and work and grew up and grew apart and it was actually quite sad if you think about it.

Until....

I moved to Austin for work and my parents were all, "Redhead and Brunette live there too! You should call them!" And I was all, "I haven't really talked to them in like 4 years, so that would be kind of weird." However, we reconnected via email and the rest is history. I don't know how we all ended up in the same city, but I'm very thankful we did. We were young and fun for several years. We would go downtown and laugh and dance til wee hours of the morning.

(Deacon Dolls, circa 2004?)

We all have grown-up jobs now, and in May (once I'm done), we'll all have our Masters degree. (Should Masters have an apostrophe? Embarrassingly enough, I'm at a loss on this one.) We don't see each other as often as we should, but we still see each other. The last time we were all together was Memorial Day, when we had a little BBQ:

(Deacon Dolls circa 2010)

No real reason for this post, I just found some old pictures of us and realized what a blessing it is to have actual life-long friends.

Sarah+Margaret+Rachel = BFF. LYLAS.

treats

This is what happens when you go to the bank and exchange pleasantries with the tellers on a regular basis. Every time we drive up, whoever is working is all, "Hi MWG!" And then they have a little conversation while the money is exchanged. On this particular visit, Blossom wasn't even with us, yet they sent "treats for the whole family" through the little magic money vessel.

That's all.

treinta y tres

· The total number of vertebrae of the spinal column of the human body.

· Jesus’ age when he was crucified.

· The number of fragments in the terrestrial globe of the United Nation logo.

· The largest positive integer that cannot be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers.

· The temperature at which water boils, according to the Newton scale.

· The number of recorded miracles that Jesus performed.

· The atomic number of arsenic.

· The number of innings played in the longest baseball game in history.

· The numerical equivalent of the word AMEN: 1+13+5+14=33.

· The code for international direct-dial phone calls to France.

· One of the symbols of Ku Klux Klan. (K is the 11. alphabet, 3 times 11 is 33, KKK)

· The jersey number of basketball players Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, & Patrick Ewing.

· The title of the first episode of the new Battlestar Galactica television series

· The number printed on all Rolling Rock beer labels.

· How old I am today.

(information courtesy of wikipedia)

nothing says Friday like giant sprinkles

Larry surprised me with a custom made cupcake cake for my birthday weekend.
No offense to anyone that owns one of those cupcake shaped cake pans, but this one is way better. Maw was a waitress at one of the places we frequent. In the course of conversation, we found out she makes cakes. Here are some pictures. (Dangit, it the link just takes you to the facebook login page. If you are Larry's friend on facebook, look at her cake album.) Larry told her that I love cupcakes and specifically requested that she make me a cake in the shape of a giant cupcake. It is 4 or 5 layer cakes shaped into a cupcake. Red velvet with cream cheese icing.

The only thing better than being surprised with a cake is realizing that the cupcake liner is not just paper. It is parchment paper hiding a delicious chocolate shell. She did a great job.(Ignore the edge of the cake where it looks like somebody took their finger and swiped some icing off......I swear I don't know what happened there....)

musings on 6th

Back in the day, I would be getting ready to go out and live it up in downtown Austin. After all, I don't have to work tomorrow! Instead, I will watch a movie and make it to bed before midnight. However, I will leave you with some random reflections of many a night on 6th street...

1. Don’t wear high heels if you will be drinking and there are grates in the sidewalk.

2. Don’t punch random boys in the face just because they won’t give you a bite of their pizza.

3. When you are standing next to Mark Cuban at a bar, flirt with him and at least get a free drink out of him since he is a zillionaire.

4. The drinks on “West 6^th” are at least $2 more than the drinks on “Dirty 6^th” but not being surrounded by questionable women in spandex makes it totally worth it.

5. Don’t go to “dirty 6^th” past the age of 25. (and even 25 is pushing it.) Period.

6. Leslie now charges if you want to take a picture with him.

7. If your boyfriends tell you and your girlfriends to “stay together,” this does not mean that 2 of you stay together while 1 goes to get the car.

8. When you see a “celebrity,” always go talk to the people in their entourage that are standing on the outskirts. Chances are, they are much more interesting.

9. Telling 22 year old boys (when you are over the age of 22) that they are “so precious” and “just the cutest little things” tends to irritate them.

10. Pedicabs rock.