Reflections, smoke and mirrors

Well, I've been thinking about this for a long time and I've decided that the new agers and the rest of the navel contemplators who proclaim that if we do not like someone, it is because they are holding up a mirror to us. That it is actually our reflection that we do not like. Well, I say that concept is full of shit! Or maybe I am. In any case it's over used and I believe, exploited in order to get the insecure to read more self help books! Yep, I think it's a damn conspiratory plot! ha hahahahaaaaaaaaaa~ Not entirely.

When I was young and impressionable, I rejected this claim outright. Hogwash!! That's just ridiculous! If I were like them... I would like them because they would share the same ethics, manners and etc... as I do. Humph! Then I stopped reacting and calmed down... I saw the granule of truth in it, and blew that WAY out of whack. OH YIKES! I was being reflected in every vile no good dirty rotten low down back stabbing bastard in the universe! Too much, too much. I'm vermin! I pondered, contemplated and did my best to understand my connection to the aggressively selfish, snottily entitled, unforgiving, disconnected and even violent members of our society and my personal orbit.

That led to my self esteem taking a huge hit (which believe me, it could not afford) and allowing the sharks within my orbit to tear me to pieces while I tried to be understanding and thoughtful, because, you know, it was really me being reflected. Then, after a whole lot of searching and soul suffering, it came to me. Clear as a bell. Just because someone wears a robe or procures a PhD, does NOT mean they have answers! They are students the same as all of us, and they have weak spots, they fuck up and get greedy and misinterpret just like all of us. That is when I figured out that many "truths" fall on a spectrum. Truths themselves are often not black and white, or maybe it's our experience/perspecive that is not. I'm not sure. Anyway, the point is that not much is absolute. We all have clues surrounding us like fog, but we must come to our OWN truth. Even as you read this, take nothing from anywhere and think that it is coming from an authority more qualified than your own mind, heart and spirit. Change is constant and there are lots of misconceptions being preached by authority figures. Not all of them are blasphemous right wingers either. They throw more smoke and mirrors into the already confusing landscape of our inner lives and hearts and our search for truth and meaning. These persons are definitely our teachers, but WHAT they are teaching? And how are they teaching? This is the mystery... and make no mistake, they are not even aware they are teaching. May times they are so self absorbed, ignorant, unaware or all three that they are just acting out their inner demons constantly...so they are not to be revered, nor do I believe that they are always reflecting ourselves; however, they are deserving of attention and detached assessment. There are violent teachers, there are vile and nasty ones, using ones, betraying ones, and bigoted ones, ignorant ones.... etc... Even though they may be merely pawns in a bigger picture, they have an important purpose, and that is the part that is deserving of our attention. It is WE who decide what the teaching is, and how it is being taught. (Or more correctly, being channeled to us from elsewhere) And how we can use this lesson to live a better life or make the world a better place.

So, getting back to the smoke and mirrors. It's good to ponder new ideas and perspectives and broaden ourselves. But just remember, sometimes if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and shits like a duck... It IS a fucking duck! Sometimes you are being challenged rather than reflected. Your moral fiber, how you handle this person and what they are doing and whether or not you allow yourself to be influenced and seduced by darkness, or whether you stand up for what you believe and send that duck waddling.

My son sings to tigers... and they sing back!

This is Casanova. As you can see, he is an incredibly magnificent creature. A Siberian White Tiger, visually stunning, with the personality of a goofball lover. On the outside, he's all Carry Grant, Johnny Depp and Fred Astaire... On the inside... some oddball cross between the original Casanova, Toulouse Lautrec and Chevy Case. How can a tiger be a goofball? That's another post for another time. But I did want to mention that my almost 4 year old, Harley, took the above photo himself. First try! In fact it was the one and only pic he took of his friend yesterday. Good eye, eh?

This is Harley. He is an incredibly magnificent creature as well. He makes up songs constantly. He also likes to make up words and kind of has his very own language, which he wields at will. He likes balloon parties, singing, playing guitar, toads, lizards, more toads, anything train oriented and digging in the dirt. (Both with a shovel and with hands). He loves all creatures large and small, but his most favorite-ist one of all is a Casanova.

Casanova lives at Cougar Ridge Educational Center, http://www.cougar-ridge.org/ which is owned and operated by our dear friend Gloria. Harley first met Ms Gloria and her furry family: Ashukalee (Sugar for short) and Lakota, (the two cougars who also live at Cougar Ridge... hence the name) and Casanova, one year ago on Sugar's birthday. Ms Sugar, being the Queen of the Ridge, had an elaborate party which felt more like a low key gala if that makes sense. The gala included decorations, cake, human refreshments, well wishers of all ages and backgrounds, (I think one of our state representatives was in attendance), and of course big kitty treats/presents/refreshments... The only one I really remember was a new ball, but I'm sure some kind of fresh venison was probably involved as well.

I wanted so badly to get her one of those big ass bones you see sometimes in Publix, but that would involve getting bones for the other two cats as well. Believe me, you really don't want beasts of that size picking bones with one another, literally. And, truth be told, these sized bones are pretty expensive if you get more than one. I was sad that we could not afford a round of bones and did not know what else to get a cougar diva for her birthday. But luckily Harley had his own gift idea. He suggested we bring his guitar so that he could sing and play Happy Birthday to Sugar. Great idea! So, that is what we did. Unfortunately, Sugar is a bit shy, so there is no telling what she really thought about this... however, there was no mistaking what Casanova thought of it. He LOVED it! It was the cutest most amazing thing ever. Cass immediately met Harley as he approached his enclosure, guitar in hand. He greeted him with a friendly "Chuff-Chuff" (That is happy tiger talk), and it was love at first sight... Then Harley began to serenade him, and it got even more comical and heartwarming. Harley often has to stroll or move about when he's playing, so he paced up and down the length of Cas's enclosure. Cas trotted beside him following his every move, and sort of springing about like a graceful goofy dancer, chuffing and occasionally just gazing at Harley, or rubbing up against his fence in pleasure while listening intently. I even caught him making biscuits one time! (It is the way house cats show effection by pressing their paws into something as though they are kneeding dough). It was a grand time indeed.

Unfortunately, we have not seen a lot of Gloria or her furry family since.then We have kept in touch by phone and email along the way, but we both got caught up in life's chaotic pace, which can dull our connections. So, out of the blue lasts week, I got possessed with catching up with those folks who I have lost contact with, and called her. Turns out it was HER birthday this past weekend. So all Harley could talk about was making Ms Gloria, who he now refers to as "Aunt Gloria", a birthday cake and singing to her, and her kitties, naturally. There are very few people I've seen Harley take to that were not family or people we see regularly like he has with Gloria. (Personally, I think he's got a massive crush on her!) As much as an almost 4 year old can. This is not surprising as she is gorgeous, exuberant, kind and when she speaks to you, it's as though you are the only person in the universe. Plus she loves kids or at least mine, so there you go~ The fact that she is the mommy of his favorite tiger friend is just icing on the cake. (Really, no pun intended. I swear.) So, we sang to Ms Gloria, Harley helped her blow out candles and she and I got to catch up some. Harley got to flirt a bit and ask all sorts of questions about big kitties. He astutely observed that "Casanova doesn't even know how BIG he is"!! (So true, much like the St Bernard who thinks he's a lap dog). We had to explain to him that while the kitties are sweet from a safe distance, they are wild creatures also. That's when he announced his observation.

Here is Harley signing to Cas. These pictures don't really do either of them justice, just as words do not, but it will give you an idea. In some of these, it looks like Cas is singing along, but he is actually chuffing and panting, which I guess in tiger talk, is really one in the same.

Shameless Plugging

I am not sure why I am using this picture, except that I just like it.... and I do love Lucy! I also like the idea of cheap therapy. Talk about Dime store psychology... at her prices she could advertise 2-4-1 !

Well, I'm not really here to talk about Lucy or psychology, what I am here to do is to announce that my friend over at http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/ has 2 new posts up. I encourage everyone who visits here or stumbles or lurks here to please go visit him at: http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/ , and to please please leave a comment. This has become really important to him for a number of reasons, and I really want to encourage his continued writing from every angle possible. AND the picture of the night time jumping trout is pretty cool too. So, if you find yourself with a few minutes, to spare please visit him, http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/.

And for everyone who visits http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/ THANKS! (In advance) :-)
I warned you it was shameless!
Peace, pf

What'll it be?

This is the perfect cocktail. I have had everything but the vodka today, and I did feel a little like something was missing.

Last night I got an email from a good friend that read: "Call this number NOW! My dad said so." The number is: 561-253-6507
I made the call. It made me chortle. And there wasn't even a quacking duck.

Ok ya'll time to visit Xanadu

I received BD's latest post, so please visit http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/. It is a short one, but as always, very thoughtful and insightful. He has also included in the body of his post, his responses to all the various comments to his past posts. I'm having a hard time kind of getting across how all this works with the commenting thing, so for now, we're just doing it this way. He's never even seen a computer except on TV, so having to use it as a vehicle one person removed can be a bit bothersome.

We had a really great and overdue visit this past Sunday which I hope to post about soon. The problem is I'm exhausted and overwhelmed and stretched thin... (redundant? That too.) Anyway, the other problem is each visit is so chalked full of fun and poignant moments that it is hard to take it all in, process and deliver in words what we have experienced and what has transpired. Does that make sense? It's just all too much. But I will try. Eventually.

Harley is starting school next week so I will have more time! yippie! But I also have to job hunt... BOO! HISSSSSSSSSSSSS!

The vioce from beyond the walls and razorwire

Those who know me, know that one of my best friend's lives on death row. My very first post was about a New Years visit I had with him last year entitled New Years in prison and the food was real good... Anyone who is interested, I have one other blog post about him called: Jailhouse Blog

I thought it was a great idea to start him his own blog, and as far as I knew there were no rules against it. (Finally-- an advantage to the slow wheels of bureaucracy!) I wanted people to see him as I did. To raise awareness of what we are doing in our "justice system". We began his blog earlier this year, it's called Life in Xanadu, http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/. On his blog, he calls himself BD. for security reasons he is not able to communicate with complete abandon about who he his, his life and how he got where he is. Some things will have to remain mysterious.

BD is one of the most incredible people I have ever met. EVER. He has had the most insane and intense life imaginable. Still, he is kind patient, and loving and strives every day to learn and make a difference in any way he can. He has more self control than anyone I've ever met. His instincts are keen and he can discern instantly what is ok and what is not and adjust his behavior accordingly. A skill I've been working on most of my life with little success. (I am over emotional and therefore reactionary) BD is strong inside and out. He is in great physical and spiritual shape. He has unbelievable insight into the universal soul. He is my best friend, my counselor and my chosen brother. I pray that he gets released... someday. Nobody deserves it more.

I can go on and on like this, but I won't. What I really came here to say today is that he is going to send me a new post for his blog next week. I was hoping his blog would show more of HIM as his letters and writing do.... I would like the world to relate to him, to see him as HUMAN. To understand that these are not monsters we are housing and mistreating, they are actual people. He has chosen to focus more on Capital Punishment issues, and that makes perfect sense. I support that in every way I can. As time goes on, I hope his readers will get more glimpses into his true core. His beautiful mind and spirit. He shows me everyday, just by being who he is how sacred life is, and I find myself more human and grateful because of it. You will too.
Keep your eye on: http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/

C'est ci bon!

After discovering that we drank the last beer sometime over the weekend, it became increasingly apparent that someone was going to have to make a run.

"Oh, I know... let's all walk to Joiners"! (the little store down the street). It'll be fun!" Says I.

"YES! Good idea" Says he.

"Damn! Sounds like rain. Why don't you step out and see if we can beat the storm..." Says I.

"Well, let's just drive." Says he.

"If any one's driving, it's going to be you, and we will stay here... what's the fun in driving?" Says I."

"Right" Says he.

He pops out and back in. "Yea, we can make it if we don't dawdle."

"HEHEHEH!" I chortle, as he immediately begins dawdling on his computer, barefoot.

10 minutes after getting Harley dressed and shod, because he "likes to be nakey", We are off.

It's cooler now, and very gray. It is crystal clear we are not going to "make it", but we are starved for adventure, and armed with an umbrella. So, on we go, dodging fire ant piles, SUVs who's 5 O'clock drivers are probably texting, and eventually, raindrops.

"What road is this"? Asks Harley?

Well son, we are heading due north on (the narrow shoulder of) highway 59.

"Whoa!" comes the response.

We are playing 1-2-3333333333! With the fire ant piles, till I feel something unpleasantly familiar. Hmmmmm.... maybe it's just stray nettle, I think.

"Put him on shoulders, I can't do this anymore... my arm is sore and.... OH NO!!! I'm hit! I'm hit!"

"You guys go on! We're running out of time"!
The clouds are looking more and more ominous every second.

"I'll be ok. I'll catch up. GO-GO-GO-GO-GOOOO"!

Desperately I jam my fingers between my toes in a failed attempt to annihilate the little stinging, biting bastard that is feasting between my second and third digits. Damn him! He's too far under my strap! (Of course, nothing is easy... certainly not anticide) Sighing audibly, I resigned to the undoing of my Teva strap, and made ant glue out of that red and bitter firey-assed devil!

I caught up easily even though they were jogging.... Yes, those first few drops were delightful, but it was picking up... and fast. And I still had the umbrella.

By the time we got to the store, we were laughing and wet, but not soaked.

"Who's idea was this"? Asks he.

I pretended not to hear till I thought of something worth saying.... "Isn't this fun"?

The look. Then the smile.

"Check this out. Only 3$ more than Publix for a case of Corona".

"WooooooWEEEE! That's what I'm TALKIN' about"!

Outside in the breeze way we wait. Harley is stepping out from the shelter of the rooftop. "Look, I'm having a little rain shower"! His body is framed by the head lights of a monster pick up parked outside low beams blaring, wipers on, stereo wailing a country tune. The owner is inside and leaves it to make purchases. Not unusual in our neck of the woods. By the time we are leaving, there are 3 abandoned vehicles. Engines running, lights on, wipers flapping. Only in Lloyd, I think.

"Um, are you going to carry the beer"? He asks, joining us again.

"No. We need a plan".

We walk next door to the Subway sandwich shop. If this were a hotel, the Subway and the Joiners mart would be adjoining suites.

We decide that he should go home with the umbrella, and get the car while we wait and have a snack.

"I think I'll run home". Says he.

"Dear God, NO! That's a totally bad idea"!

"Why"?

"Let's see...I'm seeing feet sliding in mud, ankles twisting, Dr. bills... and all that goes with that".

I love him. He is clumsy. And a non regular exerciser. This has tragedy written all over it.

It was taking a long while I thought. I was just starting to worry.... (Not only about where he was, but that I might strangle one of the two elderly women that were ordering in front of us... or one of the two employees. ) Sweet Jesus, if ever there were people that were too slow, too picky and way too meticulous in their ordering, these ladies would be they. And let's not even get started on the 'too much conversation having about non ordering issues' going on... please let's do not.... AND.....If EVER there were two slower than molasses in January employees, these two, would be they. I mean we are talking an employee PER customer and it took them like 14 minutes! I have to admit it though, they were very sweet. The employees I mean.

Then, I see the car. Hallelujah!

He flashes lights. I motion for him to come in. He does.

I explain that the box of raisins we were going to get sort of turned into a bag of cut Granny smiths, since they don't have raisins anymore. (Too healthy for we of Jefferson County!) So, figuring apples are good, I open the fridge to grab a bag. Only one bag left, and two of the slices were brown. I don't know the price, but whatever it was, was too much. So.... we got the raspberry yogurt. Not something you want to bring in the car.

He confesses that he started off walking, but jogged from the corner of our street. "And it was the right thing to do"! He showed me, yessiree bob!

Me? I'm just thanking the Great Spirit for watching over the crazy.

We sat and watched the rain out of the huge plate glass window. The lightning was spectacular though a little close for my taste. And I really dig storms.

Harley found a lucky penny, and stuck his hand in an oscillating fan. And got scolded by one of the aforementioned "women" in line... who also shot me a "What the hell kind of mother are YOU" look. If she only knew.

We finally finished the yogurt. Harley rode home illegally belted in my lap, while oohing and squealing with delight. Our car splashing through the deep puddles of our ill designed village roads.

We've added a new nugget to the collection of memories which will sustain us in our old age.

This was our happy hump day family adventure.

And now, Harley sleeps.

And we drink
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah.

what the hell's happening on Sesame Street?

Alright, I know things change, but if something works, why fix it? I watch a lot of Sesame Street these days, and I am more than annoyed with the dropping of certain characters. Where's Kermie? Miss Piggy? Fozzy Bear? the Pink Monster with the black eyebrows? The Count?

These characters are fun and did not have screechy voices. (ok, Miss Piggy did get a tad irritating sometimes...) In my memory they did not dummy things down for kids. They were just funny and oddly a lot like personalities you would meet in real life... Miss Piggy, the narcissist, Kermie, her more serious counterpart/pursuer, Fozzy Bear, the funny guy/class clown... The Count, the bean counter. I mean, this cast was dripping in metaphor fun for the adult as well as entertaining for both adults and children. Hell, we don't even see much of Bert and Ernie anymore.

Now we have Abbie, the ding a ling fairy... I mean, yea, she's cute, but she's annoyingly dense. Don't EVEN get me started on ELMO. I hate that little red bastard! His voice is annoying, he screeches too much, his character is fake-ish (that's saying a lot when you are talking about a damn puppet) and that Mr. Noodle, while he is slap sticky funny for kids... he is just stupid. I can't believe this guy gets paid! Then there is Elmo's computer. UGH. I can't even go there. What would Jim Henson think of all this?

Now I realize this sounds completely whacked and harsh. I know the "KIDS LOVE ELMO!" But they also love ice cream, candy, video games, and staying up all night.... doesn't mean it's good for them. Doesn't mean they are learning good things or nourishing themselves from these things. Now, I know, ice cream is FUN, Elmo is FUN, staying up is FUN! Yea, but if it's done in moderation, not to excess. And fun doesn't have to be annoying and stupid. As far as I'm concerned these characters being regulars on the show is like feeding kids sugar coated sugar pills for their developing brains. I'll stay away from what it's like for adults... woops! too late~

What happened to the number of the day song, remember 3 3 3 3 let's sing a song of 3. How many is 3? Then they would count several objects and at the end there would be guy carrying like 3 chocolate mousse piiiiiies! Then he'd start to wobble, loose his balance, then crash and burn with all the pie goo smooshing all over him! So fun without being stupid! How about one of these things is not like the others? Why does a kid need to know how to make a sushi roll? THAT is what is being shown now. WTF????!!!

When asked to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow at one of her concerts, Liza respectfully replied. "I'm sorry, that song has been sung." Some things should just NOT be messed with, and for ME, Sesame Street Muppet's characters is one of them! Jesus, Elmo's on, I have to run in the other room before I puke on my screen!

Nevermind Hank... I REMEMBERED!!!!!

If you have not heard these chicas rock, you really really must. They are HOT! That's all I got. Ah PS. You have to read yesterday's post to sort of get this one. Sorry!

Funtabulouso!

This post is dedicated to all my bloggy friends who love to wear black. And you know who you are dahlings!

I googled "pretty pictures" and so many oddball things came up. This is one of them. It's obviously an album cover, but it's done in the syle of a movie poster. Clever, no? And so glaaaaaamorous~ I came across it and just thought it was marvelous. I really like the old style of it, and the kitschy thing too. Are those two the same? I mean many kitschy things are old, but I don't think it's a requirement. Yes, I'm going with old is a subset of kitschy. Anyway, I like it. A lot. Oh, and I'm pretty sure they are foreign. They are cutting and a new album in Copenhagen.

Even their name is hip and groovy, The RAVEONETTES! And yet it also reminds me of eating Raisonettes at the movies, which I love~ but is not necessarily hip and groovy.... For all these reasons, I suspected that I would also like their music And I do~ I really do! It's sort of beachy, 50's rock and sort of Hillbilly Frankenstein/Roxy Music sound mixed in with another band that I like (an all chick band), but I can't remember the name of it. This is what getting old looks like ya'll. When you can't remember the name of one of your favorite chick bands, you've arrived. DOH! It's a super cool name too by the way. (Hank, knower of many many things, can you help me out here?)

So, there you go and there you have it. I was restless and uninspired, so I played around in GOOGLE, looking for pretty pictures. This led to numerous hilarious and strange viewings and now I have a new band to check out. Besides the striking pink cover, the words "Pretty in Black" stood out. It made me think of all my bloggy friends who like me, like to wear black. Although I'm not goth and I suspect they aren't either. But I'm digressing. What I mean to say, is that you, my cyber-bloggy friends, help color my world. And today it was black and pink... and musical. Thanks ya'll!

I got it, I got it, Now I GOT to REPORT IT!!

The title of this post originates from one of those crazy 70s/80s comedies, and I think it's "What's Happening!!" Although it could just as easily have come from "Good Times" or "That's My Momma"... My senility knows no bounds. All I know is we said it ALL the time back in the day when we had something really important to announce, like gossip. But that is entirely off point, and this is NOT gossip, it's very important info! Very important indeed.

Ok, so here is what i have to report. As some of you know I have had a SERIOUS problem commenting on blogs which use the "Embedded Below Post" format. (If you are new to my world, you can catch up by scrolling down to older posts and referring to: "If a picture paints a thousand words") Well, all you people who said it was a browser problem... YOU were RIGHT! I wish I had a small prize to give you, but all I have is my gratitude and esteem.

I could NOT understand how that could be?? Because logically, it HAD to be a personal setting... either on my machine, or my blogger account or my permissions/privacy settings~ whatever, because the Great Spirit knows I've got a ton of filters on every dang thing. I hear Safari kicks butt in this regard, although I have not tried it yet. I just used my old Internet Explorer to test the theory. (I know, I know, "yech!") Anyway, problem solved. I still don't like playing musical browsers, but hell, at least I can manipulate the situation as needed. AND I do plan to download the Safari. It's free and I believe, a Mac product, so how bad can it be, right?

LESSON LEARNED:

Being locked in your own brain - 0

Listening to others, even if you cannot make head's or tails of it - 1

Ah, and while we're on the subject, could somebody PLEASE explain to me how to copy a link from another one of my blogger posts into a new post. (For instance, I could have just created a link to the post I mentioned above- "If a picture paints a thousand words", instead of the inefficient way that I had to do it because I just cannot figure out how to do this in blogger. I think I was successful once, but that may be a delusion. Anyway, if anyone has a clue, I promise promise promise I will listen. Even if you say it is my browser.

EXPERIMENT POST POST:

If a picture paints a thousand words...

Ok, ya'll so this is weird... I have to copy the date ahead of the title, then I can grab it. Then once I paste it in place, then I delete the date. This is progress!! Thanks for your suggestions Steph and IDD. I did have the show links on "yes" and I tried your copy method Steph, but no luck. However, due to your suggestions I began playing around again, and I did find something that works, rudimentarily, but hey! I am not going to be choosy.

Ok, here goes a shot at text only hyperlink copying:

Ok, yall... Petit Fleur is having a meltdown over all the blogs I love AND I cannot comment on!!!

Oh geez, ya'll are NOT going to believe THIS one! In order to copy plain old text to hyperlink, I have to copy the sentence/word I want and then right click and then choose the option to "Search Google for"... then Google pops up with the ole "Did you mean..." and then the sentence follows in hyperlink. I copy and paste it, and voila! I am sure there is an easier way, but this is STILL progress!! Thanks ya'll! See, old dogs CAN learn. They really can!

AND just to prove it some more, I'm going to mess around doing it Steph's way because I know I've seen that dang chain icon!

I know I can't expect the world to change for me, but I can damn sure be frustrated about it!!
And... I am.

Whoa!! It took about 3 tries, but I got it!!! Woo hoo~ You made my whole day, ya'll. Crazy, huh? Something that small can cause all this relief! Whew. Thanks. Many, many thanks.

This has nothing to do with riding actual trains...

Thursday I was all set to go to a monthly meeting that is my routine... in fact, I did go to the meeting, but I was the only one to show. Turns out, I had the wrong date. So I called a good friend who was visiting from out of town to see if she could meet me for a glass of wine. YES! She could and she did! One glass of wine turned into 6. Well, three each. They were generous pours as the owner is an old friend. If you get the chance and your are a Tally person, it's a great place. It's called Lee's Wine Bar. If you click the link, you'll be able to read aaaaaall about it ~ A Visit To Lee's Wine Bar

Anyway, so we went there and got nice and toasty. The odd thing is that it's been for EVER since I've been "out", but I don't remember ever feeling just really good and relaxed without feeling the other feelings of "Oh God, I'm tanked... I didn't mean to do that!" I guess that's what pacing yourself and drinking GOOD wine will do. So grown up! My friend and I had a great time, we caught up on each other's lives, and had some really good laughs~ That sounded wrong... We were laughing with each other not at each other.. :-) I did remember why I all but stopped drinking. It wasn't the shinannigans I tend to get into at the time... it's the next morning. Ugh. Being hungover, no matter how slightly, with a child that wakes at the ass crack of dawn is just indescribable.

Earlier in the week, the hub told me that Friday (the morning after serious shinanniganery) we were taking a short road trip to Thomasville GA, to visit a special toy store, a music store and ride a train. Oh goodie! A train ride. Just what a slightly hung over mommy needs. Gallons of caffeine, a Chickfile sandwich, a salad, and a train ride! Perfect. It wasn't till we were almost there that I discovered that there was no train in Thomasville. We were not going to ride the train. We were going to the special toy store to PLAY with said store's 3 elaborate Thomas Tank Engine set ups and look around at all the wooden toys. I was very disappointed about that. I was looking forward to that train ride. Dammit!

I did rediscover Thomasville though, and that was sweet. It is really an oversized version of monticello and a wee bit more upscale. The streets and buildings looked very familiar. We got a couple of really fine Cafe Americanas. (Espresso for wimps) and biscotti. I meandered around while Harley and his dad played and played and played with trains et al. The only way it could have been better is if I acually had money to spend. I blew my wad the night before though, so I was under serious "purchase restriction"... only caffeine and fatty foods to snap me out of my hangover were accaptable under the restriction, clause a, paragraph2- item 3.5c. And so it was, a funny sunny Friday, with no train ride, but still lots of fun and discovery.