Day 11 — A Photo of Me Taken Recently

Yeah, I skipped Day 10, too. For now. Still trying to find the "right" photo. Ha!

As cheesy as I am, I'm usually taking the photos rather than IN the photo. But this is literally one of two photos taken of me this month. The other has K in it and he really doesn't like when I post photos of him on the interwebs, so I try to respect that. Mostly. Sometimes it can't be helped. I wish it didn't look like I was bald in this photo. My own worst critic and all that...


Anywho, this is from April 2nd taken on the deck outside of one of our new favorite restaurants, El Arbol. We were celebrating J's 20th birthday. Again.

You see, I had driven up to see him at school on his actual birthday and took him to lunch. That's just the kinda mom I am. I also bought a cheesecake for him to share with his friends at the weekly potluck that takes place in their apartment, which happened to be that night, too. We visited the Rachofsky House while I was in town, something he had planned to do with several of his arch buddies. I was really just tagging along.

He then decided to drive home for the weekend. Funnily enough, I've also sent him two packages in the last couple of weeks as belated birthday gifts and I have another waiting to send. We sure are dragging out this celebration thing!

The following Monday, we had our "fight." My, what a difference a day makes. LOL/Ugh. Life certainly does move on, doesn't it.

If I had procrastinated on this post for a few weeks more, I probably could have shared a photo of me on the beach in Aruba. But you're stuck with this one.

And now I'm stuck daydreaming about mai tais and white sand beaches....*sigh*....believe me, I'll be sharing the lowdown on the trip after the fact, but until then here's a sneak peek at where we're staying, specifically a room like this!

Day 07 — A Favorite Photo

I had skipped over this because I was looking for a particular photo. And then, of course, when you start rummaging through photos you get a little distracted by the memories and the nostalgia. And you find every other photo but the one you're looking for...and you just about give up the search when you realize you didn't have to rummage after all. It was still in the photo cube you keep on the shelf in your closet. And you realize what a dork you are.

And as many photos as I DO have, I find that there are YEARS missing in my life based on the photos I don't have. Then again, there have been several moves in my life. And there are several boxes in various closets as well as the garage that are waiting for me to get my poop in a group and organize the troves of photographic evidence of my existence in various stages. And I'm sure my grandmother has loads tucked up in her attic that my dad sent to her way back when, during the days before digital photos and electronic copies. When you actually had to wind the film forward in a camera and get to the end of the roll before you went to the store where it was sent off to be developed with chemicals and darkrooms, when pictures were actually printed on photo paper. You were lucky to have captured A Kodak moment and even luckier if you had ONE copy of it. Archaic.

So, here's the photo:

It makes me smile.
It's so wrong on so many levels.
Especially if you knew my parents in the last several years of their lives.

With both of my parents gone now, I couldn't get the story from them so I don't know much about the history of this photo. I found it while cleaning out their house, preparing it for market to sell since we couldn't really deal with having the upkeep and maintenance of a house over 350 miles away.

I remember coming across it and stopping in my tracks. I had to smile. They looked giddy. Or drunk. I don't know which.

They're so young in this photo. From the date stamp of May 1970, I know my dad to be three months shy of his 21st birthday. He's roughly 8 months older than my son is today. My mom is 28. I met Keith when I was 28. Funny thing about the parallels.

And then I realize, she's pregnant. With me. And a beer in her hand. Um. That explains some things. ***UPDATE/DISCLAIMER*** In my mom's defense, it was a different time then. They didn't really know about fetal alcohol syndrome and all that. Plus, she was probably only barely pregnant, maybe 6-8 weeks pregnant, so she may not have known for sure yet. Okay, carry on...

I'm sure this was taken at a bar. Did you notice the nudie pic on the wall behind them? Let me point that out to you so that you can avert your eyes. I vaguely remember my mom saying that one of her brothers owned a bar near the base in the Philippines where my dad was stationed. I definitely remember her saying that's where they met.

It's strange for me to see my dad with a drink in hand, much less a whole bottle of Stoli's. (Yeah, I knew the brand as soon as I saw it. And?) I mean REALLY strange. I never saw him drink a thing other than communion wine at Mass after the age of about 13. You see, that's when they embraced a holier life. Although, I do remember once almost suffering a cardiac when my dad was visiting me in Dallas. I jokingly asked if he wanted a beer because I had about half a case left over from a party the weekend before and he said, "Yes" ...and meant it. The look of shock on my face provided him with at least fifteen minutes of a good belly laugh. It had to have been at least 25 years since he had had a beer.

Anyway, I think it's fun to see your parents young, full of vim and vigor, just starting out together in life. It's also a reminder that they've lived through it. Sometimes they really do know what they're talking about. Sometimes they really have made the mistakes that are the lessons they're trying to teach you to learn from. I never would have admitted to them that they were right. Now I know better.

Cheers!

What's New??

So, I was sick from the Friday before 4th of July (that was the 2nd) until last weekend. I ran fever for days...and I'm not a fan of being hot to begin with so when I can't do anything about it, well, it just plain sucks!

Okay, so enough about the moaning and groaning about being sick. One good thing to come of it was that I lost 10 pounds in a week. I can only imagine how much I'd lose if I was on Survivor! And the BEST thing to come of it was that the hubster bought me a new "fancy Dan" camera. I'd been lusting after a digital SLR for years and had been looking online at photos and reviews for the last several months. But while I was sick, K thought it would be a nice get well surprise. I am so excited to go out and shoot again...it's been years. I've forgotten everything I used to know about ISO and f-stops and ...

Nikon D-90, you and me are gonna be inseparable!

Catch!

Actually, that should be catch-up. 'Cause this post is just that. I told you way back when about some new furniture we purchased but I never shared the photos. I know you're dying to see...no? Well, humor me then.

The formal living room at the front of our house had been empty for three years before we finally got around to painting and furnishing it. We bought three bookshelves, two side tables, a leather sofa, matching chair and ottoman, as well as a table lamp and a floor lamp.


Remember, when I say "painting," I really mean "hiring someone for the job." I love that color. I'm glad the reverse psychology worked on the hubster and "he" talked me into it. ;o)


I had that photo framed a while ago. It was signed by folks who worked with my dad and was given to him as a send-off gift when we left Beale AFB, CA to go to Maine. I thought it was a neat memento to remind me of my dad.


To be honest, my OCD kicks in every time I look at this photo or step into that room because I want to re-organize those books. Is it weird to use the Dewey Decimal system in your private "library"?


Don't get used to seeing those framed photos on that top shelf. That's not where they're going to live. The leather is sooooo soft and you just melt into it. I feel very grown up in there.

We also purchased a sectional, coffee table and side table for the gameroom upstairs. Finally! More seating to go with the three barstools. We can finally put the folding chairs away.

Those tables give me an urge to play the bongos. Random? Yes. Very.


See that space between the speakers above the sofa? That's where I'm going to hang the photos that I'm storing on the top shelf of the bookcase. When I say, "I'm going to hang," I really mean, "I'm going to ask my father-in-law to hang." Just so we're clear.

Now for knick-knacks. Tchotchkes. (Spellcheck thinks I mean latchkeys, hopscotches, crotchless, and/or hotcakes. I mean none of those. At this time.) Baubles. And the like. That's the stuff I hate to buy. Because I like a lot of nonsense. And that's difficult to shop for. Or for which to shop, if you'd like to be grammatically correct about it.

Okay, nothing else to see here...move along people. But come back. Because I'll miss you.

Doppelgangers Beware!!

This collage was sent to me by my BFF in response to my status update/complaint that I didn't have any doppelgangers so I couldn't participate in Doppelganger Day/Week/Fad of the Moment on FB.

Um, I hate to break it to you but no amount of alcohol is going to make my beer goggles get fuzzy enough to allow me to think that I look like ANY of those women. Just ain't gonna happen.

I know I've regaled you with numerous tales of when I'm shaking my groove thang out in public only to be mistaken for Beyonce, but then people look at my lack of junk in the trunk and are instantly convinced that I ain't lyin'. But I'm a survivor, I'm not gon' give up...etc.

Carrie Underwood?? Yeah, we get mistaken ALL the time in the H-E-B...it makes it difficult for me to buy groceries. Those crazed country fans drop their tabloids as soon as they see me round the corner of the produce section and immediately pull out their Sharpies and autograph pads as if they had just stepped out of a line waiting to meet The Princess and/or The Frog at Epcot. Sheesh.

Elisha Cuthbert?? As funny as it would be to show up to parties and explain to people WHY I would appear on a show like 24 ONLY to get kidnapped by different people for three seasons or how I could possibly agree to being locked in an animal trap and not even tempt a wild cougar (as in feral not the over-40-seeking-boy-toy kind) to eat me as its next meal, I just can't justify it.

And as much as I would love to look like Garcelle Beauvais Nilon, I can't keep a tan like hers through the winter months. (Although this has been argued by the hubster as untrue, but I would have to endure a tanning bed and/or the risk of turning the shade of George Hamilton orange by using a creme. Personally, I don't think the possibility warrants the risk.)

The only things that Regine Velasquez and I share are our birthplaces, birth years and Filipino heritage. Although, let's be honest, there's always a chance that I might be mistaken as "one of the pioneer[s] of [the] music industry of the Philippines."

To Sarit Hadad, I apologize, but even I had to Google you since my knowledge of Hebrew/Israeli singers is a bit scant.

Although Rosario Dawson makes choices to appear in films as varied and sometimes as questionable as the ones I opt to watch, that's where our similarity ends. Apparently.

Catherine Heigl? I know that Universal Pictures didn't believe it when they sent an agent around to my house, after Knocked Up was such a hit, and I tried to explain that I just didn't like Seth Rogen (or Judd Apatow, for that matter) like that. Nor could I take that royalty check because I JUST WASN'T HER. Same thing with ABC...do you know how many times I had to talk to accounting when they tried to pay me for all her Grey's Anatomy appearances? Ridiculous.

How can I expect YOU to believe it, Dear Reader? I don't care what everyone else says about you, I believe that you know better.

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

...oh, all right, I admit it...a little laziness, too!

June was actually chock-full of blog-worthiness tidbits. It's just a matter of getting photos of said tidbits in order. I have my photos ready and waiting, but J's are on his computer and he has yet to put them on the home network for me to access them. Why does this matter? Well, in truth, it doesn't matter too much...except for the times when his camera was handiest and therefore it contains the Kodak (er, Canon) moments.

I will be back. Hopefully soon!