"Ain't She Sweet?"

In honor of the upcoming Halloween, I thought I would share (if Blogger will release its stranglehold on my photos) some of our Halloween moments from the life of Maddie-the-Great.  All of the costumes were homemade and were the choices all came from M-t-G (except the first one), her mom and dad just had to figure out how to make them!  Here are some my favorites!

1st Halloween -- Not too thrilled!

 

Did you ever see a happier clown?

 



Such a Ferocious Lion!



Did they wear pink & purple in the Old West?





1st Woman on Mars?  This is my favorite costume.

Her dad worked hard to make it as authentic as possible! 

Cool, huh?

Evidently that is all the photos that Blogger is allowing me tonight!  (Arrgh!)  But anyway, "Ain't She Sweet?"

This year M-t-G wants to be a Spy!  Uh-huh!  Great....how the heck do you suppose her mom can make a 9 yr. old look like a SPY??   We shall see! 

"Hey, Good Lookin'!"

Yesterday afternoon, I did something that I usually avoid like the plague....I went to the grand opening on opening day of a brand new store!  Grand openings are typically overrun with shoppers looking for bargains, sales, special deals, and that elusive PERFECT item (whatever it is!)  They are not always the most pleasant of people.   Sometimes just getting into the parking lot is a challenge and I will usually wait a week or two before feeling pretty sure all the craziness of the first few days is over!

But yesterday, after MtG's softball game (they lost, again!), Poppa was agreeable to taking MtG back to the house and playing some games with her, so Ratchlet and I decided to see how bad the crowds were at the new store and maybe just take a peek around.

So what store was it that made us brave the grand opening melee?  Well, I am glad to announce that Austin has it's very first Home Goods store!!  I had never heard of Home Goods until I started reading blogs that feature the decorating divas of blogland!  I kept catching reference to Home Goods when the bloggers stated the sources of the beautiful and fun home accessories!  And consistently when they discussed costs of such things, it became very clear that Home Goods items were amazingly priced.  Really low prices on all sorts of home things that were pretty, unusual, and very desirable!  I believe it is owned by T.J. Maxx and is a huge expansion of their home stuff.

So when I caught the grand opening announcement saying that one was being opened here in our town, I just couldn't wait to go.  OH. MY. GOD.  What a wonderful place!  We were only going to take a quick look and then come back another day for an in depth exploration.  HA!  May I just say that plan lasted about 5 seconds after we walked in.  I knew we were in trouble as soon as Ratchlet said, "Maybe we should get a cart?!!" 

We pretty much looked around the whole store, ooohing and aaaahing as we walked the aisles.   I could have spent a fortune (low prices are great but if you buy a lot of low-priced stuff, you still end up spending an enormous amount of money.) 

Before long our cart had a whole bunch of things, just like everyone else's did!  I think there will be a lot of decorating going on in Austin for the next few days, because it seemed like everyone in town was there....and they all had carts full of stuff.  Between the two of us, we had a fairly large number of things but I can't talk about them in detail because mostly  they were (whispering)......Christmas presents....shhh!) and the Big Guy has been known to read a post or two from time to time.  Because they are all a bunch of nosey Nellies, we told the family that we had just looked around and didn't buy anything.  I think they even believed it!  :D

Anyway, we had a thoroughly wonderful time.  Despite the crowd and the amount of things being bought the whole time we were there, we got some things that are just terrific, and the prices were every bit as reasonable as we had been told.  So I'm really glad Home Goods is here and I think I'm going to have to watch myself every time I go in.  I mean if I can spend a bunch amidst the crowds and chaos of opening day, can you imagine what I could do on a day when the rush was over???

"Hey, Good Lookin'!  You are definitely coming home with me!!!"

"Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing"

An important milestone has been reached in Maddie-the-Great's life!!  It probably wouldn't rate all that much attention in most families, but for us???  It's a biggie!

M-t-G participated in her very first Choir Concert!!  Whee!  Hmmm, I know what you're thinking, oh yes, I do.  You're thinking "So what?"  Well, music and singing are a major portion of our lives in this family.  We are, after all, a show-biz family!!  Two employed theater professionals, three who have been singing all our lives (kinda), four who play or have played a musical instrument, one who knows an enormous number of songs....well, actually it's two but the songs we know are from different eras, two who performed off and on for a significant portion of their adulthoods.... and that's just the immediate family!  (Um, just to clarify, there are a total five people in the family, so who does what is kind of mix and match!)

Okay, maybe I'm over-blowing this whole thing just a bit!  (Hyperbole is my greatest fault!!)

The thing is that for a period of about four years, M-t-G REALLY didn't like being in the spotlight (so to speak).  She wouldn't let anyone sing Happy Birthday, because she didn't want people to "look at" her.  She very nearly didn't join the softball team for the same reason.  She wouldn't participate in the recital the first year she was taking violin lessons.  Those kinds of moments scared her and we hoped she'd grow out of it, but it lasted a long time!

The funny part of it was that when it was just one or two of us (family folks), she loved being the center of attention!  She would put on "shows" for us to watch her!  She had the Cowboy show (she can "Yee-Haw! like nobody's business), the Knights show (complete with English accent!) and the Pirate show (Arrggh!  Aye, Matey!)  She would dance, she would sing, she would "play" the harmonica.  She had costumes and props!  One of us would have to introduce her, "Presenting Miss Maddie, doing her interpretation of Cowboy Joe.  Let's hear it for Miss Maddie!"  Then we had to applaud wildly and make the "roar of the crowd" sounds and then she would make her entrance, take a bow, and begin her show!  It was really a hoot!   Clearly, she understood the concept of entertaining, she just didn't want to do anything in front of people she wasn't completely comfortable with, so her audience was limited to her mom and dad, Poppa (sometimes) and me.

It was obvious from these shows that she had a generous portion of "ham" in her personality, but she hid it most of the time!

This year (4th grade) is when the elementary schools around here invite interested kids to join the choir which if made up of 4th and 5th graders.  150 of them, as a matter of fact. 

At first, M-t-G didn't want to do it, even though she loves music and loves to sing!  (She told me she "didn't love it all that much!"  Ha!)   The hang-up was that the kids had to "audition" for the choir and standing up and letting somebody she didn't know hear her sing, was just too scary for her.  Her mom had to work really hard to reassure M-t-G that she wouldn't have to sing alone (2 at a time for try-outs) and all the teacher was listening to was whether she was an alto or a soprano.   Well, she finally agreed to audition.  She told me her mom was "making her" do it!  Double Ha!!

When the day arrived, she did the audition and she survived to tell the tale.  She came home after the first rehearsal all atwitter because she "loved" it!   Triple Ha!!!  She told me after that first rehearsal that they wouldn't have a concert right away but they would have one soon.  She actually sounded excited about it!

So tonight was the first concert.They all wore black skirts or pants with white blouses/shirts and a bright blue bowtie.  The even had a name....the K Keynotes!   They used taped instrumentation to accompany them and they only sang four songs (they've only been singing for about a month!)

But oh my goodness!  They were adorable!  They sounded good, although if the key they were singing in were any higher, there would have been dogs howling all over town!!  I give the music director a lot of credit.  Trying to get 150 kids to memorize 4 songs (one with harmony and motions) and then sing them in front of their parents while behaving themselves as a choir should, that is an accomplishment for any teacher!

And Maddie-the-Great?  She did just fine!  Her movements were "full out", she was animated, she watched the director, she didn't fidget (well, not too much).  And when it was over, she was so excited she was nearly bouncing off walls!!  She LOVED it.  She had picked up the mantle of choir singer just like the rest of us!   The family tradition goes on!  Yeah!  "Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing!"  Who knows where she'll land! 

None of which came as any surprise to either her mom or to me!  Not at all!  After all, we were big fans of M-t-G's Cowboy Joe!! 

"Bits and Pieces" (ad infinitum)

****  All right, I guess my computer was playing games with me!  It has generally worked fine since I posted about the possible need for repairs!   I am afraid, however, to shut it down, because I know that will push it over the edge!  I haven't tried any more photos either.  I'm just tiptoeing around the computer in the hopes that it won't notice that I'm here!


****So many of you liked my mantle.  I was thrilled!  Thank you all for your encouragement!  After a couple of days, it still seemed kind of empty to me, so I added a few more things trying to give it a bit more substance!  I added another couple of small chickens to the barnyard.  That helped some.  The next morning when I first woke up, my eyes were drawn to the bookcase directly across from the bed.  I realized I was looking at an embroidery hoop and "canvas" that my mom had made for me many years ago.  It has been sitting in that same spot for years!  It dawned on me that not only was it special to me because mom made it, but the colors used were gold, reds, browns, and a tiny bit of orange and it was in the shape of a rooster!!  So quick, like a bunny, it joined in the mantle party by filling in a bare spot on the opposite side from the "barnyard".  It looks like it was made for that spot!  I was so excited that I had become aware that I had the perfect addition!  Thanks, Mom!!


****  On Friday I finally remembered I needed some tall candles to flank my dining room table's turkey and pumpkin.  I happened to be very near Hobby Lobby, so I popped in to pick some up.  I didn't take a cart.  I was only getting candles.  Right!  Of course, Hobby Lobby is NOT a place that you can go in, get one item, and leave immediately!  Well, I guess some folks can, but I can't, so after I found my candles I began to wander a little bit. 


The candles were very near the Halloween/Thanksgiving decor section, so that's where I started.  They had bunches of things I liked for the holidays, but I was very strong and didn't give in to temptation....until the moment I saw the  perfect little chicken to add to the mantle.  He was small, only about 6 in. tall, in all fall colors, lovely little guy.  That's when I noticed the signs:  50% Off All Fall Decor!!  Oh my.  Half Off.  Half!!  That was more than I could resist.  So the little chicken joined the candles.  Then I noticed just a bit  beyond the chicken, a little sort of patchwork pumpkin, very similar in design to the turkey and pumpkin already on my table!  All of a sudden I was juggling candles, chicken, and pumpkin!  But it was all half price, so it was okay!  I decided I'd better get out of the Fall stuff pretty quick!  So I wandered toward the lamps.  I'm always on the lookout for lamps, even though I don't really "need" them.  I didn't see anything I liked all that much, so I walked out of that aisle feeling very proud that I dodged a bullet! 


I decided it was time to go, so I started back toward the registers.  I almost made it too.  ("Almost" being the pivotal word.)  There on the endcap was a selection of small little lamps.  Uh-oh!  There was one in particular that drew my eye.  About 12 in. tall from base to the top of the finial, it was a dark bronze-ish color, the shaft of the lamp was similar in shape to a fluer de lis, and it was topped by a rounded glass shade, topped with a cute little finial.  I turned the lamp on and there was actually a bulb in it!  When lit the shade turned out to be a rich dark ruby, mottled with darker splotches (that's the technical term, you know).  It was darling.  It would look great on one of the shelves of my large Bakers' Rack.  Still, I was ready to walk away.  Really, I was!!  That's when I noticed the sign:  50% Off All Lamps!!    Oh Crap!!  How was I supposed to resist a lamp I loved that was half off!  I looked at the price tag, thinking maybe it would still be more than I wanted to spend.  Regularly $39.99.  Sale price $19.98! 


Somehow my $4.00 candle purchase, ended up a grand total of $42.00!!  Damn!


The lamp looks great on the Bakers' Rack though!


****Have I mentioned that the Big Guy has been doing all the grocery shopping for the last couple of years?  (That's okay, because I had done it for all of the 40 years proceeding!)  Anyway, I asked if he would look and see if they still had decent looking pumpkins and if so, if he would pick up 3 or so small ones.  He agreed cause he's a nice guy (and a sucker for holidays just like me).  He came home with three very nice pumpkins for the front of the house.  Three different sizes and three different shapes, they're perfect.  Each of the three were larger than any pumpkins I had ever bought, because Mikey is a LOT stronger than I am.  Whoo hoo!  Bonus!


****I had a couple of other random things I was going to write about, but I think I'll save them for another time.  If I can work up my courage to try to post photos again, I'll show you the additions to my holiday look.  Maybe even before Christmas!   :)

Just a quick little update!

At the risk of jinxing things even more, I wanted to let you know that my computer has been misbehaving for the last two days.  It all of a sudden will freeze up for no discernible reason and it takes HOURS for it to decide that it's ready to run again. 

Anyway, if it goes completely wonky, it will takes a week or more to get it repaired.  So, if you don't hear anything from me for a little while, that's why. 

Computers are wonderful....when the work right!!

In the meanwhile, Happy Sunday!

"Take a Chance"

ALERT:  If this isn't successful its the fault of Laurie from  http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/ , Cass from http://cass-thatoldhouse.blogspot.com/  and Susan from http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/.  They are the ones who mostly made me want to play like they do!!    :) 

In Blogland there are a gazillion sites from people who have incredible skills and abilities in the area of home decor (see above).  Mostly I love what they post, but I knew I would never feel confident about much that I do in that regard, at least not confident enough to share! 

Nevertheless, somewhere along the way I have been bitten by the bug!   I have succumbed to at least trying my hand at some Fall/Halloween interior decorating.  I've usually done some things for the holiday, but it was kind of haphazard.  This year however, I have been sucked into .....inspired to try my hand at mantle decorating for the season.  The only time I ever did anything special with the mantle was Christmas.  I don't know why it never occurred to me to do the same thing for Fall....but it didn't.
 You know that I am not much of a photographer.  I don't have the eye or the patience.  It's obvious from the very few photos that I post, that photography is not my best thing.  (Give me a monologue to perform or a song to sing and I'm on it like white on rice, but taking pictures??  Nope, it just isn't me!)

Well, I decided to "Take a Chance"!


All of this is prelude,  of course, to what could be summed up in a few words, i.e., This is my first effort at Mantle Decorating for the Season, so please be kind!

After struggling with this for two days (!) I finally got two of four to load.  I'll settle for that I guess, 'cause I'm tired of dealing with it!!


The first picture is the mantle, which doesn't actually look quite so bare in reality.  The second is my table centerpiece, it doesn't look like enough though, does it?  I'll have to figure out what I could add.
 Soooo, what do you think?



"Things I Couldn't Say" [aka Dear So and So]

Another installment of little letters filled with "Things I Couldn't Say" in person!

Dear Blogger.com,


Please STOP changing things seemingly for no reason!  For instance, uploading photos!  It used to be easy....bim, bam, boom, and you're done.  No more!  I cannot post a picture even though I've tried and tried!  You see, there are NO INSTRUCTIONS!  No tutorial.  No Help.  No Hints even!  I would like to inform you that there are still a bunch of us out here who were not born a part of the computer generation.  Everything new you come up with is a struggle for us.  Could you, please, maybe remember that and give us dinosaurs a break????

Frustratingly yours,
Mel



Dear Followers,


I don't know why I can't get my new photos to post.  My frustration level is outlined clearly in the above letter to Blogger.   I will keep at this til I get it right, but I guess today may not be the day.  I'm going to take a break now, but I SHALL RETURN with photos in place.  (I hope!) 


Disappointedly,
Mel



Dear Retail Stores,


Today is October 12, 2010.  It is 2 weeks BEFORE Halloween!  It is too early to be putting out your Christmas merchandise!!  The Christmas Season is long enough!  We don't need it in mid-October!

Still stuck in Halloween,
Mel



Dear Ladies,


For those of you who drench yourselves in heavy, overwhelming perfumes.  Would you please cut it out!!  You may think it makes you alluring, but really all it does is annoy the crap out of everyone who comes within 15 feet of you!

Breathlessly,
Mel



Dear CVS stores,


Just wanted to compliment you on the brilliant idea of having the Minute Clinics in your stores.  Practically everyone has a minor medical or health situation/question from time to time.  The alternatives, e.g. doctor visits or calls, ER visits, urgent care centers, free clinics, etc. are all much too expensive and busy to deal with my minor little something.  Minute Clinics are a wonderful idea whose time has come!  Good job!

Healthily,
Mel



Dear Legislators (both incumbents and wannabees),


As mid-term elections loom, may I suggest that all of you take a couple of hours to re-read the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble and Constitution of the United States plus the accompanying Bill of Rights!


Perhaps that will remind you that once you are elected, your job is to REPRESENT your constituents, not the Lobbyists, not the special interest groups, not the Fanatics, not Big Business, not the money-people, not any specific industry, not even your own Party!  You represent the people who put you in office and who can just as easily take you out of office.  Why don't you try listening to us for a change?

Disgustedly,
Mel



Dear Voters,


Please read the above and vote accordingly!!  It is our duty and our right!  Don't blow it!


Hopefully,
Mel

AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

I have a posting all ready for today.  It even is supposed to have pictures!! 

However, I've been struggling with it for 2 hours! Stupid Blogger!!! Why did they have to go and change how you upload pictures??? I can't figure it out at all.



(Deep Breath, Exhale!) I'm (a little bit) better now . I'll try again tomorrow!

Sorry!    :)

Melly

"Things Have Changed"

I am simply appalled by the whole bullying issue and all of its current facets!!  Bullying used to mean that a kid who was bigger than you would push you down on the playground and take your lunch money.  The kid being bullied sometimes fought back, not often perhaps, but enough so that bullying wasn't always a slam dunk for the bully. The little guy had a chance!  It was often an uneven contest but the odds weren't so bad that the little kid was at a complete and total disadvantage all the time.  Nobody wants their child to be victiminzed by anyone.  Bullying (big and powerful against small and powerless) is never a good thing, but it had been going on for centuries in one form or another.  I always thought it was sort of a rite of passage that some kids had to experience.  I was wrong!


Now what they are calling "bullying" is more than that....it's harrassment....it's cruelty....it's prejudice, and it's persecution....and it is NOT RIGHT IN ANY SITUATION!  When those involved are teenagers attacking other teenagers to the point that someone DIES at their own hand because they have been emotionally destroyed by their "peers",  that should be a CRIMINAL OFFENSE.  It is one step away from manslaughter or perhaps even murder!!


I don't care what the issue is, it is CRIMINAL.  Look at those being bullied:  gay and lesbian men and women, disabled children, new emigrants, anyone, ANYONE, who is "different".    Ahhhh, yes;  the weak, the insecure, the lonely, the handicapped.  Just like all bullies, they pick on those with no skills or ability to fight back.  That's a really slippery slope and the world has been there before.  Shall we mention a few names?   Adolf Hitler??   Ho Chi Minh??  Ku Klux Klan??  And that's just from the last 100 years or so!  There were many before that!


Are these current teenagers being raised by followers of these and other monsters??  Is ANYONE raising these kids?  Where are their parents?  Who are their parents? Why are their parents not in better control of their kids?  Or are the parents the ones who are fueling these hateful, monstrous behaviors?


Any parent who KNOWINGLY allows their child to participate in this type of prejudice and persecution, should be punished, right along with their kids!


It cannot go on.  It must not go on!  "Things Have Changed", yes, that's true.  But when kids pick on other kids and someone kills themselves because of it??  That's unconscionable and MUST NOT BE TOLERATED! 


Someone, somewhere,  must have an idea of what can be done to stop this threat and protect those kids from other kids!  


Like I said, I am appalled!  Aren't you??

"All the World's a Stage" Story #7

About 25 years ago, there was a very talented young woman with whom I worked in several large scale musical comedies.  She was really an amazing performer; she could act, she could dance and she could sing and she was good at all three. 


What she wasn't though, was content with her physical attributes, particularly in the....uhhh.....chest (!) department.  Being the take charge type, she did something about it.  She had a boob job.  In fact, she was the very first person I actually knew who had it done. 


And I must say the "girls" turned out beautifully!  I knew that (as did everyone else) because she immediately stopped wearing a bra (even on stage)  and started wearing clingy t-shirts most of the time.   Her posture improved!   The girls were perfect....just the right shape and size for her frame, sexy without being overdone, perky (if you catch my drift).  And she was proud....very, very proud!


As I've said I worked in community theater which means that you don't usually have a permanent home, so you beg, borrow, or steal whatever you need and don't have!  For us that included renting the local high school's stage, lights, props, etc.  This particular high school had a very active performing arts program so they had everything we needed.  One of the perks that brought us, was a stage crew made up of teenagers who were active in the theater program.  Under supervision from their technical director, they ran lights, and sound, moved scenery, raised and lowered the curtain, in other words most of the "tech" stuff.  They had headsets so they could communicate with each other to keep things running smoothly.  They did a terrific job.


I must digress for just a moment.  There is one little truism that exists in theater that you most likely can't do a thing about:  When you are an actor, modesty frequently has to take a hike!!  Costume changes can and do occur just off stage when you have a quick change and no time to get to the dressing room.  It is a fact of life, you deal with it.  Most of the time your fellow actors and others just look the other way and respect your privacy within the limits of what needs to happen.  It's sort of like having "an elephant in the room!"  You ignore it and pretend it isn't there.


To recap for this tale....we had a "perky" star wearing a slinky gown with a microphone clipped to the V-neck....a quick change out of said evening gown just beyond the wings....about 7 teen-aged boys, all on headsets, who were extremely aware of the star's "assets"....and who would lurk around back stage when the change came up, hoping for a glimpse....it was a temptation too hard to resist for 15 and 16 year old boys....and a star who was very, very proud of her  perky girls!


Just before the costume change, the star is on stage singing a duet with the leading man, during which she grabs his hand and brings it to rest just over her heart.
On this particular night all the elements were in place....stars, song, mike, hand, lurking boys with headsets that were "live" (meaning all of the tech crew, not the audience, could hear what was said) all functioning just as they were supposed to!


The star and leading man began to sing and at the appropriate moment, star grabbed his hand, pulled it toward her chest where it landed directly over the microphone, causing a very loud clap to carry over the headsets of all the tech crew and was immediately followed by one lone boyish voice that said, "Oh my God!  They're HOLLOW!!!!"


 I don't believe any permanent damage was done to the boy's psyche.  The stage manager and the tech director were in hysterics back in the booth.  And the story was shared immediately with the cast!


 This is a true story.  I was there the night it happened.  It was funny then.  It is funny now.  The last I saw the star a few years ago, she was still perky and still proud!  I have heard, however, that now she wears a bra on stage!!


I gotta tell you, sometimes the cast has way more fun than the audience!

"With a Little Bit of Luck"

Well, well, well.  Would you look at that!  2000+ visits!  Wow.  That is amazing.  I am thrilled that so many times that people were interested enough to check out my blog!  I am grateful for every single visit and every single person, even the lurkers and the ones who come only once.  I know that what I write about doesn't appeal to everyone!  So many bloggers are moms with small children and parenting things are their main interest, so my stuff isn't going to help much! 


Nevertheless, there are many who come back again and again and those who like it enough to become a follower!   I never thought I'd get more than 1 or 2 and they would end up being related to me!  Well, I have 22 followers (not including my daughter or Little Sis who are "undocumented" followers)!  22 is a lot more than 1 or 2.  You are all part of my circle of friends.  And a girl can never have too many friends!!


Thanks to all of you for coming!! "With a Little Bit of Luck" I can continue to write interestingly enough to keep you coming back!  I'm giving it the old college try!

"It Ain't Right!'

Bit by bit the woman I am has been disappearing!  Just sort of fading away without my noticing it.  First, it was my hair.  Under cover of peroxide it was surreptitiously losing all color of it's own!   It left me with a mix of grey and white.  Well, okay, that turned out just fine, surprising the heck out of me.  Thank goodness (and Gram) I have always had a lot of hair....it's fine, but there is a LOT of it!  But lately with the changing hair, I'm getting more hair loss (for lack of a better term) than usual.  It's not at all critical, but I really don't want to end up with really thin hair!!


In addition to the hair thing, gravity has been playing havoc with my face!  I used to have a nice firm jawline.  That's gone.  Now instead of a crisp edge my chin (or should I say chins!)  has become a bumpy slide right into my neck.  It's not so bad, I guess but it is very aging.


My upper eyelids have decided to let go of their position and I can see and feel them settling in on top of the lower part of the lid.  Makes me look half asleep, for heaven's sake. 


In general, my cheeks look a bit like a bunch of small waves cascading down my face.  Don't like that much either.


Well all of that is part of normal "maturing"  (read:  aging!) and is directly related to the pull of gravity (or is it the push of gravity??  I get confused!)  Nothing much we can do about gravity.  I mean, it's kind of necessary, so we don't all fly off into the vacuum of space!!


However, lately there are two new changes going on that I just don't get!  My eyebrows and eye lashes have taken up disappearing!  I've never  had a preponderance of either, but there was enough to actually see with the naked eye!!  Not so much anymore!  If I put a little mascara on my lashes, you can see what's left, and it helps define where my eyes are (you know, whatever is not hiding under the sagging lids!)  The eyebrows are thinning out a lot and about half of what is left has come in white so they are virtually invisible unless I recreate them with pencil.


And the most annoying thing?  My lips are gone!  Where the hell did they go???  I used to have normal lips, with a pretty decent shape.  When I did the make-up thing, they were kind of pretty and they suited me.  BUT NOW????  When my mouth is closed (which in actuality, isn't all that often!), the lips sort of roll in toward the center and I am left with what looks like a crease!  I don't want a crease!  I want lips!!  Real honest to goodness lips!  A crease is what you iron into your slacks, it doesn't belong on your face!  


"It ain't right"!!  That really should not be our reward for managing to stay alive beyond 55!  Nope, it ain't right at all!


There are options of course, both surgical and cosmetic, that could "fix" all of this.  I might consider going that route, if it weren't for the fact that every single person I have ever seen who has had a facelift, or collagen, or botox, or any such thing, ends up looking like a freak!  I mean, really!  May I just mention Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers for your consideration??  Both of them are well over 70 and they look terrifying because of all the "work" they have had done.  I guess, there's a reason they call it "Plastic Surgery".


Celebrities are notorious for trying to stay "Young" by lifting, coloring, injecting, or other things.  What they end up looking like is an unreal, blubbery lipped, expressionless, Halloween mask!  I'm surprised they don't scare small children.  They don't look "young", they look scary!


Sooooo, I am not going to explore that avenue one bit further!  My face may be disappearing bit by bit, but least I still look like a human being, not an alien!  Of course, who knows what will disappear, droop, sag, or move next??


Nevertheless, if you happen to find my lips laying around somewhere, would you please get them back to me???  I kinda miss them a lot!

"Hard to Believe" -- Exhibit C

Of all the really big coincidences in my life, this is the one that continually blows my mind!

You may (or may not) realize that Mellodee is not really my name.  My own name is kind of boring and "Mellodee" has a history in my life (a story for another day perhaps).  Quite a few bloggers use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons.  However, today's story requires that I tell you my real name because therein lies the tale!

When I was born, my parents picked Linda for my first name and Lou for the middle.  My last name was Johnsen (with an "e" please, Dad was Danish.)  Mom, being a Catholic, wanted to have me baptised as a Catholic too.  There was a small snag that put a bit of a monkey wrench in the choice of names.  I don't know if it's still true, but at that time, the first name had to be the name of a Saint and there was no Saint Linda (hmpf! go figure!); so the name had to be altered a bit.  On my birth certificate I am Linda Lou Johnsen.  On my baptismal certificate I am Louise Linda Johnsen.  Fast forward 20 years....when i got married my legal name became Linda Lou Durkin.

Fast forward another 25+ years....my daughter, Ratchlet (NOT her real name either!) met the love of her life.  His last name is Drga.  It is of Czech origin and is pronouced "dur-gah".  Thus after she was married she used "Durkin Drga" as her last name.  Interesting, but not all that much of a coincidence.... right?

Well the thing is that with a husband, she also acquired a Mother-in-Law.  Her name....wait for it....is Linda Louise Drga!!

So there you have it, the daughter of Linda Lou Durkin married the son of Linda Louise Drga!  Confused?  So were a lot of people!

(Is that Twilight Zone theme I hear???)

And that, boys and girls, is COINCIDENCE!! 

(So don't ever say there is no such thing as coincidence!  Just come into my world and I can introduce you to one!)