Musings

Eighteen months after having my heart ripped out, and stomped upon, it appears that I am starting to . heal. Huck is patient, and kind and I am slowly learning to trust again.

This pretty much sums it up.  This is exactly the article everyone in a relationship should read.

And then I read This Article.  It reminds me that I am valuable and did not deserve to be treated in such a manner, much like the article writer.

500 POSTS!

Woo Hoo!! I am now up to 500 posts!  Seems like this should be more exciting.

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Huck and I have been pretty busy and I just hadn't had time to post
since our July 4th weekend. Really, Mother, (my biggest fan), texted me to remind me to post an apology to all my readers.

Since then we have (in no particular order)

1) Went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, where the Mariachi band played "Sweet Home Alabama."  They attempted to add the  agregeious"rtr" that has become so popular with the bammers, but Huck (who bleeds Orange and Blue as much as I do) and I quickly shut that down with a little "War Eagle" of our own. It fits the song just as well.

2) Went to see the new "Terminator" movie. Nice tie-in to the original and the actress picked to play the young 'Sara Conner" bears an eerie resemblance to a young Linda Hamilton.

3)  Watched an entire season of "Ray Donovan" in one sitting (actually, camped out on a pallet in his floor like children, complete with snacks), so that I can be caught up enough to watch this season.

4) Took the scenic driving tour of his hometown. We drove all over, looking at the architecture, him sharing anecdotes from his childhood.  He attempted to show me the house he grew up  in, only to find the lot vacant.  Progress.....gotta love it.

5) Survived the "Wallet Incident," where Huck lost his wallet. On the day he finally decided to cancel both his personal card and his business card, got his new driver's license made, and got new insurance cards issued, he finds it. Isn't that always the way?

6) During that "Wallet Incident" I discovered that my own driver's license expired on my birthday. My BFF's did too. So I had to take a drive to Pell City for that. After tearing the house apart for my divorce decree, having the Chief print off another copy for me, I am told that I CAN NOT change my name back, as I have not had my social security card changed yet AND it will cost me another $30. Great. So I am stuck with the lying cheating scumsucking b@$+ard's name another four years.

7) I received my copy of the much anticipated "Go Set A Watchman" the Harper Lee sequel to "To Kill a Mocking Bird."  I was super excited to get it, but as my friends (and my Mother) began reading it, I quickly found that no one liked it. It was okay for "Scout" to be a selfish brat as a child, but much to my dismay, she never outgrew that. Now I am not so sure that I want to read it.  I am told there is one place where the now 26 year old "Jean Louise" is very, very disrespectful to her father, "Atticus."  I don't know how Yankees raise their children, but no self-respecting Southern girl would EVER disrespect her parents!

8) Huck is teaching me about, gulp, soccer.  A soccer coach for many years, Huck has a great enthusiasm for the sport.  I protested many times, reasoning that I am actually more of a football fan. But his patient nature won me over. He has no problem answering my questions, no matter how mundane (why is the goal keeper in different colors, why does the rest of the team on the side line have to wear those smocks, what is a "yellow card", what are the orange slices for....) even if I ask it in the middle of a fast paced game. He points out things for me, in case I miss something important. Unlike many parents who coach, he stayed on as a coach long after his girls outgrew the sport. He has several, signed team pictures, as well as division trophies, displayed throughout his home. From the signatures on each team photo, it is obvious that he is well liked, and he speaks of each of his players, both former and current, with great pride. He has had several graduate from club level to Division 1 play. I  have a feeling I may be cutting up oranges for a group of energetic 13 year olds this fall.

9) I have signed on for another round of sign language with the parental units. Nothing has made me more insecure (and stupid) than sign language. I have never done anything that I was not pretty good at, even in the most modest attempts. Some signs make perfect sense: "driving", for example, is mimicking two hands on a steering wheel. Other words make no sense, such as "country" (as in out in the...) resembles rubbing a "y" hand over the opposite elbow. Take  look at the online dictionary "Signing Savvy" to see for yourself.  So I am going to take one more stab at it and see if I do better this time.

That is all that I can think of right now.  I know that I still have to post about trip to North Carolina for the Divine Miss M's wedding and all of those adventures and my super fun family trip to Florida for the Masonator's  graduation.  I promise I will get to those soon.

Until then, I have a pool party to attend

~EnJOY

Rich Man Poor Man

THIS ARTICLE was on my Facebook news feed this morning,

Something to think about.

Awwww...

 I guess the grass ISN'T greener on the other side after all.

Why else would someone be stalking my blog?!

 

Just remember, when the sparks die out, the conversation had better be good.  Right?

 

Meanwhile, Huck and I spent a leisurely afternoon relaxing at the pool.

 

 

 

Life is Good!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday To Me !

Last weekend was the 19th Anniversary of my 29th Birthday!!!

 I had a fun filled weekend!

 

 

Festivities started on Friday night when Huck took me to The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner.  Despite looking at the menu for 30 minutes, I wound up with the salmon, as usual.  Huck quickly decided that he wanted the calamari appetizer,  but given it is covered in gluten-laden breading, he had the whole plate to himself.. When they sat the plate in front of us, he gasps

 "Oh No! GLUTEN!'

Bless him, he is learning.

He selected some sort of pasta dish with chicken as his entre.

 

 

 

After several failed attempts to get a decent selfie, we asked our waiter to take one.

 

 

 

We were so full  after dinner that we both had to pass on their trademark cheesecake.

After dinner we strolled among the shops and peered in windows. Afterward we went back to Huck's to watch a movie, but wound up watching several episodes of  "Botched," a plastic surgery reality show that he had on his DVR.

 

Saturday was the day I had been eagerly anticipating since somewhere around March.

 The Tesla, Styx, Def Leppard concert! 

 A little birthday present to myself.

 

Originally I was to go with the Divine Miss K, but at the last minute she suggested that I take Huck instead.

 

The weather forecast for the week was sunny all the way up until Saturday, at which point there was a 50 percent chance of rain.  It jumped around the forecast all week, first all day, then half the day, finally settling on the morning. It briefly rained in Moody Saturday morning and I thought that we were done. But I packed my 99 cent rain ponchos from Walmart, just in case.

 

We made our way to Pelham early to beat the traffic and found a great parking spot. We strolled over to the venue, hand and hand.

We chatted about things people were wearing, and queued up in the first line we came to at the entrance.  This is where security checked bags and patted down the concert goers. The ticket scanners were just beyond that.

We were so distracted by our own conversation, that I did not notice the personnel checking bags, until it was too late. I had been so excited that I had not given it any thought before now. Before I knew it, I was face to face with the woman my husband left me for just over a year ago.

 

The Homewrecker.

 

Close enough to slap her. 

 

As she checked Huck, I had a little time to get a good look at her. She looked far worse in person than the pictures I had been shown. She was overweight, short, dumpy, built more like a man than a woman. She was somewhat unkempt, with her stringy. multi-colored, hair pulled up in ponytail. She was covered in tattoos, crudely drawn and fading. She had no make up on her masculine face. Her smile revealed a mouth full of crooked, yellow teeth. She was sweaty, from standing out in the heat, I'm sure.

 

The thought that the man I had called my husband had been attracted to this ....person... was not only a mystery, but a miracle on her part. She was not attractive in any sense of the word. One could barely discern that she was female. He had always preferred pretty, shapely girls, who knew how to take care of themselves. I doubt this person had even had a bath. 

But as Julz's daddy was always fond of saying, if you turned us upside down, all women were the same.

 

I braced myself for the worst, but took a deep breath and presented my bag to her for inspection.  I don't know what I expected to happen. My face grew hot.

. I said that all I had in it was my lipstick and my i.d. She leaned in close  and looked into my Coach bag.  In my other hand,  I held the rain ponchos, to which I drew attention.  She chuckled said that I might have to use them at some point that evening.

 

She looked me dead in the face and smiled. She never gave any indication that she knew who I was.

 

On the other side of the gate, Huck asked if I was okay. I asked why he had asked and he said that my face was very red.  I did not tell him what had just happened.

 

We quickly joined the line for souvenirs.  I chose a black tee, that he purchased for me as a birthday present.  We made our way to our seats, that were in the middle of the second row of the second section.  Just in front of us was a large screen.  Tesla was already on stage. I was surprised that I remembered so many of their songs.

 

 

 Between sets, a dark cloud blew up. The atmosphere cooled considerably, making what was usually a muggy time of the year, very comfortable. We had gone to find a frozen lemonade stand, like the one that we passed on the way in, but there was not one on our side of the amphitheater.

We made our way to the other side and stood in line so long that Styx started before we could get back to our seats. It seems that the crowd had the same idea we did. With so many people moving around, a bottle neck soon formed in the walkway. It was at that time that I spotted D/H "guarding" the stage.  Right where he had always wanted to be. So bad enough that he got his former best friend fired from this position two years prior.The distance was short and he was easily recognizable. He had not changed  I am not certain that he saw me as I stood there at the top of the stairs, but his expression indicated that he very well may have. I know that he knew Def Leppard was my favorite band, so for him to be surprised to see me would have been stupid on his part. He started fumbling for his phone in his pockets.  The bottle neck cleared and we moved on to our seats.

That was the very last that I thought of either of them.

 

The rain started just before the end of Styx's set. I handed Huck his poncho and pulled mine over my head. He tucked it into the pocket of his cargo shorts.  Styx rocked the house. All those around us sang along with all their classic songs.  The drizzle ended enough for me to take off my poncho.

 

The crew dried the stage and set up for Def Leppard. We chatted with those around us. The couple seated to our right knew Huck through his sister's husband. We chatted with them and the couple to our left. Huck pointed out all the mother/daughter attendees. They were easy to spot. The aging "rock vixens" with their progeny in tow.

 

When Def Leppard too the stage the sky had darkened and the drizzle started again. Joe Elliot mentioned not wanting to fall and have twenty thousand people put it on YouTube.  I pulled my poncho back on. Huck offered his poncho to the young lady to our right, who took it appreciatively. The crowd sang along to the Def Leppard catalog. I completely forgot about taking pictures. Huck filmed a few songs and put them on Facebook.

 

A high point came when Joe Elliot donned an acoustic guitar and played "Sweet Home Alabama" The crown hooped and hollered in true Southern redneck fashion.  He said, "Hey, we are in Alabama. What the %&&* am I supposed to do?"

 

 

 The rain picked up considerably. People in front of us left. When it slacked off again there were less people on our row so we spread out a little. Luckily I dropped a pony tail holder in my bag. I slicked my wet hair back to get it off my neck.

 

 On the other side of the couple to our left, a severely drunk woman was getting rather rowdy. She was rubbing all over the woman in front of her, who promptly left. The drunk woman's male counterpart forcibly sat her in her seat, where she moaned and carried on for the remainder of the concert.

 

 

We managed to get this picture before we left. I posted it to my Facebook wall. Nearly all of my friends commented on how happy I looked. Finally.

 

As we walked out the gate that we entered, we decided to eat a late dinner in Hooter's.  We were seated and it was immediately apparent that we were not the only concert-goer's with a hankering for hot wings. The place was soon packed. Our waitress, a young brunette, also celebrating her birthday. She was wearing the traditional black uniform with a tiara and a banner that read "Birthday Girl"

The sudden influx of customers seemed to overwhelm some of the staff.  It took a while to get our food. Our waitress seemed to forget about us, and when our food finally came, she forgot Huck's fries. I had the chili cheese fries, which were very spicy.  I had to get my own tea refill.  Despite the service, Huck left a generous tip. "It's her birthday" he rationalized.

The traffic had cleared as we left the restaurant. We made it to the truck easily, again strolling hand in hand. .

"So what did you think of your birthday?" Huck asked, kissing the back of my hand.

The answer came easily.

"The Best One Yet"