HELLO AGAIN

Hey ... I just found this old post that I started and never finished ... with your indulgence, although it's somewhat out of date and sequence, I'm going to complete it and publish it now. Perhaps it will dull the shock of the contents of my post yesterday for some of you (remember, I'm the same person I was before you knew this stuff about me). This post is just some random blatherings when I was trying to get back to blogging at the beginning of the summer. Maybe this time, it will take. Here's hoping.


So, I was cruising my way through blog heaven, avoiding my work, and I came across this old, forgotten, dusty place and thought to myself "Why not?"
Thank you to all the wonderful friends who have managed not to forget me since my "disappearance" from the pack. Not only that, y'all remembered my birthday. It touched me to receive all the best wishes and emails on Saturday.

Today is the last "official" day of school here. For me, it's the last day for the next four months, as I am scheduled for major surgery the day we are supposed to be coming back. Surprisingly, there is no apprehension in me about either the surgery or the enforced 8 week vacation following it. This is a good thing, this operation, and once I feel better, I'll want you to celebrate with me.

Tell me, what does everybody else do in summertime? My kid and I are taking a full 6 weeks to be "mommy and big boy" all over this wide, wonderful wilderness we call home. Everything from fishing to bullfrog hunting, visits to the zoo or the splash park, camping to biking, has made it onto our schedule. No school or thoughts of it for either of us. It's what a summer should be, right? Of course, I'm a teacher and that allows for all that marvelous time off, but I'm also going to be talking to him and preparing his four year old mind for the many days when mommy won't be able to take care of him after her surgery. It seems there have been far too many of those times in recent months ...

My computer time is going to be limited, too, because I am not going to let it interfere with the time I spend with my little guy. As it should be, I guess. Evenings after his bedtime are MINE, though, for feeding this unexpected addiction. Who knows, I may even come back to blogging. I've had a couple stories brewing in the back of my head for months now ... (sorry, Dana ... not Taylor-generated this time, I'm afraid)

All in all, despite three surgeries in the span of six months, life is good and every day brings something new to smile about. In the past year and a half, I have made some new lifelong friends and they bring me joy every day, just by their very existence. My job and my students are another source of happiness. How did I get so lucky? I fell into this job, almost literally, and have never once regretted it. Best of all, there is this shining light in my life that brightens every moment of every day for me. He may be only 4 years old, but my son is one of the most miraculous beings in the universe. Not perfect. Heaven knows, "perfect" people are usually anything but ...

So that's where I left off at the end of June and here we are the end of July already. How time flies. So my question for you all is: what are you doing with YOUR summer? Leave me you answers in the comments. Love you all. Be well.

MAGIC EIGHT BALL ... MEME ... WHATEVER

Angell tagged me and everybody knows that if you get tagged, you're it.

By the way? I dug down deep for some of these, so if you're easily shocked, DON'T GO ANY FURTHER (Dana???)

First, The Rules: We have to post these rules before we give you the facts ...

*Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
*People who are tagged write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
*At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (note: the first 8 people who read this and heaven't yet been tagged, consider yourselves the chosen ones)
*Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog. (see, now I don't have to do that)

Now, without further ado, here's eight things about (drumroll) ... ME!

1. When I was 16, I broke my neck, between the C2 and C3 vertebrae, in a diving accident. I was lucky, because my swim coach was also a paramedic and kept me immobilized until the ambulance got there.

2. I was known as a real party girl my first two years of university. I never missed a beer garden or a house party and I guess I'm just lucky that I didn't lose my scholarship or end up pregnant.

3. I can play 22 musical instruments. I started out on the alto sax when I was 14, the piano when I was 15 and just kinda went from there. The instruments are: saxophone, clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, recorder, trumpet, trombone, french horn, tuba, violin, cello, double bass, guitar, bass guitar, piano, organ, marimba, drum kit, djembe, tin whistle and bodhran.

4. I didn't own a credit card until I was 39 years old, and only got one to simplify the adoption of my son.

5. I have recently become interested in the world of BD/sM and have met some wonderful, openminded people through internet and through local groups in the past two months. I am currently in a D/s relationship and have quite fallen in love with the lifestyle.

6. I was arrested in my early 20's for skinnydipping at a public beach. It was after dark and the beach was nearly deserted, but apparently my friends and I were not the first to have the idea.

7. I grew marijuana in my parents' back garden the summer between grade 11 and 12. They never knew what it was, and I never got found out, but I became a bit of a celebrity at school because of it.

8. About 18 months ago, I discovered I have a talent for writing a specific kind of literature. I have always enjoyed reading erotica, but it took having an online lover for me to discover that I could also write it. I have had 2 short stories published, and the magazine that published them has requested more of my work.

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT YOU

“Please Visit Dixie and Matt and Wish Them Well As He Leaves For Parris Island And The Marines on Sunday, July 22, 2007.Just click HERE.”

SONGS OF 1982

Oh boy, after reading Bond's list, I feel saddened and deprived by the list of songs and artists that I had to choose from. What a difference 10 years makes ...

Here are the rules:
1. Go to POPCULTURE MADNESS

2. Pick the year you turned 18

3. Get yourself nostalgic over the songs of the year

4. Write something about how the songs affected you

5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

Well, here goes ... 12 songs I remember and relate to from the year I turned 18, some pretty decent, some eminently forgettable, some hideously schlocky. And a few memories ... I'll try to keep them PG.


Physical - Olivia Newton-John - some songs would have been better left unwritten. This, in my humble opinion, is one of them. I remember sweatbands and spandex at the clubs because of this song. 'Nuff said.


I Love Rock n' Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - a throwback to 2-chord rock that really has nothing to do with music. Think tribal chant of the stoner crowd ...


Chariots of Fire theme - Vangelis - my mother loved this song. Need I say more?


Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder - two great music legends, one incredibly bland song. It sticks in my memory only because it took my boyfriend a month to understand the reference of ebony and ivory as pertaining to the piano, as well as to the racial differences of the two performers ... yeah, he really was that dense, but he was a cute hockey player. (Anndi understands this ...)


Don't You Want Me - The Human League - you know, after sitting on this particular post for a while, I STILL have no opinion about this song. It was real popular and I can even remember the words, but I don't remember it having that much of an impact, really, at least not on me ...


Open Arms - Journey - no THIS is what it was about for me! My first serious "not-a-high-school boyfriend" and I danced for the first time to this song at the first beergarden in my first year at university. He is a high school music teacher somwhere in Alberta now ... he played the trombone and it is true what they say about brass players ... GREAT kissers!


Eye of the Tiger - Survivor - this was my brother's "theme song" (no idea why) ... so on principal, I loved it, because my brother was (is) my hero. And, if you can imagine it, we played it in jazz band, too. I was first alto sax, and I had the melody, which was very cool.


Abracadabra - The Steve Miller Band - this is a great song, but I remember it primarily because of the filthy but funny parody my best friend wrote and PERFORMED for a school variety show (she got suspended for it ... lol).


Hard to Say I'm Sorry - Chicago - one of my favorite bands of all time ... there's just something about the sound of horns, ya know? Got to see them 5 years later which was definitely a high point in my life. I remember this song being one of the last Chicago songs featuring Peter Cetera's distinctive voice. I still miss that sound ...


Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp - most memorable for me because the girls who lived next door to me in residence my first year were named Jackie and Diane, and they played that song 24/7.


Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes - I remember the movie ... Richard Gere in uniform ... ohhhhh man ... wait?!? there was music?!?


Mickey - Toni Basil - I don't often get SCATHING about a musical endeavor, but this has GOT to be one of those songs (using the term loosely here, folks) that someone wrote to make a quick buck. It's a travesty how much popularity it garnered because of its insipid tune and empty-headed lyrics ... and I quote "Oh Mickey, you're so fine. You're so fine you blow my mind ..." Still blows MY mind ... cripes

JO, HONEY,

OUR THOUGHTS

AND PRAYERS

ARE WITH YOU

THROUGH THIS

DIFFICULT TIME.

GOD BLESS YOU

AND YOUR FAMILY.