cause i'm 80

next week. my very special granny will be turning 80. she can still bend. stretch. and kick. granny has been her 'name' since i can remember. even her own children just call her granny. she is a quirky. fun. loving grandma. i am excited to be able to help her celebrate her big birthday. where she will turn 80 years young. we will have an open house at her home. with cake and punch. followed by dinner with the whole family at the nice steak house in town.

i am lucky to be so close to granny. even as a military brat. moving around the country. and world. during the summer i would live at her house. i didnt have too many friends. or cousins my age. so majority of my time was spent with granny. we would make pickels. she would practice new french braids on my hair. we would spend afternoons shopping. she loves to shop. even more than me. the morning routine was my favorite. i would be upset if i slept too long. and missed the trip into town. since she lives a couple miles out of town. every morning we would check her p.o. box. drop off mail at bruno's lumber yard. go by the grocery store if needed. maybe another errand. and be back in time to prepare lunch. to be on the table by noon. on the dot. as bruno would be home. sitting at the table. waiting for lunch. (mind you bruno really is a sweet man. even if i sometimes say otherwise. if he would make a comment about lunch being late. granny would just bark back to shut his trap. just like my mom does. and just as i seem to do sometimes). my second favorite was when the avon lady came. i could pick out anything i wanted from the catalog. i was shy about it. waiting for the invitation to come to the table while she ordered. to pick something out. usually a new lip gloss. or earrings. granny loves buying jewelry with my birthstone.

she is a very special lady. one of my most favorite people. she has the softest skin. and one of the greatest laughs. i am so excited to visit her. and celebrate such a big day.

bev

i forgot about her. sitting in my apartment all alone. and i did not give her water. since last tuesday. when i departed my dwelling. due to my negligence. bev shriveled up. and is dead. and is making my apartment smell. i think this parting although with such sweet sorrows (literally). is a good one. my nose did not like her sweet smell. i am sensitive to fragrances. please note. if you were going to send me flowers. say tomorrow. or on my next birthday. i do not like potent flowers. please take a moment and remember all the good that bev brought to my life. i will stick with fake flowers. or outdoor plants.

tgif

geesh. these past weeks. and month. have flown by. my memory is fuzzy. most days i forget what i did. did i send that. where did i put that. i feel like i have aged so fast. although i was mistaken by my superior as one of the youngest in the office. this came about because i have the oldest computer. and will soon be given a newer used computer. so my current dell can go into retirement. so the joke was made - youngest in the office with the oldest computer. but none the less. i am not one of the youngest. or even that close. he then said i would age really well. ha. umm. thanks.

i had the best of intentions to take some photos of the mansion this morning. i wanted to have good sunlight. but it was rainy. cold. and i felt like sleeping longer was more worth my time. so maybe another day. tonight is my last night. but i have another extended stay again in march. so many vacations. so little time.

side note. i do not recommend the new maybelline mascara - stiletto. black and red tube. it did not thicken lashes. or extend them at all. not worth your money or time. next on my list to try. as mentioned in previous posts. the covergirl orange tube. this was in my hand when i actually bought the stiletto instead. but the colors on the covergirl confused me. untitled had to help. but i was still wreary. they need a chart on the back. to explain these things. they were all a different shade of black. like 5 different shades of black. i didnt know which one i needed. (these are the cheap, every day mascaras. next posting will be about the really, really good ones like dior and ysl).

back in blonde

i'm baaaaccckkk! the true me. i am back to the ol' self. i am no longer living a lie. covering up with brown hair dye. i can have my 'blonde' moments. with no explanation. and i feel o'so much better. although. while sitting in the chair. i told rach. i said. now i feel like i look weird as a blonde. she then threatened to hit me. ha. its a very pretty. golden blonde. perfect for the spring like weather. if only it was here to last. now. i just need to grow back those five inches.

life at the mansion

i have made it through almost a week. of living like another kind. a different breed. no boogie men have come out at night. i am actually getting used to the big. dark. house. although i had a weird encounter on sunday. it was the middle of the afternoon. and i was chatting with lemonade. since our conversations usually last hours. i needed to charge my phone toward the end of our chat. i only had my car charger.

so i went out to the car. sat in the drivers seat. with my phone plugged in. and the doggies drooling on my legs. bringing me balls. and wondering what the heck i was up to. then i noticed a small suv pulling into the drive. the house is secluded. the back faces a street. but the driveway is hidden. and a long drive before you reach the house. then there is a large circle/oval drive in front of the house. with a tasteful water fountain. ha.

i panicked. who were these people. i was sitting in my car. in my pjs. yes, at 3 pm. hadnt washed my face. brushed my hair. or teeth. i was not expecting human interaction. i then thought it was a relative of the home owners. i got off the phone and went to grab the dogs as they approached. turns out they were just out for a sunday drive. the lady in the passenger seat had her hat pulled down. the man driving just waved and kept driving. while taking a peak at the big house. probably wondering the same as i. how much is the utility bill. or even the cost of a home like this. and obviously just as startled see someone. these things dont happen in the burbs.

runaway

i think bev is trying to runaway. either that or jump out the window. she is only facing in that direction. i dont know what to do with my dear tulips. they have grown so much. and now they are bending. this can not be good. i bought her a new pot. a pretty. light blue find at tuesday morning. but that didnt help. should i re-pot her. but then i am afraid that might kill her.


and this apparently is all i can think of to write about. i cant believe its february. i am living in a mansion for the next two weeks. and trying not to get scared. or spook myself out at night. i will also start the fourth. and final book from the twilight series tonight. this might not help with the spookiness of the big house. but i have two dogs to protect me.

critic

i watched the superbowl last night. i wasnt going to. call me unamerican. but i rarely watch the game. or get too excited for the commercials. they just arent that appealing to me. and besides. after they air once. on this night. arent they just going to keep replaying. over and over. so really. its not like you miss anything. but this year. i was invited to a potluck party at serious business's place. i made a seven layer dip. decorated the top. by making a football out of the black olives. and sat and watched the whole game. every commercial. my life didnt change. sigh. i spent part of the game trying to convince the crowd to watch puppy bowl. i had completely forgotten about this glorious day. of puppy bowl repeating. all day. long. this was the first time since moving. i wish i had cable. i would then secluded myself in my apartment. and made myself sick. from eating the dip solo.

so my favorite commercial. was for coca cola. probably because i love coke. i was drinking one during the game. out of a fun glass bottle. and the song in the background was from 'peter and the wolf'. i loved watching disney's version when growing up. the behind the scene edition where they showed each of the animals. and the instrument played for them. i think the duck was an oboe. and the instrument would play while walt disney (or his apprentices) would hand draw the animal. as the song went on. the drawings then turn into animation. i loved it. one of my inspirations to play an instrument when i grew older. to only quit later. after a year and a half of fighting with my mother over band. so rebellious.

the commercial was mesmerizing. and very creative. cheerful. cleaver. it made me happy. smile. and drink my coke more. success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKwTWtyOjgM