I Work In A Movie

Sure, you think. How can that be? She just wants a catchy title for another post. No, no, no.... something is going on in the area in which I work. Today, I went to my office, got there on time, went on up to the 6th floor, entered the office and commenced working. Nothing unusual here - this is NORMAL.

At 11:00am I went to lunch with friend and upon returning. (Ok... I am going to stop here and set up the scene. My building is a six-story glass building. The front of the building faces a vacant lot and a post office directly across the street. The street has road bumps to keep people from driving too fast as there are schools further up the road. Okay, and behind the lot and post office is a large, well-maintained cemetery. Actually, it's the "happening" cemetery right now. You know how they wax and wane over the years, right? Alrighty...keep going further out past the cemetery, you have one of the most "happening" streets in Houston. Oh yeah, I am in the 4th largest city in America, so it's not like we just stepped into an episode of Northern Exposure)

Upon returning, I entered the building via the back entrance and walked to the elevators, which are right up front. Like I said, this is a glass building... immediately out the front doors, on the steps, is a woman, who looks incredibly like a man dancing. Not in a cute, Ellen Degeneres kind of way, just dancing. No iPod, nothing. Just dancing.

Okay, now on the edge of vacant lot across the street and facing the post office is a young man juggling three lime green juggling jugs - what do you call those bowling pin juggling things? He's really good!

Some sort of water line has broken and water is spewing out of the corner between the lot and post office (it was still flowing when I left at 5pm).

So, I looked to the right, and from up the street, comes a very large one-legged woman in a wheelchair scooting towards the post office. She was just going over a speed bump when I saw her. She wasn't wheeling the chair - she COULD - I saw her do it, but she was just pulling herself along with her whole leg.

What happened in that one hour?

A Bag In The Sauce

Those wonderful gals at The Secret Is In The Sauce (SITS) are running a contest for this fabulous Brighton bag - why not go on over there and remember to follow the rules!

Even if you're not interested in the bag, check out the site - it's worth the time.

Sex & The City

Yes, I know, I am way later than everyone else and am probably the last Sex & The City fan who has seen the motion picture, but I did. Today. I went with my best friend and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

There have been varying reviews and I can see the validity of those that weren't so favorable, but they weren't factoring in what made it good for me.

What is it, you wonder? If you don't want to know the ending, quit reading now. Ok, the factor for me is the ends got tied up even more nicely than they did at the end of the series. And for fans, we all want the happy endings....

...we want Dorothy to get home from OZ even though we loved her adventures while she was there.
...we want George Bailey to understand one "common" life has far-reaching meaning.
...we want Ebenezer Scrooge to realize that even he, Mr. Bah Humbug, has a heart and can find the Spirit of Christmas down inside it.
...and we want Forrest and Jenny to really be like "peas and carrots."

Yep, Charlotte had a baby, Miranda and Steve are truly happy (now), Samantha was true to herself, and Carrie is now Mrs. Big.

The Friday Feast

Here are my answers from this week's Friday Feast... you can play, too - just leave a comment at the Friday Feast blog:

Appetizer

If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?
I would like to live in Europe - but don't pin me down to a specific country - I can't decide.

Soup
Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?
Currently using Internet Explorer although I have tried them all. Firefox is probably my favorite.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country? 9

Main Course
Finish this sentence: Love is…God

Dessert
Have you ever been in or near a tornado?
I have been near one - very near, but not in one. My great-grandmother was - she lost her thumb when the tornado picked up her house and put it in a tree.

And now it's Friday. Amen

Where I'm From....

I found this exercise at at Fragments From Floyd where he has the format posted to follow. You might enjoy this, too. If you choose to do this as well, please leave me a comment so I can read yours.

Here is my first draft. I may change this:

I am from the backyard clothesline, from cans of Gulfspray and Coke bottles with sprinkler heads for ironing.

I am from the only two-story home on our suburban block where birds built nests over the garage and banana trees grew so quickly, their large leaves scraped across my bedroom window. At this window, I would hear the tap of pebbles thrown by neighborhood friends asking me to come outside rather than knock on the door.

I am from the fragrant (and tasty) honeysuckle, the spring azaleas found in all our front yards, deadly oleander, and sand dollars gathered every single summer on the shores of the Gulf.

I am from homemade chicken and noodles at Christmas and high foreheads, from Fannie, who always wished her name was Mary Rebekah, and Winnie who lived life joyfully and from the Ebanks who value family above all else.

I am from the sailors of the Caribbean Sea and pioneers of Texas.

From where dogs are boys and cats are girls and Santa knows everything about me.

I am from a long line of Presbyterians who founded churches and taught Sunday school. From grandparents and parents who taught that we don’t “hate” anyone for we are all God’s children and that church is not just a building, it’s a home.

I’m from the coastal plains of Texas and the land of chocolate, Belgium, from seafood gumbo and my mom's cornbread stuffing made with hot sausage and pecans.

From the woman who adopted her nephew when his parents were killed in a car accident, the man who won a Soldier’s Medal of Bravery during World War II, and a woman who made sea turtle soup and cassava cakes for her eleven children.

I am from bookshelves in my parents homes where my school years and friends photos now sit either displayed or placed in albums. From the bracelet my grandfather gave my grandmother when she was sixteen and I wore at my wedding, and from family stories carefully handwritten by my other grandmother. From the small treasures of glass and jewelry or love letters and wedding certificates comes an accumulation of worth which cannot be tallied.

lynda (age 4)

Car Dealers - Ugh

I bought a new VW Beetle in May. Because I opted for a program called, "Driver's Option," it seems to be freaking out the dealer.

This plan is like a lease - I have 48 payments (under $300.00), then a balloon note. At the end of the term, I can turn in the car and walk away or refinance and keep it. But, it's NOT a lease. Well, my dealer hasn't done one of these in 2 years (so they say) and can't get my contract correct. This, in turn, means I don't have plates, which I need to get my toll tag so I can drive on the toll roads without having to carry around tons of quarters.

I have had to turn into mega-bitch (not too difficult) and I keep running into a "it is what it is" attitude.

On my way home I called VW Credit - they're going to get right on it - 'bout time!

Okay, enough about that. Want to hear a funny car dealer story?

When I was going to college I had a part time job on the switchboard at a car dealership. There were two of us working switchboard. Needless to say we were young, smart, and locked in a room with sophisticated (for the time) equipment.

Anyway, we managed to get on the same line and dial in like we were calling from outside and rang the service department.

In an Oriental accent, I asked for the service manager and told him my husband didn't speak English, but when he got home with our car, there was a raccoon in the trunk and we wanted them to come get it because it was loose in the garage and scaring the kids.

He kept asking our name and I would say something he couldn't understand. Then I would keep saying, "My husband says you have to come get it" and whenever they would answer, we'd start the cycle all over.

It was so funny afterwards - the whole service department was talking about it, paging people, etc...

Big fun in the switchboard.

The best prank was hooking up two Chinese restaurants - each thought the other called them, but they didn't. We would look for places named, East China and North China and let them at each other while we listened.... "You called me" "No, you called me"

We were easily amused. Can't really pull phone pranks these days. Did you have a favorite way back when?

Winner! and other ramblings...

Back on line for just a bit and I am a winner! Why not scoot on over to A Very Mary Design and take a peek at the earrings I won. Thanks, Mary!

I'm at work right now and no one is here but me, so look what I'm doing...sneaking in a post.

Wanted to take a moment and thank my Scrabble buddy, Kerrie, for the nice welcome. Why not drop in and meet my friend from down under. We've been playing online Scrabble for quite a while now. Well, it's not really playing for her - she pretty much whips my butt every time - I might just occupy some time. If you could see how many times I get all vowels, you would know I was truly under some kind of Vowel Monster spell. It's really unbelievable.

Anyway, if I have led you to believe that we're only friends via Scrabble, that would be wrong. Scrabble allowed us to develop a great friendship. Hopefully someday we'll get a chance to meet in person.

Hmm... yesterday I left off wondering when my child would come home. She did good - she was home in time for us to take her dad out to lunch. We went and had Mexican food and good time was had by all. She even stayed home for the rest of the day which is a big accomplishment for a 16 year old with a car.

Of course, all her friends were doing family stuff, so that kind of put a crimp in her style.

Oh well, we all get crimped from time to time.

When does school start????