I’m “Happy”, Okay? Now Can We Just “Let It Go”?

Mood: happy

Music of choice: Pendulum – “Immersion” album

Okay, so like this has totally been like one of the best weeks ever! Knowing that hopefully you said that sentence like a Valley Girl, I want everyone to know that I am not lying. Here is a list of some of the awesome fantastic events just this week.

An awesome friend (who runs the Perfect Strangers website* AND the Facebook group P.S., I Love You has given me a FANTASTIC deal on some rare Perfect Strangers photos. They are both episode/publicity stills and I could not be happier. I am a fan girl about ready to squeak with excitement.

I also received one of my best friend’s birthday gifts that I bought for her and am really looking forward to her opening the package and discovering what it is, as well as the other gift I bought for her.

After a year and a half of getting bupkis, my boss gave me a small but very surprising raise with some nice words attached that basically meant “I’ll never show it, but yeah; I guess I do care about you a little”.

After years of wondering, I FINALLY ate at a Church’s Chicken. We don’t have one in my general area, so drove over an hour to finally try it. I enjoyed it, but Chick-Fil-A will always have my heart. So I was glad to try something I had wanted to try for years. It’s the little things, people.

ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL MY VACATION!!!!

So, how do I celebrate the end of the best week ever? I wait for the worst week ever, of course. I’m sure that will be coming to a theatre near me very soon.

*website for Perfect Strangers is http://perfectstrangers.tv (where you can find anything/everything about the show and read my fan fiction stories (go to fan fiction and click Stories by Cousin Aurora Lenore).

I Saw The Sign

Blog Temporarily Closed for Post-Holiday Self-Repair. Estimated Time of Reopening: One Week. Sorry For the Inconvenience.

My Job Is Climbing Walls and Grinding My Teeth; What’s Yours?

Mood: anxious

Music: Phil Collins

Man, oh man; how I wish I were one of those laid-back, every mushroom cloud has a silver lining people. Instead, I tend to be usually wound tighter than a spool of thread, waiting for the other shoe to drop and that next bit of cruel irony to come my way. Oddly enough, however, while I sweat the small stuff more than Meatloaf at a concert in the Sahara, I am able to detach myself from the big stuff.
Busy day at work? Feel overwhelmed all day, wondering if I should have brought my pajamas, blanket and pillow.
Relative in the hospital? I’m sure it will be okay. No biggi dealiki.
Maybe it’s easier to detach and not feel as much when it affects other people and those people are counting on you to be strong. But when it only affects you, it’s easier to feel hopeless, anxious and downright whiny.
And the advice people give is great: count to ten, look for something good, there was a reason that this happened, think about those less fortunate, give it up to God, etc. Great advice except when you are so stressed or annoyed you can barely remember how to COUNT to ten, your vision is blurry, you don’t KNOW the reason, everyone else you think of is better off and God puts you on hold with cheesy elevator music. So other than going to some therapy group, taking zombie medication, or repeating some self-help guru’s “I am a hollow reed….the wind blows through me” crap, what can I do to not go into panic mode or ‘my life is a cruel irony’ mode? How does one go from being a spool of thread to being a loose-fitting, comfy sweater?

I Can’t Write Now; I’m Too Busy Doing the Peppermint Twist!

Mood: mellow

Music: Barbara Lewis “Make Me Your Baby” (via Real Oldies on iHeart Radio)

As I write this blog, I am sitting here in my favorite chair listening to Real Oldies on iHeart Radio yet again. Yes, I know those songs were before my time, but I still love the music. Brings me back to road trips as a kid listening to COOL 94.9 FM (Mom’s favorite station). I would give anything to have COOL 94.9 back. I LOVE TOM 94.9; don’t get me wrong. But COOL 94.9 could come back on another frequency. Anything is better than my Mom’s favorite station now which is Willie’s Roadhouse on Sirius or Watercolors occasionally. 50’s on 5 and 60’s on 6 are okay, but they lack the variety. But anyway….how did I get on this subject? Oh yeah. Real Oldies on iHeart Radio. Maybe I AM a real oldie for forgetting how may own tangents start.

I really need to start writing again. I pretty much quit back in February and March. I was writing the last book in my Perfect Strangers book series. And yes, I mean Perfect Strangers the 80’s/90’s TV show. For those who might be interested, go to http://oddpastychick.wordpress.com and check out the first 5 books and the beginning of the last one which is on hiatus. If I get enough buzz going on about it again, I might have enough motivation to start up again. Truth is, I was planning on writing PS stories more true to the actual TV show. And then I had an idea for a series of stories about a guy who leads a very….unusual life. But I don’t think he was too keen on the idea. I’ve always wanted to write stories either based on famous/semi-famous people I know or fan-fiction stories. That’s just how I roll. Ask me to write a book based on all fictional characters never known outside of my brain and I fall apart at the seams. But when the time comes to write now, whether it be old stories I haven’t finished or brand new PS stories, “something” always “comes up”. I need to catch up on my DVR, I’m too busy playing games on my iPad, or I just lack the giddy-up and go. So I am desperately seeking motivation as of late to get off my blessed assurance and start writing again. So, any and all praise, encouragement and/or hero worship is welcome.

Mother Nature and Joan Crawford Compete For Mother of the Year

Mood: awkward
Music: Real Oldies radio station on iHeart Radio

Well, unless you are living under a rock, I’m sure you heard about the horrific weather the US has been having as of late. I had a meeting with them last Sunday. As of that morning, the meteorologists were telling us to pretty much put our heads between our legs and kiss our butts goodbye. My area was in a high level for severe weather and it was looking like Mother Nature forgot to take her Zoloft. Then it finally came time for the thunderstorm from Hell. Which is exactly what it wasn’t. Other than a couple of lightning flashes and thunder that made me jump and say things I won’t repeat, it was pretty calm. However, when it left my area, the storm cloud became very angry and showed other towns about 90 minutes away from me just what it was made of. EF4 tornado ripped through Mayflower and Villonia, pretty much destroying the entire towns and killing about 15 people. And now I am dealing with a strange form of survivor’s guilt. It was just a petty storm over my area but when it left? Oh my LORD! Just awful. Truly awful. And the tornadoes didn’t stop there. So many states are dealing with the devastation of the beginning of the week. So thoughts and prayers go out to those affected. I am truly sorry for your loss. But we Arkansans are resilient if nothing else. We will find a way to come out on top. That’s just how we roll.

The Prose and Cons Of A Weekly Blog

Mood: anxious

Music of Choice: Bird and the Bee “I Hate Camera” (in my head)

Should I write about a goat? Should I write about a boat?
Should I write about a tree? Should I write about my knee?
Should I write a silly tale? Should I write about a whale?
Whatever should I write? Perhaps a note about a kite!
Oh the dilemma I am in! Both in typing and in pen.
Writing a weekly blog is hard. Think I’ll go lie in the yard.
But wait, what is this I see? A cloud that’s oddly shaped like me!
It looks slightly out of place. Yet I’m filling up the space.
With simple prose from me to you stating “blogging is hard to do”.

Oh. And I like Bordeaux cookies. And cinnamon gum.

Eggxit; Stage Right!

Mood: reflective

Music of Choice: Two Door Cinema Club

Well, I am thoroughly enjoying my 3-day weekend. I am also thinking fondly of childhood Easter memories: finding strange gifts in my Easter basket like a calculator with multi-colored gems for buttons (which I still have, by the way), having Easter egg hunts with parents and grandparents, and the time my dog Buttons took one of my eggs and I was scared to death he would eat it. How DARE him turn my dozen into only eleven? I hate the number eleven. I know I dyed and hunted Easter eggs well up into my teens, but I didn’t care. Heck, I’d do it NOW if I could do it and not be excommunicated by the adult world, my friends and several members of my family. But I also know that Easter is not just about 6 foot tall rabbits or that plastic grass that sticks to EVERYTHING. It represents Jesus’ resurrection after dying on the cross for our sins. And I try to keep that in mind every year. But even when I go to church on Easter morning, distractions are looming everywhere:
“Oh, look at Mrs. Hathaway wearing that ridiculous hat. Didn’t she wear that a week ago at DERBY DAY?”
“Ms. Foster’s dress looks like a 5 year old’s pastel painting threw up!”
“Is that our pastor daring to wear a tie with the Easter Bunny on it?!? That’s sacrilege!”
Like I said….soooo many distractions. Which is why I smack my hand every Easter and send myself begrudgingly to a “time-out”. Why? Because Easter should not be the only day you think about the ultimate sacrifice Jesus paid on the cross, or the fact that He arose from the grave three days later to join His Heavenly Father at His right hand.
So my wish for all of you is too have a wonderful Easter and to not let your distractions of fashion faux pas and how many eggs your dog eats allow you to forget what Easter should be about. And if you aren’t religious, then hug your family tight and enjoy this holiday with them. Time is fleeting. Now, I’m gonna go buy a dozen eggs. For EATING, not Easter egg hunting! Geez! Simmer down and put away your weaponry.