TGIF~Hitting the big 30 and seeing my not-so-secret boyfriend.

Tomorrow,  August 1st marks a momentous date in history; my history, Coach's history, your history. The worlds history.

Ok, maybe not the ENTIRE world, but most of it. 

It was 30 years ago tomorrow that I was asked (kinda last minute) to join some friends for a Robert Plant concert; one guy had an extra ticket and no date.

Me? "Sure"

I figured if he was a dud, I had two girlfriends with me. 

When the carload of peeps picked me up I realized that I've seen this guy a few times, but didn't know his name. Actually, I'd been to a party at his apartment....but still didn't know his name until now.
What can I say, it was the 80's, I was a mere 17 it didn't always pay for me to pay attention. 

We had a great time; I recall the entire drive back home we were liplocked. 

Hey, I'm not easy, but I like kissing!

The rest is history people. A dud he was NOT. 

Now, had this happened this day in age, there would be photographic evidence of the date. 

BUT, we don't actually have a photo of us together until Halloween. 

Halloween 1985

Our first actual photo and I look like a hooker. Oh well, he forgot to put on a shirt, so we're a match made in heaven. 

It only took me a few minutes to realize that he was nothing like the toads I'd previously locked lips with. 

I might have dressed like a hooker, but I was smart enough to know a good guy when I saw one. 

***

It's no secret that I also share my heart with Dave Matthews. 

Of course, Dave Matthews does not know this, but the Coach does. He's always been supportive of my secret relationship with Dave and even encourages us to see each other once a year. I know. He's a fantastic husband. So, this Saturday, on the anniversary of our first date, we're having a little rendezvous with Dave. Just don't tell Dave's wife.  

Truth be told, he's nothing compared to my Coach. But I don't want to hurt his feelings after all the years that we've been secretly NOT dating each other. 

I'm sure you're wondering if I've ever locked lips with Dave.

Well, honestly NO.

There's this little obstacle called a RESTRAINING order. 

Anyhoo....who can deny that the Coach and I go together like peanut butter and jelly, rice and beans, like fine wine and smelly cheese, like pork chops and applesauce. 

I could go on and on....but you get the gist of this.

April 2015. My Mom's favorite photo of the two of us. 

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend with those who you love; whether they know it yet or not. 

XOXO

The Crape Update

I'm absolutely positive that your'e all wondering how my baby crapes are doing.
Remember when I planted 20 of them back in 2009 hoping to block my messy neighbor?

What? You don't remember? What? You have your own life to lead? The nerve.

Anyhoo.....my good blog friend Mildred blogged about the blooming crapes in her area and I commented that mine were doing so good. She suggested that I share some photos. Now, don't go thinking that I will always heed the ideas or suggestions of others; this is a rare case. ; )

They were a mere 12 inches when I planted them. 

Needless to say, they like the climate and my yard. Ok, lets be real. They like ME!

 Most of them are about 9-12 feet tall. It's hard to get the perspective with so much green. 

I should have photographed them about a month ago when they were in full bloom. 

What can I say? I'm behind a bit. Just last week I realized my wall calendar was still on March. 

March for heavens sakes and here it is June. 

Ok. It's almost August. I can't deny it. 

This past fall the Coach and I decided to plant more (10) on the south side of our property knowing that someone would eventually purchase this wooded area and plop a shack on it. 

We really don't want to see anyone. Ok, we really don't want anyone to SEE us. 

What do we have to hide? Not much really....aside from the fact that I like to work in my garden wearing a two piece. THAT does not need to end up on Facebook or TMZ! *Shiver*

Have you got anything good growing in your yard? 

If you live in Colorado, lets keep your garden on the down low. 

Hanging out with winners.

I disappeared again last week. 

Not even one of you put out a missing persons report!

The Coach had a week long tournament at Disney for the USSSA world series and he practically begged me to join him. I'm a sucker for begging and I'm a sucker for him.

His girls brought home the world series hardware. Again. 

Two years in a row he's coached his girls to the championship. The funny thing is, this is a different team than last year.  

Only two of the same young ladies were with him last year; he's great at what he does. 

What a fun week we had; even Cocoa was able to join us.

Here she is enjoying the rental house couch and some HGTV.

Life is good for Cocoa. We should all be Cocoa in our next life!

On Saturday Cocoa and I drove home (in almost 4 hours of torrential rain!) and the Coach and his team headed up to Virginia for a national tournament.

If you're decent at math that makes two straight weeks of softball for those girls, their parents and the coaches. 

Talk about dedication. 

I'm so thankful for an awesome partner in life.

Cocoa is so thankful for her people, couches and vacations. 

Frothing and my very close encounter with a laser.

We've lots of pricey items that we've coveted, needed, loved in our life. 

But this inexpensive item is one of my daily favorites now; our $7.95 milk frother.
Why didn't all of you tell me that I needed this before? 

Why hold out on me? I thought we were friends. 

The Coach and I are trying to limit our dairy and sugar; frothing a little bit of low fat milk makes it seem like MORE milk; and it's magical in my coffee. 

Oh, how I love my morning cup of joe.

***

I had some work done last week. You know I'm pretty forthcoming with my vanity issues. Some of this work was for medical reasons, some was for vanity. 

 The Coach thinks I'm crazy, but he knew what he was getting into way back in 1985 when I had my lip gloss collection organized by flavor and season. 

I had my varicose (veryclose) veins treated; I had some large ones on my left leg that were actually hindering circulation. I know. I felt as though I was moving at half speed. HA.

 That contraption on the stove? I'll have to blog about that one day....one of Coach's $$ kitchen gadgets. It looks a bit obscene to me. 

I opted to have the extra large veins on my hands done at the same time. That's the vanity part. I'm glad I did. I had the hands of an 80 year old woman. I'm not exaggerating. I never exaggerate.

Ok, well I did one time, but that might be an exaggeration.

I had my spider veins treated back in 2010.  There was some improvement, but they came back. This newer treatment is more invasive; will hopefully keep the larger/varicose veins at bay.
 They poke a hole in the vein, then shove a tubelike laser inside and blast them.
You'll notice I'm not a licensed Dr. with that type of verbiage.

I don't want to point fingers, but my Mom had more visible veins on her legs than any human on the planet. This is hereditary; just like our shining personalities.

I won't share the photos of my hands yet because I'm still bruised; but I can already see improvement. I believe I'll have the hands of a 60year soon; which is ok, since I'm almost 48. I call that progress. 

 Speaking of lasers; I'm getting my eyeballs lasered on August 7th.

I'm going with the old fashioned (Advanced Surface Ablation ) laser surgery as opposed to the lasik flavor. 

The Dr. thought that would be better for my situation; my eyes are dry people.
This procedure will require a bit more of a recovery time. A few days as opposed to an actual day. My vision should be fabulous within a week or two.

I'm really hoping that this laser surgery will give me the super powers to start fires with my eyes. That would come in handy when I encounter A-holes. 

I'm kidding. I won't actually burn people with my eyes. 

Or will I?

Have a great weekend my friends!

#22

Do you remember when this # meant the POUND sign? Now it's a hashtag. *sigh*

We have an electric gate at our house and on occasion I have to give out the gate code. 

If the person getting the code is under 30, I tell them to hit the hashtag and then the digits. 

If the person is over 30, I tell them to hit the pound key and then the digits. 

If I don't like the person, I tell them to pound sand.

#Idontcareforhastags.

So, guess who turned 22 this week?

My firstborn. My lovechild. My sweet cheeks. My sugar britches.

My Lolo

You'll not believe how cute she was as a toddler AND at the same time she was driving me bonkers with her energy.
I actually declared that she would be an only child. Thank goodness my declarations mean nothing. 

Did you know that cats LOVE wearing hats? Cats still don't know this. 

I might have been a bit protective....she's lucky she didn't have bubble wrap from head to toe!

We had a lovely dinner at one of those overpriced Japanese places where they cook your food right in front of your face so that you're concerned all night about your hair catching on fire.

Good stuff. 

G'pa, G'ma, SugarDaddy, Suz, Lolo and Lolo's beau. 

 Linds wasn't able to join us for dinner....and that right there was blogworthy. You should always make sure you confirm the LOCATION of the dining establishment when there are more than one within a 30 mile radius. *sigh*

So, the next day the original four had a lovely lunch together. I love my people so much!!!

I love it when they pose for me; such good little posers. 

Coach and I are so proud of the young woman that she has become. 

She's compassionate, witty, loving and more intelligent than we can intellectually comprehend. 

Lolo will finish up her last year of college with a dual degree this coming spring; then the world is her oyster.
Sadly she doesn't care for oysters, so she'll have to deal with that.

XOXO

TGIF: Walking the walk and some other stuff too.

The Cocoa-nater needs exercise daily. 

She really loves it; but like everyone else, she's getting old. She's going to be 70 in September and for a boxer that is ancient. So our walks are starting to be a battle of wits. Meaning my wits are being battled. She loves the beginning of our walks, but the last 10-15 minutes looks a bit precarious for me; I don't know if I can carry 55lbs!  I've even shortened our walks, but those last few houses she keeps looking at me: "Did someone move OUR house mama? It seems so far away now."

*heavy panting*

***

I'm looking into getting lasik surgery. I had a consult a few weeks ago and another coming this week. 

I'll make my decision soon. I'm sick and tired of wearing glasses. The Coach asked me what bothers me so much with wearing glasses. 

Me: "Well, they get dirty all the time and with my OCD I'm constantly cleaning them....and then my hair gets caught in the hinges and I'm losing precious hair." 

Him: "So, you're going to have a laser surgery so you don't lose any more hair?"

Me: "Pretty much." 

Plus, I'd like to be able to see. all.the.time.

(Contacts worked for a few years, but that ship has sailed away with my age!)

At my appointment they dilated my eyes and then sent me away.TO.drive. I couldn't see very well, but I took a photo of my ginormous pupils to share with my people before I drove into a ditch drove home.  Ya know, for old times sake and all. Just in case. 

I must have forgotten to brush may hair on this day. It's hard to remember everything.

Has anyone had lasik surgery and you can still read this post???

***

Fathers day was a few weeks ago. (really? That long ago?)

I just want to let you all know that our girls are alive and well!! Remember when my posts were all about the funny ways they would try to drive me crazy? Well, I'm guessing they are doing that to other people now since I don't see them as much. 

I love my people!!!

I hope you're all getting the necessary exercise, seeing well and get to hug some super sweet people here and there. Honestly, the hugging of people is better if you KNOW those actual people. 

Hugging strangers is frowned upon. Well, I read that somewhere. 

Damn restraining orders.

Enjoy your Independence weekend!!!

XOXO

Bob Barker, is that YOU?

My Mom was not a big TV watcher; as in, she didn't watch a variety of shows.  

 I didn't really know that until recently. I haven't lived with my Mom since I was 15 years old, so spending so much time with her recently was eye-opening.

The Price Is Right was her only go-to daytime show. (she's been laid off the past year and had settled into a routine) We stopped what we were doing at 11am to watch The Price is Right. 

I had many flashbacks of spending the summers with my Grandma and we stopped everything when her 'stories' {soap operas} came on TV. 

Did you know that Bob Barker had retired? Well, now you do.

Bob was replaced by Drew Carey, that funny guy who used to be really large and now is just regular-sized, but super cute and funny. 

It was most inconvenient when we were in the hospital because you'd not see a Dr. until 11am.

Never failed....they wouldn't show up until Mom was watching her show. She and I would exchange knowing looks that meant: How dare they?

Quick, everyone avoid the camera!  Circa 1990. Terrible picture of Suz, Mom and Mark, but it's the only one that exists after 1980. 

The only other show she really enjoyed was QVC.

I know. That's not really a show, it's shopping. My Mom's favorite sport was shopping.

I've never been a TV shopping kind of girl, but let me tell you, I was tempted to purchase SO many things that I DIDN'T know that I wanted or needed in my life....those TV selling people are that good. 

And my Mom knew them all by name. ALL of them. Cracked me up. She could watch that show anytime, even if it was a rerun.

I'm not a big shopper, but I appeased her by watching and kept my wallet in the other room. Those salespeople are that good.

So, imagine my surprise when I was going through my Brother Marks wallet and found that he had a QVC shopping card.

Mark passed away in 1990; I had NO idea that QVC even existed that long ago!

I shared that tidbit with my Aunt Trisha and she also wondered if I was really related to the two of them! 

I'm starting to wonder if Mark was right when he told me that I was found at the local park, I thought he was just being mean.