Deb Came to Visit!

One of my dearest friends in the entire world came to visit!
She is an original Bestie.
A Lifer.
I have known Deb since elementary school. Had way too much fun being her friend through high school. Actually survived living together in an apartment during our early twenties.And we managed to remained friends even when she moved away.
She has been the glue of my foursome friendship with Sheri, Lynn, Deb & I. She is the calm one. The rational one. She is logical, and well, she does have a degree in Psychology and therefore, can make us all maintain and "chillax".

But this year the girlfriend trip was different.

We originally planned to go to Deb's in Tennessee earlier in the year, but that got scratched. Actually, Sher & I couldn't make it, however, Lynn did make the trip south. Sheri also made the trip earlier the year before. I am the only one that has yet to visit Merino Manor. Something always gets in the way. I must make it a priority to visit before the year is up.

We are women in our mid/late forties.
We have issues.
We have drama.
We have life altering experiences going on in our little lives. Something seems to be going on in each of our lives that is pulling and tugging at us. Whereas we should unite and bond stronger, which we always have been able to do, isn't happening this time. There are some things that are weighing heavy in our hearts. That were "off limits" to discuss this time around. That is hard with four women that have always said what they felt and not afraid of the truth. It is hard to explain, and not appropriate for me to discuss. I just feel sadness as I know things will never be the same.

Some times things happen, and no matter how hard you want or try, you can't go back.

So, we did much of our weekend in parts. Deb spent great times with each of us individually. And great times with us together. The together times were as if an elephant was in the room. Safe conversations only we discussed. We laughed, we ate, and we did enjoyed each others company.

...but it just isn't the same.

A Sheri Moment

A Sheri moment can be one of three things for me.
1. a very brilliant moment:
something wonderfully intelligent has come to me.

2. a very articulate moment:
the right words at the right time; the wittier the more Sheri Moment

3. a very "who is that?" moment:
that person knows me obviously but I have no clue who they are. They either were unimportant to me or just did not make an impression.

Growing up with Sheri, and being her friend for well over 30 some years, has cause some of her to rub off on me as well as me rubbing off on her. Deb and Lynn have escape some, but not all of this "thing" as they for one reason or another were not around us as much (miles, opportunities, etc). I like to think I have some Deb & Lynn in my DNA as well, but I will save those stories for another time.

Back to my Sheri Moment. These hit me OFTEN. I am usually very pleased when they do. Particularly when something witty comes out of my mouth at the right moment.

Right now I am dealing with Sheri Moment #3. Gosh Darn it. Someone has gotten in touch with me (through Facebook) and I have no recognition of this person! This person went to high school with me. This is huge! I always remember people! I am the one of us Besties that can recollect memories, moments, people at a drop of the hat. they come to me to say..."who is that?" or, "do I know her?"

But, today, I am stumped. Who they Hell are you? Why do I not remember you? Maybe I will call the girls. Maybe Sher will have a Jan Moment and remember this poor soul and snap me back in line!

The Flamingo Lounge

The Flamingo Lounge is an exclusive members only "club". It has five members. Four middle-aged women, and a Female Black Labrador, named Gabby.

It was formed a few years back, but the actual members only, is something of recent management decision. It is located at the founding member's home, in her Family Room. The membership consist of four life-long friends, and the guarding puppy of one of the members.

These are the membership passes. I had my membership card for less than 24 hours when I lost it. Causing me to go on probation. Lost my rights to chose the television channel, the movie to watch. Any executive decisions were provoked from me. (The dog had more rights than me).

Luckily I found my pass the other day. It now sits with the remaining passes, as seen in the photo above. I am officially off that dang probation!

{The bullets? Private joke. Something about biting the bullet.}

Hanging at The Flamingo is heaven. Just me and my girlfriends. No drama, no expenses. We can speak our minds, ask any questions. We can vent, cry, or be silly. I can be educated or stimulated by the conversations between two of my girlfriends. The food is great, (whatever we want! usually appetizers). Great conversation, great laughs, and great memories in the making.

The only thing that would make this better, is if the MIA member, (she lives in another state), was able to be be here with us. She is in spirit, and by phone, but I really wish we had her here by our side all the time.

I am the most blessed person there is when it comes to friendships.

Friends come and go mostly in a lifetime.

Not my lifetime.

I got the keepers!

Fortune Cookies

We had fortune cookies at Annie's graduation party. I thought this was a fun idea. All seem to enjoy them.

I have always liked fortune cookies. I remember when I was a little girl, my parents went to a Chinese Restaurant and Mom brought Julie & I home the fortune cookies. I was hooked from that point on. Disappointed the first time went to a Chinese restaurant, thinking I would love the food like the cookies. I was wrong! Asian Cuisine is not my cup of tea!

Fortune Cookies are interesting. I don't "believe" in them. However, I do read them and I make them apply. Sometimes I will get surprised by one that is right on target. It's like, "hmmm. This is so true!"

A couple of very interesting ones I received recently are the following:

"Friends long absent are coming back to you."

I recently reconnected with Lynn. I could not be happier about that reconnection.

another one was:

"You will get your hearts desire."

We are in the process of getting a house that I am in love with and can see myself living there for the rest of our lives happily ever after.

I also got one saying I was "going to have a new love affair"

Then I met Tinka the bunny that has melted my heart. (not always quite what you think). It is a love affair in a sense. Tinka certainly has captured my heart.

Coincidence? I wonder.

I find it all interesting.

Do we manipulate things when we have a idea put into our thoughts?

Is it what it is, or is it all by chance?

Either way, I will continue to have fun with these silly little fortunes. I will make what I want of them and I will continue to eat the yummy cookies!

Similar Dance Memories

Check these out:

Annie and friends at her 8th Grade Dance. These are some of her best friends then and now.

Kalen, Tom, Annie,

Jessica, Julie, & Haley

Here are my Besties and two more dear friends in 1979 at a High School dance.

That is Mary Coleman & Kim Sheets joining Deb, Sher, Lynn & I. (I wish I had Rich in the photo!).

How funny! Tomorrow I must make copies as "my girls" do not have copies. Thirty years later, I think I owe them copies!

Dances are great with a date. But the best memories come from the Dances with your friends. We had dates at the 1979 dance, but I am not sure where the photo of me and the date is! But this one, it is priceless! I am thinking Annie will cherish hers just as much!

Aunt Jemima Came to Live With Us!

Look what I got!!! Now as you know, Lynn & I are passionate about antiquing. We each have our items that we search for. Lynn is big on ashtrays and political pins. Me, I love looking for Cookie jars and old black dolls, Aunt Jamima items, and Sammi items. Once I found a Humpty Dumpty Cookie Jar in mint condition, on sale for..$495. Slightly out of my price range! Someday though, I want to have a cookie jar collection in the bulk head of the kitchen cabinets. I want an old house and do my kitchen very retro.

When we had our Girls Weekend, Lynn & I dragged Sher & Deb to an Antique Mall. Low and behold, I found not one, but two Aunt Jamima Cookie jars, in perfect condition! But, even though they were priced very well ($35 & $40), that was my weekend girls money and choose to use it on the weekend rather than myself. Sneaky Lynn, asked which of the Aunt Jamima's I preferred. One was wearing a blue dress and the other white. I felt the white was more authentic and looked better.

Today, I was surprised by Aunt Jamima on my dining room table! Stinkerbell Lynn went back and bought her for me!

Isn't she lovely? I am blown away. I haven't had something like that done for me in a long time.

I LOVE IT & I LOVE YOU LYNN!

What a great friend. I am a happy girl today ( :

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all!

Valentine's Day is one of those days that I say, it is what you make of it.

For me, I reminiscence of all that I love and love me back.

I think of my family.

My wonderful Sergio, and the twenty~some years we have shared.Where would I be without him? I got lucky. I married my soul mate. I look forward to growing old with him.
My sweet girls. Emily & Annie. They are adults now but will always be my baby girls. They are so full of love and sunshine. Their happiness means everything.
I think about my sister, Julie. I love my big sister. Only she understands my childhood. I have been blessed with her friendship as well as the family ties. As we age, we get closer. Even look more alike!
My parents. Crazy or not, they are my parents. I appreciate all they have done for me and the love they have given me. I will always love them.

My friends. I often write about them and wish I could post all of them in a picture. I am just using a shot of the Besties. Sheri, Deb, & Lynn. This group of Besties have seen me through thick & thin and have continued to love and support me. I know we will truly be friends forever. I love them completely. And will forever. They are more a part of me than anyone can imagine. They are my strength and courage.

My pets. Call me crazy, but the unconditional love I get from them blows me away. They are always right there by your side. They sense when I am sad, or in need. They wag tails and are so happy to see me, every day. I love puppy kisses, the pur of a cat and just the love that is there with my four legged family.




I could go on and on. I am grateful for the love of many. But, it's taking me forever to post this, and I need to get my Valentine's dinner started.
Soo, ta ta! Have a lovely lovely day!<3

A Much Needed New Word

During my girls weekend, my dear friend, Lynn, on more than one occasion, told me to "Chillax". Apparently, I worry too much and ponder things too hard. I forget to remember what ever will be will be.
Guilty.
She, as well as Deb and Sheri, have always had a vast vocabulary that I have always been jealous of. Together they took Etymology while I took an Art class. They were Advance English, I went for the easy Basic English classes. They were pushed and relished learning. I was told take the easy so you will get the high grades. Hmm. Do you wonder why I pushed my girls? I made them take Etymology.
Today, I love learning new words! I love knowing them and using them. I keep my Handy Dictionary by my side and open in several times through the day. I couldn't get through a blog posting without it. I use my spell check, but trust my dictionary more. When I read something or hear something that I do not know the meaning I look it up. I think that I have trained the girls, and even Sergio, that the dictionary is your best friend in English.
As for the word "Chillax". It may not be found in my trusty dictionary, but I know what it means. It is okay to make up words in my world. When I start to stress out and freak out, I hear Lynn tell me,

Chillax Man, you need to just Chillax!

"don't forget your questions!"

One of the fun little things my besties and I look forward to with our Girls Weekends is, The Questions. I can't remember who came up with this, although I suspect, our Ms Sheri. It can seem strange, invasive and even rude. However we see it differently. Lynn had to take some warming up to it as she is new in our Girls Weekend. She hesitated to say the lest. But eventually she got it. She was ready to play.

Above are a few of the questions we had this year. Every year we are to come up with as many as we can and fold them into tiny pieces. We carry a bag around with us,as we never know when we will be ready for one. These are not just to break that quietness that sometimes can creep up (so I am told as we never have a quite moment). We take them to lunch, dinner, movies, whatever.

Some questions are deep. Some helpful. And some silly. They make us learn more about each other as well as ourselves. They help us to improve and help us to appreciate. Rarely do they make us mad often make us smile.

We have lots of rules. Some of us get a little pissy if the rules are not followed. Particularly, "it's not your turn!" You also have to go around in order to answer. The person that drew the question, reads it, then answers first. Then its CLOCKWISE. You are also allowed to toss it back in the bag if it is one better read with a glass of wine or another time. You can also pass. We also tend to comment on each others answers.
(Here is Sheri contemplating her question)Silly as it seems, we love the questions. It is one of our favorite things. I must also add that some of the answers are, "to the grave!"

Whew! What a Weekend!

First, let me tell you, I realize how
fortunate I am to have these amazing friends. I know that it is a rare thing to have been friends for 30 plus years. Seriously, countless people ask, "Really? You are still best friends all these years?"

We have had our moments. There have been gaps in the friendships. But, we got it back. The biggest gap was losing Lynn. I am still tickled pink to have found her and have her rejoin our circle of friendship.

Our weekend was filled with laughter. You know the belly laughs, snorting laughs and the "I peed alittle laughs". There are few people that can pull those kind of laughs out of me. We had a few tears as well. But that is a good thing! To have friends you can truly pour out your heart to. About how you feel and about what each other needs to do. We have a rule that you can tell me anything I need to hear and I will still love you. "I will listen and I will take it to heart. I will still ultimately make my own decision, but, I do want your input."
We sat around the dining room table most of the weekend and talked while none stop munching and yes, wine was involved. We got out a couple of times. Had a fun run to lunch, antiquing (still Lynn & mine thing, Sher & Deb clearly don't understand the passion in this). We also ran to Sher's parents to visit and laugh. We made it to church on Sunday, and yes, the preacher called me out as I kept giving Sheri a look. In my defense, I was trying to make Sheri pay attention to what the preacher was saying. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful or anything. Rev Cameron was great.


All in all, what a weekend. Monday, after Deb left, I felt sad. My house was too quite. My Besties were gone. Back to my daily life. BUT.. my Besties are always with me. They are such a part of me and who I am. They gave me strength, courage, laughter and love to carry on and to take with me day to day. They are just a phone call away. We will talk and see each other often.
The Girls Weekends are so important to us. They build us up and make us better people, wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends.

I have much more to share. But will give you bits at a time. Plenty to blog about. But I don't want to write the novel today!

Stay Tuned....

Having a blast with my Besties!

It is Heaven, more to come, they are waiting for me to get off the computer!
(=

The Girls Are Back In Town!

Jan
Lynn
Deb
Sheri
That's us! Back in 1979. THIRTY YEARS AGO!
We are reuniting this weekend. All FOUR of us! This will be the first time in almost 30 years that we will be together again. The long lost fourth Goldie is no longer MIA. We got our Lynn back.

So this weekend, Deb is arriving, and we will reminisce, rejoice and celebrate.
We will laugh, sing, and cry.

I need these girls. And I like to believe they need me too!

The Toilet

Recently while visiting with my Golden Friends, someone brought up a funny memory I want to share with you.

Once upon a time, around 30 years ago, my friends Lynn, Deb & I were riding around in my big old Ford Fairlane. Somehow, Lynn saw & convinced us to stop and pick up a toilet sitting on a curb (Trash day). We were looking for something to make our friend Sheri smile. I think Sheri was in trouble or something. Otherwise she would have been with us.

So, we hauled this thing over to her house, sat it on her porch, rang the bell & RAN LIKE HELL!

We thought it was a riot. We laughed sooo hard! I seem to recall Sheri's parents not finding the humor. We had to come back and pick it up the next morning.

It would go from porch to porch whenever we felt one of us needed that laugh. It lived in my humongous trunk when not "in transit".

When we replaced the toilet at my new house, I was so tempted to take the old one over to Sheri's porch. I know she would have laughed, but Dan would not have gotten it.

Reunited

...and it feels so good!

These are some Golden Oldies that I love forever!

I am not sure how we lost touch. We were able to pick up like we never had a separation. There were no awkward moments of silence. Just a lot of gab, laughs and no tears.

Last week when I went to that Howe Block party I was able to run into Lynn & Rich. Sheri had another obligation so was unable to go. Lynn called me this week about lunch over the weekend. We got Sheri & Rich to join us Sunday afternoon, and it was just like old times.

Lynn. Few people can make me laugh like Lynn. She tells wonderful stories and very much "this is how it is" kindof person. Lynn was the fourth wheel of Sheri, Deb, & Jan. She went a separate road, started a family at a young age and basically just grew in a different direction than Sheri, Deb & I. I am so regretful that I missed 25 years of her life.

Rich. I have already blogged about my dear Rich (see "Everyone needs a Richie"). I will love this guy forever. He is intelligent, hilarious and full of love. Funny how he retained his good looks way better than us girls. He is the one that has changed the least in our before & after pictures. Handsome devil! I am so glad he joined us and vow to never lose touch with him again.

Sheri. What can I say? She is in at least half my blogs. At least the upbeat ones. I truly do not know what I would do without her. She is my rock. She helps me keep it together. I know that she is always there to catch me and will never let me down. I am forever grateful we have maintained this forever friendship.

I called Deb on Friday & tried to convince her to jump a plane and join us for this lunch. I wish she could have as she would have completed this circle.

The five of us were into much mischief back in the day. I have the best memories because of these five wonderful friends. The fun, the silliness and the happy times we shared. They kept me sane, kept me laughing and saved my life. I don't know if they will ever truly know how much they did for me.

I love you guys.