Thursday, September 29, 2005

She swings.... And she misses....

Well...
My trip home to see my childhood friends was wonderful, and it reminded me that I am so very blessed to have them. There is something different about friends that have known you your whole life. They hold a special place, no matter where you are, or how often you keep in touch, it is awe-inspiring that we as a group of friends can just pick up like we just saw each other yesterday and know that the others will be around forever.

So I came home Tuesday and hurricane Rita was headed straight for my house!! We spent the next few days preparing. Have you ever thought about how well 2.5 million people can evacuate in 2 days? Let me tell you... Not well!! We decided to hunker down and ride out the storm because we are 63 miles inland. Thursday my sister and her kids and dogs and cats (one of whom was pregnant) and birds and tyrantula came to stay at our house for the storm. To say the least we were a bit crowded!! Even more crowded the night Rita was supposed to hit because we were ALL in my not so big bedroom!! As I went to bed it looked like Rita would hit to the East of us, but Galveston and Port Arthur had exactly the same percentages of probability, and either way Rita was big enough we figured we would still get something. I went to bed not knowing how long I would sleep. Got up in the middle of the night and checked, Rita had hit Port Arthur, but was still moving NW, so I figured we were still in for it. Saturday rolled around and all we ended up with was a little wind, and I still need to water my lawn! So Saturday afternoon they all packed up and went home. I still haven't gotten my house totally back together! LOL!!

Anyway, I wanted to share a consiracy theory with you. Ok, let me preface this with the fact that I have never really bought into conspiracy theories as a rule, but my husband is the king of them! The other day I was watching TV and a commercial came on for the new show Commander and Cheif with Gina Davis. Now don't get me wrong, this looks like an excellent show that I will probably watch, but I just have to say something that strikes me as odd. Ok, let me also preface this with I do not subscribe to any particular political race, and pride myself of voting on the issues, not the party. That said, I have to wonder: Did the democrats fund this show to ease the country's concerns about a female president? I mean, think about it... We have a couple of years until the Presidential election, and Bush's approval rating is waining a bit... Now what if they got the country ok with the idea and then BAM through Hillary in there!? You watch, mark my words... This is bound to come out eventually!!

Ok, that is all I have for today, obviously I have been married to my husband too long, hurricanes are unpredictable, I like my sister better at her house, and I am proud of my childhood friends...

Y'all take care!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

And the Crunch is on...

Well.. The countdown begins today! I officially leave town tomorrow. Before I leave I have to clean my house, do some PTO stuff, get my hair and nails done, do some work for my business.... etc... Oh yeah make a quilt for Ben's baby.... Which leads me into my story for today...

This is the story of some high school kids. Me and my group of friends. You always remember your first. That is just the way it is. Ben was my first. He told me he wanted to marry me and that was that. He was my first love. Well our relationship was rocky at best. What high school relationship isn't? At one point I found out that he was dating another girl, Julie. Then because I was young I actually let him date us both at the same time. I was sure that he would see that we were meant to be. Well, he joined the army and the night before he left for the Army he told me that he knew it was us that was meant to be and we spent that last glorious night together. I moved into his mother's house and began learning how to be a good wife so I would be prepared when he got home. His best friend and I (Karl) spent most of our time together because we were, quite frankly lost without Ben. One day Ben told his mother that we were going to be moving out when he got home. She flipped out, because I guess she thought we would live with her? I don't know. She imposed a curfew on me, and I was not to spend anytime alone down in Ben and my's room with Karl. Then when Ben called for his weekly call on the weekend she wouldn't let me talk to him. And while she was talking to him she told him that she caught Karl and I in bed (in Ben's bed)! I was completely floored! And I had no idea what to do!! I knew it wasn't true, and Karl knew it wasn't true, but from Ben's standpoint... Who is he supposed to believe? So he started back with Julie. This devestated me and I had Karl help me move out. When Ben came back from the Army he and Julie had their perfect little reunion and all was well. Problem was we all ran with the same friends. So I had to hear about it, and because I apparently like pain I actually asked. Karl and I didn't talk to Ben. It was our understanding that he didn't want to talk to us. And if you got all of us in the same place, it was ugly. Julie and I hated eachother like you would not believe. After a while Karl and I became very close. We had come to rely on eachother. One night we crossed the line between friendship and lovers. As soon as it was over I knew it was a mistake. Karl and I talked about it and agreed that we would just be very very good friends. I was so terrified that I would end up losing his friendship too like I had lost Ben's, and I couldn't bear that thought. So friends we were.
I joined the army. If Ben could do it and he came home saying how hard Basic Training was then I certainly could do it and not complain about how hard it was! So a couple of months after Ben got back I left. Over time Ben and Karl made up and were friends again. Over time I was able to talk with Ben again too. Seemed married life wasn't everything it was chalked up to be. Honestly, he still had a very special place in my heart, and I wished things were different. But the fact was, they weren't. In fact Julie was pregnant. I came home to visit and got to spend some quality time with both Ben and Karl. I wouldn't trade it for anything. We worked out a lot of junk that was between us all. Ben said he wished we had talked when he got home. We started talking then. We talked on the phone while Ben was at work with nothing else to do. Meanwhile I was dating my current husband. I got the call when Julie had the baby, Karl told me and I shared my news with him that I was now pregnant! I ended up moving back to Utah for a short period of time over the summer because I was such an emotion wreck during my pregnancy. Karl and I spent a lot of time together. One day we were out at a ghost town and he was out looking around and I was sitting in the car. I had a conversation with God. I asked him who I was supposed to be with, Karl or Scott (the father of my baby). I asked him for a sign. Karl got back in the car and started eating a candy bar. I asked him for some and he said no. We ended up in a huge fight over this stupid candy bar and I took that as my sign. Shortly after that I married Scott and shortly after that I moved back to be with him in Texas.
Fast forward a year or so.. I don't remember how long. Julie and Karl had become close. In fact Ben walked in on them kissing one day. Seems married life wasn't all Julie had hoped for either. Ben called me and told me he was so upset. I was too. Now Ben and Karl were not really friends again! Ben and Julie ended up getting divorced and Karl and Julie started dating. I came home for another visit. As I always did, Karl and I went to dinner. I didn't know but he and Julie were pretty serious. Julie found out that he was having dinner with me and she freaked out!! That is when he had "the talk" with her. This is the same talk I had had with Scott, though Scott is not a jealous person I just thought he should know where he stood. He told her that I was a very vital part of his life and she was either going to deal with that fact or they were not going to have any future. You can imagine this didn't go well, since Julie and I were not exactly on each other's side. We finished our dinner and Karl told me how he was feeling for Julie and what he had told her. It was so nice to see that spark in his eyes. I could tell he really loved her. A couple months later I was sitting on my computer and I get an instant message from Julie. You can imagine I backed slowly away from the computer because I wasn't sure she hadn't somehow rigged it to blow up!!
Seems she had decided the tension between she and I was affecting Karl and she wanted to try to find some common ground to make his life easier. I was skeptical at first, but willing. We ended up talking quite a lot and worked out most of our differences. Turns out there was a reason the same men kept falling for us. Dare I say it? *gasp* We are actually a lot alike!
Well I went home for another visit and Karl and Julie got married. Unfortunately I missed the wedding by one week, but was very happy for them. Then over the summer I stayed with my dad for 6 weeks (he and my mom had recently separated, another long long story) and spent some time with Karl and Julie. The kids and I went over for supper one Sunday and when I got there Julie told me that it was Ben's visitation day that day and he would probably be around later with his new fiance, Tina. I said, ooh does he know I will be here? She said no!
I will never forget the look on Ben's face that day. He walked into the house, and Julie and I were bantering back and forth like old friends while making milkshakes for the kids. We turned to see who had come in and there was Ben with his mouth on the floor. I think he wasn't sure if it was safe to move! LOL!! I was so happy to see him again. His fiance I couldn't really read. They got married a few months later and I was there for the wedding. I didn't get the impression that she was real happy to see me, but Ben make it very clear he was glad I was there. To make the day just a little more exciting Julie suggested that Karl bring me to the wedding! That was fun, I have to say!
So, tomorrow I will go to Utah to watch Karl graduate from College. Julie asked me to come.
I have to say... 15 years ago I would have never guessed that I would call Julie one of my closest friends, but I do. There is something special about lifelong friends. No one can ever take their part.
So tomorrow I will fly to Utah and get to see Ben and Karl and Julie and hopefully Tina will be at peace with me being there... Tina and Ben just had a baby boy who I can't wait to meet...

Should be interesting, but fun!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Jello Doesn't nail

Welcome to the official first entry to this blog! You know I have known many people who have had blogs and I always enjoyed reading them and thought maybe some day I would have a blog. Well, today I decided to jump the fence. Maybe I should tell you a little about my title. I was talking to one of my closest friends the other day after having a particularly bad day, the conversation went a little like this:
"Hello?"
"Have you ever had one of those 3 month periods where the world is against you? I am not talking about a day, a week, or even a month... This whole damn season is against me!"
She laughed, probably because she was glad it was my turn and not hers.
So, as I was creating this blog I thought about the old saying, "cleaning house while the children are around is like trying to nail jello to a tree".. There is also "cleaning house while the children are around is like brushing your teeth in the middle of an oreo cookie!".. I actually like the oreo one better, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to be the name of the blog. So, Jello Doesn't nail. Welcome to life. So what do you do with all of this jello that is never going to nail to that tree?... Well, being from Utah I would have to say you make green jello salad!! Ok, if you have never been to Utah and have never had Green Jello Salad let me just offer this suggestion: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! The fact is I have had this stuff placed in front of me about 150 times too many and the very thought of it makes me want to puke! So here we are, back at the question of what to do with this jello... Do you see how my life is going? LOL!

No but seriously... I have many many things to be thankful for. It just doesn't make nearly as good of a read! I plan to update this blog regularly... By regularly I mean every couple of days, more often at times, and less often at times, depending on how the mood strikes me! I will change the names of people to protect their identity when I talk about them, so don't go looking to figure out who my long lost cousin Tabitha is.. She doesn't exist...

Now, let me give you a little teaser about what I will talk about next time, as my fingers are getting tired, and I want to save some of my juicy stuff for later...

Back when I was in high school I had a group of friends that well... let's just say we would make a good Jerry Springer episode! I will be back in town visiting with them this coming weekend.... Should be very interesting!

Have a great day!
Semalee