(43-354) Better Than First Place

When I opened my eyes this morning I had absolutely no idea what day it was.  I thought for a moment "is it Friday, and I have to get up to work?"  I considered it and then thought "it might be Saturday."  Feeling pretty confident that it was in fact Saturday, I checked my cell phone for the time, saw that it was 6:45am and yelled  "WE OVERSLEPT!!!!!!!!!!!"   Luis woke up immediately and asked what was wrong, and I frantically said "WE OVERSLEPT, we're supposed to be at the pool in five minutes."  And the pool was a good 20 minutes away (15 if someone other than Luis was driving.) 

We woke the kids up, explained that we overslept and rushed everyone to get ready.  I texted Kailene to let her know what was going on and asked her to save spots for us.  The truth of the matter was, we did have a little time to spare, because the only thing that we were truly late for was getting their early enough to wait online, so that we could get a good spot.  The kids didn't really have to be in the pool until 730, and the meet wasn't supposed to start until 8.

My family did a great job of getting ready on the fly.  I had Luis take Nicky and Kelsie up to the pool, and Lyndzi and I made a Dunkin Donuts and McDonald's run, because there was no way that I was gonna wake up without a big ole Iced coffee and Luis wanted a couple of breakfast burritos.  Including my two stops, I managed to pull into the parking lot at 734 and I was quite impressed with myself.  

Once everyone was settled in at the meet, and I had a minute to think, I recalled another day when I'd overslept in a similar way, and suffice it to say it didn't end as well as today did.  It was May 1984 and I had a VERY busy weekend.  That Friday night I went to my friend Russell's senior prom.  The next day, Big V and I, along with several other friends, went to Great Adventure.  We arrived home MUCH later than we were supposed to, which I do admit was my fault; and my mom was none to happy with me.  I was SO exhausted that I didn't pack for our choir tour which was leaving first thing the following morning.  I went to sleep and woke up to a panicked call from my friend Melissa.  She asked what I was doing because two buses of people were waiting for me so that we could leave for our choir tour.  "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!"  I had overslept, my school was a good twenty minutes away, no matter who drove and I wasn't even packed.  I begged my mom not to make me go; but she was not so sympathetic and she ordered me to throw some stuff in a bag and get my ass in the car.  I felt humiliated as we pulled into the parking lot and saw the two huge buses sitting there.  I climbed onto my bus as mortified as could be.  I tried not to look anyone in the face, for fear that they would give me the stink eye, or worse.  I climbed into my seat, and tried to look invisible, but that only lasted a few minutes, because I burst out into a loud laugh when my friend Patti's mom asked "does anyone want something hard to suck on"?  heck, I'm laughing about it now.  How immature am I ?  Before our choir director would allow the buses to pull out he insisted on making an announcement over the loud speaker, crediting me for our late departure and advising that at each and every stop we made, I was expected to be on the bus no less than ten minutes before everyone else.  I guess that was a small price to pay, so I accepted my punishment without objection and the buses pulled out, for New Orleans.

I shared this story today with Lyndzi and Kelsie, sans the hard sucking candy part and I think that they felt bad for me. No need to though, because at least I can look back and chalk it up to experience.  A bad experience, but an experience.

Our lateness didn't effect my kids at all.  Both got to warm up on time, although Kelsie wasn't needed in the meet since the top eight swimmers were in attendance.  Nicky swam his race and came in sixth, exactly where he was seeded, and I am delighted to say that he was very happy with that.  I guess we really got through to him; an that for me is better than a first place medal.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

How to Catch A Hamburglar

Now this is getting interesting...
Last night I posted my blog about the McDonald's employee and her drawn on, arch eyebrows. I posted a disclaimer (as I have done before) in attempts to excuse myself in case I was insulting anyone who might be reading my blog; because I would feel terrible if I inadvertently hurt someones feelings. I have previously admitted that I am the Queen of Over thinking, to the point where I can just worry myself sick - because although I have been accused of being the Queen of Caustic; I am also the Queen of Sensitivity and I take things to heart way too much.
OK, so I emailed Rachel, Michelle (not yet legally ) K, and Tiffany to let them know that I have posted a new blog, because they usually like to beat the blogarithm- but this was done at about 1020 pm. So, this morning I had gotten an email from Michelle (not yet legally) K and she mentioned the blog; so I checked my comments as I always do, and there were 2, so I assumed that they were both hers, because she often leaves two. I emailed her to thank her and much to my surprise, she told me that she was NOT the Hamburglar and she asked who was. I said "I don't know; I was sure it was you;" but she said "hell no."
Now you see, the Hamburglar inferred that I didn't care about offending people and the way I originally took the comment was as if it was from one of my good buddies and they were making fun of me, so I thought it was funny; but as time came to pass I started to believe that this wasn't the case; and I became perplexed. I mean I'll admit that on a couple of occasions, I've gotten some comments and I wasn't sure who left them, but given the amount of clever friends that I have; this is totally understandable and I've always been able to find out who it was from; but something was now different about this one. It didn't feel FUN anymore.

OK, so the comment was left at 1233 am and I really wasn't sure who left it. It could have been Big V, but she's in Disney World this week and even if she wasn't, she's on the east coast so the time was all wrong. I emailed my brother and asked him if he was the Hamburglar - but he had no idea what I was talking about. Lesa G said that she wanted to leave a comment as Mayor McCheese, but didn't know how to. It wasn't Rachel, Tiff or Lisa B - so who??
Well, my husband and friends are all speculating; and interestingly enough, they all think it is the same person. We've even discussed trying to smoke out the Hamburglar; but how? I tried getting a hold of Michelle (not yet legally) K to see if she wanted to attempt combat with the Hamburglar; but I was unable to reach her. My good friend Lisa B offered to bait the Hamburglar in the comment area; (and buy, I can't thank her enough for being so sweet;) but since I really don't want any more repercussions, I thought I'd try this approach first.
I guess at this point I am just curious to know who the heck the real Hamburglar is, and what there intention was? I would also like to say, that in my defense, (if I need one;) I know that my humor is often sarcastic and yes sometimes at other people's expense; but I think that I tend to make fun of myself more than I make fun of anyone else. So I hope that you can all see it for what it is. I never wanted to make anyone grimace (haha, I couldn't resist.) (FYI - Grimace, you know; big purple guy that lives in McDonaldland.)
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

The Hairless Arches

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to insult anyone who engages in the practice of complete eyebrow removal. I also offer my apologies for the title and welcome anyone to suggest a better one...

I have never really understood why some women choose to completely remove their eyebrows and then draw them back on. This concept is one that just alludes me. I know that back in the day it was a popular thing to do - I’m just not quite sure exactly when that day was.
I must say that here, in Peoria, AZ, it’s not a look that I see often; BUT today, I was astounded when I went to McDonald’s and the woman behind the counter, not only had her eyebrows removed and drawn on; but she had them drawn on in the shape of the McDonald’s arches - I kid you not. (Say it with me; “Who could make this stuff up?”) Man, this takes job loyalty to a whole new level that I have never imagined. LOL The woman was Caucasian, and very tall (at least I think it was a woman.) She? had a terrible haircut, and then really, the epitome of the McDonald’s arches drawn on for eyebrows. I must say that she? also wasn’t in a very good mood; but if I had those arches above my eyes, maybe I’d look like I was in a bad mood too - or just quizzical maybe…
OK, so I might just be a little more observant than most people; but I happened to engage in a conversation with another woman in the play area and in my typial fashion, I couldn't help but mention this woman’s? eyebrows and it just so happened that my new friend had noticed them too; and OK - we both laughed.
I really have no purpose for telling this story - I just feel that it’s my obligation to share these little out of the ordinary occurrences as they happen to me. I guess it’s mean of me to admit that it gave me a little chuckle, but you can all live vicariously through me and imagine what this woman? looked like. Just another day in the suburban desert. (Agghhh; why do I keep forgetting that I have a camera phone...)
Till next time…
Queen of EVERYTHING