Tidbit Tuesday--The Stuff of Nightmares

You are probably not going to believe this.  When I think about it, I think it must have been some kind of crazy, bad dream.  You might want to sit down.

I was in a beauty pageant.

Ha!

No.  Seriously. I wrote that, and it made me laugh out loud.

I really don't remember how it happened. I must have blacked out or something.  I would never have taken a dare like that. There's really no explaining how someone like me ended up on stage, even a tiny one like the one there must have been for the Miss Throckmorton Pageant.

When I was thinking about writing about this, I was so thankful that I don't think there remains any historical documentation of this event.  It went like this, "Dear Lord, thank you so much that there was no YouTube in 1983."

I sang a version, although perhaps not recognizable, of this song:

See...in the tiny school I went to, there was no band or choir. We barely had enough kids for a six man football team, six cheerleaders and a sad troupe of a pep squad.  I learned to sing in church....the Church of Christ ....where there are no musical instruments.  We sing a cappella.  When we went to practice with the piano lady, she basically ended up saying, "Just sing, and I'll try to keep up with you." 

For the love of all things holy....

That pretty much tells the story of my one and only pageant experience. I think there was also a group makeup lesson, a homemade dress, a crazy bad "sporty" ensemble (you mean that doesn't mean a basketball uniform?),  but I've blocked out most of the rest of it.

Dear Lord, thank you so very very very very much for the blessing of no cell phones, no YouTube, no twitter, no instagram, no blogger and no otherwise wireless or digital recording devices in 1983.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

<3 Lori

A Day in the Life

It should come as no surprise, if you've been here very long at all, that I am a homebody.  When the kids were little, I called Saturday "Stay Home Day".  I still call it that in my head.  When you have little kids and a full time job and live 30 miles from "town" and have a huge porch to enjoy, why would you want to leave?  So I usually don't.

Today, though, I was lured out of the house to the nearby flea market that happens once a month. There are only a few of them that are neither too cold nor too hot.  March, maybe April, maybe October and November. I wanted to get away from the computer, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day!

My girlie and I enjoyed a little music on the way.  She entertained me with a rendition of "Call Me Maybe".

There was a pretty good crowd.  We were late getting there and it was starting to get hot.  In March.  90 degrees. Too hot for me usually, but I needed the sunshine!

There was some good stuff, like these old sewing machines.

 And some other stuff, like these goats.

We got this cornflower blue fountain for the yard.  If the red one hadn't been sold already, I would have wanted that one. It had a bird on it. :::heart:::

I don't think the roasted corn people were kidding about this:

While the boys were still shopping the chicken/turkey/guinea area, girlie and I ran off to town for a frosty, tasty treat.

A good time was had by all.  Sometimes not staying home on Saturday is really good, too.

May the good Lord send sunshine for your face, frosty treats when it's hot, and loved ones to share your day.

<3  Lori

Tidbit Tuesday--Introducing My Introversion

Okay.  Here's the deal.

I'm an introvert.  That fact has surprised a few people in my online world. But that's the thing about introverts, apparently. We like communicating in writing. So on Facebook and here on the blog, I'm doing the Macarena and wearing lampshades.  In person, I'm quiet at first.  I tend to hang back and be watchful to gauge people.  I make friends slowly and keep them for a long time.  I don't have a legion of them in real life.   I have a small collection, but they are treasured.  I once forgot my own name during introductions with a new person and called myself the name of someone I went to high school with. Awkward.

I'm reading this awesome book about introverts.

Reading it makes me feel vindicated for being called "hermit" repeatedly by an extroverted type. I'm not a hermit. I haven't withdrawn from society.  I just need more quiet than some people to feel contented and fulfilled.  I'm a people person....as long as they are in small doses and don't try to force extroversion on me.   I have a few close friends whom I've had for a long time and love very much.

I don't do grown woman sleepover parties. I don't like to talk on the phone much.  I'd rather spend a Saturday at home on my porch with the kids and the man and the cats and dogs or upstairs doing art than shopping or going to parties or socializing in big groups.  I'd rather stab myself in the head with a spork (repeatedly) than do public speaking.  I can do it well enough with enough lead time. I just don't want to do it, and I don't like it.

There ya go. If we ever meet in real life and I forget my own name, you now know why.

May the good Lord give you good books, all the quiet time you need, and people who value what you bring to the world.

<3 Lori

Tidbit Tuesday--Teen Crush

{{I have, just this minute, decided that on Tuesdays I'll try to share some little random fact about myself here on the blog just to keep things interesting (assuming "interesting" is defined loosely and might be synonymous with "not really that interesting at all").

I saw on the news that today would have been Andy Gibb's 55th birthday.

::takes off glasses and vigorously cleans bifocals:::.

That can't be right!!!!

FIFTY FIVE??

When I was a kid, we lived in a tiny little wide spot on the road but went to "town" thirty miles away every two weeks to buy groceries at the Safeway.  I was in junior high.  I stood at the magazine rack, which was right inside the front doors, and thumbed through the Tiger Beat  and Teen Beat magazines while my mom shopped.

Andy Gibb was my favorite.

I think one of his records was probably one of my first independent purchases.

This was obviously after he'd made enough money to buy a t-shirt to wear under his jacket.  Go, Andy!

Okay. That's it. Your first installment of Tidbit Tuesday.

Now your turn!  Who was your favorite Tiger Beat teen?  I won't even try to calculate which decade applies. :)

After the Game

I haven't done any art in five days, at least.  In fact, I really can't remember when I last did art.

This is what I've been doing:

My boy played his last high school basketball game on Friday.  They were Regional Qualifiers but were outscored in the first game of the regional tournament and were on the short end of some really puzzling calls by referees. It was a frustrating and sad end to a really amazing high school basketball career.

I love being a basketball mom. I love being my kids' super fan.  My girl starts high school next year, plays volleyball and basketball, is 5'9" and is still growing.  My boy hopes to continue to play in college.  So there'll be other games.  The super fan shoes will be used again.

Right now, though, we are all still processing this great big, giant, huge LAST.

<3 Lori

Friday Fill Ins

I'm playing along with Friday Fillins.  :)

1. Paisley _is the name of my cousin's new baby girl, who is adorable____.
2. _Sometimes a____ hat _will work as a weapon____.
3. Where is __my tooth guard?  For real.  I lost it___.
4. __Sometimes I like to read the very last page of a book first.  Isn't it fun to get a hint about how it's going to___ end?
5. Sometimes, less is _enough____.
6. __No, sir, I do not have any___ Grey Poupon.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _a crazy important playoff game___, tomorrow my plans include __sleeping in, making a big breakfast, staying in my pjs all day and doing arty things___ and Sunday, I want to _worship, nap and read____!

You can play along here.

Praying the good Lord makes  his face to shine on you today.

<3 Lori

It's Time

My week, or at least the last parts of it, from instagram and some silliness from YouTube~~

 My week started off beautifully when my "Love Birds" accompanied a great message about persistence from Brave Girls Club.  Sqeeeee!

  I got a happyhappyhappy shipment from Blick's Art Supplies with a load of canvasses and some other fun things to use during the holiday weekend.

These 4 x 4 canvas panels became spirit gifts for our girls basketball team who competed in the Area playoff game on Friday.  They didn't win, but they played their hearts out.  I heard they liked their little keepsakes.

Super sized red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting and Neocolor II's for Valentine's Day. :::googlyeyes:::

I restarted on a canvas that was a reject from my Flora Bowley class.  It was a joy to paint over that ugly thing.  When I got the this point, I stewed on it a while and didn't really want to go farther because I liked it.  I sought advice from my arty friends and had a closer look at it and decided I could do some things.

This is not a very good photo. I need to figure out a better photo set up for night time picture taking.  But this is what happened.  It looks better and brighter in person.  I've done a little more black detailing and need to do a little more coloring and paint the sides and it'll be good to go!  The words are from the chorus of "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons.  It was playing on Pandora while I was painting.  When I hear it, it makes me happy and sing at the very top of my lungs.   I've looked up the lyrics, and, honestly, I don't know what they may have meant to the writers. But to me, these few words are all I need. 

Whatever it is that you are waiting to do until the "right time", do it.  It's time to begin, isn't it?

And finally, a little silly thing from YouTube to share.  During halftime of the girls' game, the student section made a video. The kids gathered costumes from who knows where.  My son was wearing a gigantic blond wig and a collection of Mr. T-like Mardi Gras  beads. You might be able to pick him out on the  left side of the stands  about halfway up.

 

I'm not counting on this week being as great as last week. But I'm already blessed way more than I deserve, so I'm grateful to God for dumping that bucket of happy on me last week. 

I hope He has a bucket with your name on it this week.

<3  Lori