The One

I'm a romantic. If you know me, you might not believe me because I'm also a realist. My guilty pleasure is romance novels. Because I usually, sneer, scoff and ask “WTF” through most of the story, I now just skip to the end... 

I used to think I'd find The One, get married and have a couple kids. I would also have the perfect job as a princess or pop singer and all of this by the time I turned 25... We all know these plans never work out. 

I never expected to meet and fall in love with the perfect man; just one perfect for me. Our eyes would meet across a crowded Con (or book store or library) and we would feel instantly drawn to each other. We would spend hours talking about the merits of our favorite Doctor and whether or not the latest Avengers/Star Trek/Star Wars/X-Men movies were really worth the price of admission, hang out playing video or board games or just read. My self esteem and body image issues wouldn't matter because he would have them too.

I have yet to meet and KNOW that I found The One-so I'm still looking; but not very hard. It is a tough time to be dating. Oh, don't worry- I could have all the dates and other stuff I want. I just don't want what's offered... I've tried online dating and found some really interesting people...

There was the guy who sent me an email to say that he really liked the answer to one of my questions and appreciated my honesty. There have been some that sent me emails to see about getting to know each other. Then there are the ones that boldly ask for what they really want.

I got an email from a guy with whom I had had no previous correspondence. All it said was “FWB?” I had to Google it. Apparently he was asking for no-strings sex- Friends With Benefits. I didn't answer him. Would it really be fwb if I had never met him before? NO, that would be a one-night-stand and a very good way to get robbed, have my liver or other organ harvested and left for dead or end up with a baby and no Baby Daddy. So, no thank you. 

When those well meaning relatives/co-workers/whoever asks why I'm still single I can say that being single is better than being left for dead in a seedy motel on 15 half way to Lexington just so I can hook up with a guy who MIGHT be The One. There is a reason it is called a HOOK up. Just saying.

I usually just say that “I haven't met anyone I want to spend that much time with.” Maybe I'll throw in an occasional “I haven't met anyone I like more than myself.”

I like cars.  All kinds: sleek new ones, antiques, muscle and even some hooptys.  I often get distracted while driving if I see a particularly cool car.  The other day I was thinking about the way auto makers name them...

Auto companies choose names to imply power, speed and other attributes we might want in a vehicle.

Take the Ford Galaxie... It was built during the time of the space race. A mid-sized car that was perfect for the atomic family.  They offered a hard top convertible so you could see the sky so many people were interested in at the time.

Then there's the Mercury Cougar... It's sleek and fast.












Cherokee-it's tough and can go into wild terrain.

 The Pinto it was small but got the job done (just don't get rear-ended.)  My family had one of these when I was in high school.














One of my favorites is the Plymouth Fury. If you've read or watched the Stephen King classic Christine, you know that was one pissed off car.  I think It's a beautiful car and daydream about finding one to restore.










Some of the names seem like throw-aways like the Plymouth Champ.  It was a compact car made to challenge the Ford Escort or the Dodge Omni.
    
Most of the names fit... but what were they thinking when they named the Gremlin?

The word gremlin is defined as a mischievous creature. I think of the monster under the bed.  This car was not a monster it was actually a great car for the money at the time.
I LOVE AMC cars.  My first car-that I bought from my Grandma was a 1979 AMC Spirit.  It was a color somewhere between maroon and brown and had the wide stripes.


I stole all the photos used in this blog from all over the internet-mostly Wikipedia and Google images.

The Reason

You probably know that I’m a librarian-currently without a library (I have the degree and everything.)  I talk about it all the time.  Talk about programs I held-Have I told you that we made snow globes? It was Awesome! I still get excited just thinking about it.

I think I was always going to be a librarian.  I’ve loved books since I was old enough to read (I used to steal my brother’s Encyclopedia Brown books) and loved to tell anyone who would listen about this great book I’d just read—I still do that.  Now I also push the audios that you can download from your library’s website.

What you may not know is that I’m also an artist.  When my Dad died I decided to go back to school-he was so disappointed that I had dropped out.  I started slow at the local community college-made up some of the credits I failed (getting back financial aid) and went to Berea to finish college.  I jumped in head first into Art.  I found sculpture long ago and really wanted to learn how. In my senior year at Berea I met Derrick; he was in all my art classes (I had a huge crush on him) and my friends kind of absorbed him into our group.  Because of Derrick, I met Edith (she and her husband at the time were sharing a house with D.)  They used to have game nights every now and then.  D would invite people from Berea and Edith would invite people from University of Kentucky’s School of Library and Information Science.  It wasn’t long before Edith recognized me for what I was—a born librarian.  It didn’t take much to lead me into the MLS program.

Long story short I spent some time at an Art library-where I met some people in the art world. Had some shows, sold some art.  Switched to a public library (I missed the variety of topics) and slowed down with the art.  It’s hard to sculpt stone without a studio.  When I was in Cincinnati, I tried to work out of my garage and it worked for a time but there were so many other things I had to do like paint my bedroom and mow the lawn. I got out of the habit of sculpting.  Oh, I still made stuff: crafts, barrettes and knitted stuff; I just wasn't working the hammer and chisel.  Until someone very recently reminded me that I like to sculpt and that some people like my work enough to pay for it.

So today when one of my very kind and generous neighbors took cake of the lawn so I wouldn't have to, I got myself organized and spent some time sculpting on a piece I started over 3 years ago.

You may not have recognized it from my tale above but fate likes to show me things and push me places.  Or to put it another way…Everything happens for a Reason.

I've been struggling to find The Reason for some stuff that happened a couple of years ago.  Is The Reason supposed to be a renewed perspective on life?  Reconnecting with people from home?  Learning to appreciate what I do have?  Picking up my sculpture tools again?  All of those have happened… mostly.

So I've been exploring myself (get your mind out of the gutter) while I look for that library job, watching for The Reason I’m here.  Have I missed the sign?  Then I realized one day that it may not be MY Reason.  Maybe I’m here because someone else needs me to be here.  Maybe it’s not all about me.

I’m also wondering if I will know when I've said or done the thing.  Will I know that I've found The Reason? Or will I have to wait until fate pushes me again?
I hate when fate pushes me-it doesn't usually go well.

Photos from my walk

As my sister likes to tell me and I have probably mentioned before, everything happens for a reason.  I think this is true in a number of different ways.  I am meant to be here in this place.  I spent my high school years here and came home when I didn't have any other options.  There are many things about Eastern Kentucky that I like and the proximity to nature is one of them.  Whereever I go next, I hope the scenery is just as pretty.
Today was a beautiful day.  It was much warmer than expected for mid January so I grabbed my camera and went for a walk.  I thought I would share some with you.

 Check out the tiny moon in the middle of the photo.  This was at around 3:30 this afternoon.

 This is a trailer that Mother Nature has not been nice to.  I think it's a sad comment on life here but still visually compelling.



















Rusted Gate- also visually compelling.

We've had a lot of rain lately, so these little waterfalls are everywhere.

Some dried reeds

My turn around point-headed for home

I don't think that goes there.

The creek

Another photo of the moon

Sunset

This tree looked kind of like it was glowing.

The road home

The ridge over home.

Happy Thanksgiving from the stranded

On this very special Thanksgiving Blog, I want to tell you the thing I am most thankful for-you (because you’re full of awesome sauce and don’t you forget it) … and everyone else who has ever interacted with me.  You are all important because as I’ve heard “people come into and go out of your lives for a reason; some don’t stay long enough some stay longer than we’d like.”  I think it’s part of the “everything happens for a reason” gambit.

You have come into my life for a specific purpose… I’m hoping it’s a good one.  Maybe you called my work and got to talk to me and maybe I fixed your problem and brightened your day with my cheerful attitude and quick laugh.  Maybe that conversation I had with you lightened my spirit and reminded me that not everyone is going to yell at me and I can stay at that job a little longer.   Maybe it was the other kind of call… where you immediately start with aggressiveness and name calling (A little tip, consider it a side benni…if you are a bitch to customer service you are not going to get what you want.)

Maybe you’re my sister-who has to stay in my life forever- she called earlier to see if we could get together tomorrow… she was bummed that she had to work today and I completely understand that.  Her family, my Mom and I will meet up to grab some food and maybe shop.

You could be the friend I fell out of touch with-I can be really bad about that or the person I decided I didn’t want in my life anymore.  You could be the manager who fired me.  You might be the person I want back in my life-watch out, I’m coming for you.

The person I am most thankful for is my Mom… No matter how much I get irritated or annoyed with her; I love her bunches.  She puts up with my moods and bitchiness and she let me move home bringing all my baggage (emotional and literal.)

Today, I am thankful I have a place to live, a job and hope for the future.  And I am thankful for you-Thank you to all the people who have come, stayed a while and left or are still here.  I am me because of you and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

What would you do?

Stranded in Hazard-but only for a little while

So let me start by saying that today was a monumentally crappy day…  I got up- a little earlier because my bladder was yelling at me.  Got ready for work, had my coffee and walked out to my car.  I climb in and
Nothing. Nothing . Nothing. It wouldn’t start.  No click, no wheezing-nothing.

No big deal, we took Joe’s truck (I drove because I am a terrible passenger-white knuckles the whole bit-I blame my Dad but that is a story for another time.)  Joe noticed one of his tires was a little low and we were going to stop for air on the way to work but the one place was too busy and the other was inconvenient-we’ll stop on the way home.

We got to Hardee’s for breakfast-they took a little longer than usual, no big deal we can make up the time… Then we discovered that they forgot my straw… And I knew the universe was screwing with me.  I had about 50% crazy customers all day-there were some really good customers too.  The day seemed to fly till my last customer of the day… trying to authenticate him (we have to ask security questions) was like pulling teeth.  What should have been a 3 minute call was 20 minutes and I left work frustrated.

We got in the truck to head to Food City for air and PowerBall tickets.  I better go the speed limit with the way my day has gone.    

10 minutes from work… fwump fwump fwump fwump.  It wasn’t just flat, the tire was shredded.  So we pulled into the lot of this little auto body shop.  A police Officer pulled in right behind us to make sure we were okay-“thank you Sir, just a flat.  I’m going to call Mom for help.”  I had to walk up the road a little to get cell service (thank Heavens I didn’t forget it.)  We wait-it took Mom about 45 minutes to get to us… we listened to my iPod. I mentioned that I was thinking just yesterday that I need to find a way to spend more time outside and Joe said “just not this way.”  We stood and waited… the gentleman who owns the lot was nice enough to let us leave the truck there overnight.

Mom came to get us and I drove us to Wal-Mart to get a tire iron… There are few things that can make me feel better when I’m having a rough time of things… one of those is chocolate but I’m trying to cut back, one is alcohol and I try not to indulge too often because I have an addictive personality and the other is PJs.  PJs, jommies, jammys, pajamas whatever you call them, them make me happy.  I like nice soft ones with fun prints or pretty shiny stuff.  I’ve haven’t bought any lately because I haven’t needed them.  When we got to Wal-Mart I made a bee-line to the PJs.  I considered the cotton night shirts with the Halloween themes, the flowered flannel nightgowns and fuzzy sleep pants but I decided to go with the soft pink pajamas with the darker pink bows and the little black scotty dogs.  They make me smile.

We went back to get Joe’s tire and then home.  Unloaded Mom’s car and went to see if we could get my car to start. The *bleep* *bleep* started on the first try…  Grrrr. While we were putting the tire in the trunk of my car we talked about how everything happens for a reason… better for this to happen while Joe could have help and not while he was on the way to visit his kids, in a spot with no cell signal.  And I would not have gotten the new jommies.

I am wearing the scotty dog jommies right now… I know that when I go to bed I’ll wake up and tomorrow will be another day and it is bound to be better than today.

Thanks again for coming to rescue us, Mom.