Party Like a Rock Star... an Old Rock Star

I have a perfectly legit reason for not blogging yesterday. I was out until 3 am. Yes, me, out until 3 am. I didn't think I could do that anymore but I did. Damn...

ITSam and I dropped books off at my favorite used book store and I acquire some more for the school library. While there we met some cat who ended up giving me his business card because I was looking for the entire Michael Buble set of cds and he says he has over 4, 200 CDs and if I email him he'll give me HIS set. More on that in a later post!

Then he and I got some of my favorite cupcakes (tomorrow's post!) and grabbed dinner.

After dinner we decided we really weren't ready to go home. We thought we'd go somewhere to hear some music. Now neither of us were dressed for a club scene nor we were appareled correctly for a nice jazz club. So I agreed, with reticence, to go to a country bar he knew about. He said we could sit in a back booth, chill out, have a few drinks and maybe take a spin or two around the dance floor.

We arrived, parked, paid our cover and then learned there was no country music that night. My first thought was "yay!" until I heard the band. A classic rock band. That covered Poison, Scorpion, Ratt,, etc. Not even the "good" sort of classic rock. I was wishing for country.

But as not to be a killjoy I put my best foot forward, chugged a couple beers and sat back to people watch. Oh my god. It was... surreal. I was wishing I had my camera. You know that web site about the scary looking people at Wal-Mart? Well, I think this bar was where they came to socialize.

There was a woman who had to be in her mid 50s. She was UGLY! She hit every branch on the way down as she fell from the ugly tree! She was also way overly tan. And her body, while sorta skinny-ish, was droopy. And she had this ugly light brown hair all pulled back into a ponytail and then added one of those long extensions so it looked like it went to her butt. Only the extension was a white blonde color. No it didn't match her real color. And she wore blue eye shadow and orange frosted lipstick right out of the 1980s. She also wore skinny jeans, black, with a studded belt. Studded as in goth not in Harley Davidson. And the worse this shirt thing. It was red and lacy and looked of like a negligee. It had a diving neck line and itty-bitty spaghetti straps. Did I mention she was in her mid 50s and her boobs were droopy and she wasn't wearing a bra??

Sam and I decided when her boobs fell out we were leaving.

She would dance and sway alone on the dance floor with one flimsy strap of that top off her shoulder and she would jiggle, with her eyes closed. she was drunk off her ass and couldn't walk a straight line. It was unreal. I can't remember ever seeing anything like that before. Ever.

We left before her boobs hit the floor but it was close. She did manage to take off her shoes and dance alone on the dance floor and once in awhile she perked up and sort of strutted like Mick Jagger.

Other things that were strange were fashions. The 80s are definitely in. There were tons of girls with ripped and holey jeans. Lots of ripped shirts dangling of shoulders- hello Flashdance called and would like her shirt back. One woman who was about 50 wore heels and pants that were totally from the end scene in Grease. And she too was unattractive. And then there was the woman and her friends and she was the one with no style. She had on "mom pants" and tennis shoes. She had on a t-shirt that was Tye-dyed. And she carried a Vera Bradley purse- one of the huge patterned soccer mom totes. Sam said nothing screams "I'm having my period and am old" like that look. Then there were the 2 couples who looked like they came from church....

Then there was the guy in the wheel chair who "danced" and was wearing dirty ripped sweat pants and a t-shirt he had ripped from under the arms to his waist and the young skinny crack whore looking chick who straddled him and bounced up and down on his lap while he buried his face in her non-existent boobs. Hello, Forrest Gump called and is looking for Lieutenant Dan.

The crowd was older. I was expecting it to be young. Well, was I wrong. It was a mixed, eclectic bag of folks but mostly it was older people. They were about my age and up, but mostly up. And dressed outrageously. And behaved outrageously.

Sam and I actually saw people we knew and while they were dressed appropriately they were pretty outrageous as well. I was sort of ashamed at their behavior.

The band made me laugh. They really all wanted to be Bret Michaels. They all wore torn jeans, tight jeans. And no shirts but leather vests. And had long, stick straight white blond hair. And they were old. they were my age or older, mostly older.

After we left we still didn't have enough night life so we tried one more country bar. They actually played country music and we danced and two-stepped. We had a few drinks and laughed and danced and sang.

I got home at 3am.

It was an awesomely fun time.

I can wait to do it again....

Maggie

Worthless Layabout that I am

I feel almost sinful for what I did last night. The only thing that would've made it better is if someone would've let me eat an entire pan of gooey brownies.

I got home from work/ school at 4pm. I put on my jammies and sat on my butt on the couch. Daddy-O and Mac fixed an early supper, which I ate. And I didn't even offer to help clean up and I didn't feel guilty about it either (though I did fill the dishwasher before Daddy-O cooked...)

I went back to the couch and finished Mac's FAFSA. Then I watched movies and read email and played Boggle on my phone.

ITSam came over and we watched a movie and then he left and I went to bed.

I was a complete bum who put on pj's at 4pm. And I really don't care.

I feel like I've been going 3000 miles an hour for the last month. I've physically felt like poop, completely wiped out. I've done two jobs the last 4 days and then had my big program for the Mardi Gras party. Add all the personal stuff like FAFSA, broken cars, Princess, money, taxes and just life, it's been a VERY STRESSFUL time. I told Daddy-O it was a good thing I lived with him (and respected him enough to not drink like a fish in his h0use) or I would've become an alcoholic in the last several months due to stress.

Last night's veg out session was awesome and I plan on doing a few more of those in the upcoming weeks.

Mags

Sometimes it's not all about the benjamins

Though I could use a job with more money and some benefits I have to say that I work in a place where my school administrators (and some other folks) are not stingy with praise.

Yesterday I hosted a little Mardi Gras party at school; to make it educational I gave a Christian perspective of Mardi Gras (since we're a faith based facility) and fed the kids King Cake. My administrators came in to hear the program and both sent me a nice email thanking me for all my work and exclaiming on what a great job I did.

I attended a School Board Meeting last night to show my support to my administration for a very ugly school politics situation and this morning I had an email thanking me for my support.

I heard from them about liking my newsletter I made for the library.

They aren't the type to "over kill" with praise but they recognize when someone goes out of the way to do something extra and I do appreciate that so much. The last two places I worked did not have administrators who did this. The last school the administrators barely could remember my name let alone recognize anything "extra" I did.

This is a lovely change of pace.

Some of my colleagues are also nice like this. I get notes or emails or just verbal praise or thanks from secretaries or fellow teachers. It's nice to know they realize I'm trying to do SOMETHING good for the students. Even though I make $8 an hour and am considered part time.

And while singing praise on people, I have to say the students in my school completely rocked yesterday. I gave the presentation and the kids sat quietly and were attentive (or faked it really well.). None of them were out of line about Mardi Gras/ beads/ boobs/ booze; they were very school appropriate with their questions and comments. They said "thank you" for the donuts and the programs. They were enthusiastic and engaged. They cleaned up their own messes and pushed in chairs before they left the library. They complimented me on all the decorations. I'm just saying that while my school population are considered "criminals" they were dang nice criminals yesterday. I had contact with the entire student body yesterday and it was an excellent positive experience. I was very impressed with our students.

Sometimes the "atta boys" are just the perk-me-up and reminder that I need to keep doing what I do, whether they come from the students or adults!

Maggie

Random Tuesday musings

Just because I love Johnny Depp doesn't mean I want to sit through Rango.

I'm almost 40 and I have zits on my forehead. A complete "you've got to be kidding" moment.

I wish I could wear a pencil skirt.

Gwyneth Paltrow is amazing, and I enjoy her in everything, including Glee!

I downloaded the Boggle app on my phone and I'm becoming addicted. I was thinking that tomorrow's lunch at school is disgusting so I was going to just sit in my library and play Boggle. I might need therapy.

There's a barber shop where the stylists dress like a Hooter's waitress to cut hair. The walls are covered in huge flat screen tvs that play sports over and over. The haircuts are about $30. You've got to be kidding- again.

Alcatraz is going to an all year round school schedule the next school year. So much for summers off- which I think is a GOOD thing. I'll let you know the details as they are forthcoming.

Randomly yours,
Maggie

Wishing for spring causes memories of a past one

A piece of writing about a spring I experienced while living in the Wild West...

I am now ensconced in springtime. I can hear the honking of the Canadian geese and when I look up, I see their perfect military like formation, their wings flapping in harmony with each other, propelling them across the sky. I hear the bray of cattle, which are grazing in a green field, paying no attention to me. I watch their tails flick bugs and the movement of their jaws as they roll cud around in their enormous mouths. Their black and white colors contrast the green drastically. Green is the dominant color, even the air appears green. The hint of grass as it starts to peer out of the dirt seems to look like a green spray painted ground. The dirt road is dark brown, muddy, from the rains, and cuts a swathed path through the greenness that hangs in the air.

Wet, damp earth infiltrates my nose and I inhale deeply, enjoying the scent. Wildflowers are just starting to bloom along the dirt path that could be a road and the floral tinge to the air makes me smile.

I pull my jacket from my shoulders and I enjoy the breeze across my skin, as welcome as a familiar lover. The sun hangs low on the horizon and the spring sunset has dark blues and purples chasing the reds and pinks across the almost night sky. The sunset paintbox is spilled and as the gloaming comes quickly, the green of the day disappears, and darkness quickly settles, leaving me to wait for the rebirth of yet another season.

Maggie

34. Try to learn a craft I've never done before

I couldn't cast on. I spent about 40 minutes of the class trying to cast on. Thus began my knitting class.

Yes, I took only one class and I'm not saying I won't try it again, but my list says "try" something. I did try it, at least once.

I'm not sure I even like it.

There's an awesome young woman who works at my local coffeeshop who hosts a free knitting class at said coffeeshop every Wednesday night. A couple weeks ago, Princess and I went.

We had some needles (big ones since everyone I know says those are easiest to learn on) and some practice yarn.

I also want to say this woman is a great teacher. She was patient and gave good explanations. She used analogies which I need. She showed me several times from different angles how to cast on. (For those of you who don't knit, this means gets some stitches on the needles to actually begin the project.) I want to make it clear this was not a "teacher" issue. It was really the student.

While Princess practically had half a blanket done I had about 6 stitches on my needles. I couldn't get my fingers and the yarn and the needles all coordinated together. I would loop in the wrong spot or drop something and end up with a knot-- somehow. None of us were sure how. I started over about 86 times. For some reason I just couldn't get it. We even tried different sized needles. It just wasn't working for me.

I couldn't even cast on let alone pearl or knit anything. (you know, "knit one, pearl two")

This is the most I managed to get done. Then the next three stitches I did were all wrong and we had to take it all off.

I tried to learn a craft I've never done before. I like the teacher so I'll probably go back at least once, maybe twice. I have hope. I have no knitting project but I have hope.

Thought I may never get a scarf or a blanket out of this craft, there were three positives: I did like drinking coffee, spending time with Princess, and getting to know K, the teacher.

Maggie

Random Random Random

I want to learn how to play the violin and the guitar and the piano. Sounds like I want to be my own band...

The Glee Soundtracks are my current favorite musical conglomeration ever.

I love my new cell phone/ hand held computer- the HTC, but the battery life sucks, sucks, sucks.

I'm going to make jello-o cake this weekend. My biggest challenge will be deciding on cherry or orange.

ITSam has his son this weekend and I don't have to work so I'm going to hang out and do nothing. Oh yeah, I couldn't do anything if I wanted since I don't HAVE A CAR.

ITSam had to explain condoms to his 11 year old son. I'm glad I wasn't around when they had discussion. I'm the parent who gave Mac all his sex talks. Once in my life for that was enough. Though, at lunch the other day, Princess actually asked me how lesbians had sex. Ugh!

Speaking of Princess, her bio-mom is coming to visit her this weekend. Gee, that's nice.

I took one knitting class. Is that enough to cross something off the 40 for 40?

Because of the asshat mechanics, I had to miss zumba this week. So much for being on an exercise roll.

I hate March.

Maggie the grump