Tawkin' Funny
Fortune Cookie
Champagne
Perfect
The Curse
Why I Got Married
Tawkin' Funny
Fortune Cookie
Champagne
Perfect
The Curse
During the summer of '83, I was taking advantage of the slow season at the theatre to get a few of the bonehead classes out of the way at school. Being the summer, and given that I was always mostly broke, I had taken to riding my bike to classes. It was about 6 miles from home to the classroom, not a hard ride at all. One morning, it was hot and steamy, so I put on a light shirt and a pair of those nylon running shorts which were so popular in the late 70's and early 80's. Half way to school it started to rain. Not a gentle summer rain, one of those brutal but quick summer storms. Not a big problem for me, I've never minded being wet, so I pressed on to class so I wouldn't be late. I had forgotten about the air conditioning in Cherry Hall. It was about 65 degrees in the classroom. This, in addition to my soaking wet state and the fact that the light shirt I had chosen was white, served to turn a couple of heads when I entered the room about one minute after the bell.
The next time I was at work, my coworker and fellow dancer at Shakertown asked me if I had worn a white t-shirt with a Shakertown logo on it to class a few days earlier. Surprised, I said "Well, yes I did! Why do you ask?" She laughed, and told me that a good friend of hers was also in that class. He had noticed me that wet day, and seen the Shakertown logo on the shirt. Knowing that Pamela was in Shakertown, he had asked her about me. She asked him to describe me, how tall, what colour hair? He replied that he didn't know what colour hair, he hadn't gotten that far! I was amused by that, but it turned out that my work schedule booked up, and I ended up not finishing the class. I soon forgot about it. Then, on Halloween night at a party given by Pamela, I was introduced to a young man whom I recognized from that very same class. I thought it must be the same guy. I remembered him since he was nice looking, had a full beard, and had sat one row over, and one behind me. He was nice, but not extraordinary. Pamela asked me about two weeks later if Larry had called me yet. I said "No, is there some reason he should?" She told me that he had gotten my phone number from her three times. "Three times?" I asked. "Well," she said, "he said he lost it once, then he left it in his pants pocket and his mom washed it." We both laughed.
He called me a week or so later on Saturday, and we made a date for the next Thursday. I had a hard weekend at work, and was grateful for the day off on Monday. Monday early afternoon he called me again, saying "I've been thinking about you constantly, I can't wait until Thursday to see you. Can I come over today?" I figured it couldn't hurt. If he was a jerk, then I wouldn't have to waste one of my rare nights off on him, and if it turned out he was nice, then it might be a nice diversion. So he came over. We had a wonderful day. We had a wonderful night. We had a wonderful next day. And so on and so on. From that first day we were practically attached at the hip. Every moment that we weren't at work or in school, we were together. As our roles within the relationship developed, he became the ideas person. I used to tease him (still do!) about our life being like the Love Boat, and that he was my entertainment director. He is very spontaneous, a quality that I like very much in him.
One late winter day in '84, he suggested going to Washington, D.C. to see the museums and libraries. I thought that sounded like a good idea, so I made sure to get the week of spring break off at work. The first few days we were there were great. Cold and crisp, and snow flurries - just enough to be pretty, but not enough to stick to the ground. We spent hours wandering the streets, museums and libraries. We got lost in the subway once. We went to a Caps hockey game. It was wonderful. Our last day there, we decided to wander through the Natural History Museum just one more time. About 4:00pm, he suggested that we start thinking about leaving, to avoid the rush hour. I agreed. When we came out of the museum, we were shocked to see that there were several inches of snow on the ground! Wet sticky snow, sure to snarl traffic. We ran for the subway, and managed to get a seat. We found our car, and got in line for the highway. The snow was falling so hard that we literally could not see the tail lights of the car in front of us, and we were in bumper to bumper traffic. We finally got on the highway, and on a particularlly slick overpass, the snow got even thicker. I have never heard of or seen snow like this before or since. You could not see the front of your own car. The street lights were dim glows almost lost in the blur. I was peering out of my window in awe of this spectacle, when lightning split the air just outside my window. The thunder clap rocked the car, and all the street lights went out as if on cue. Traffic came to a complete stop instantly. The wipers couldn't keep the snow off of the windshield enough to see out. We were scared. Several minutes passed in this cocoon-like state. We didn't speak, didn't move. We just waited.
After what seemed like hours, the snow began to lighten up. We could
at least see the cars around us, and the traffic began to creep along again.
Just as we came to an exit, the snow started getting thick in the air again.
There was no way we were going to stay on the road in that! We took the
exit. After we were already commited to the exit, we realised that the
road was raked improperly - the force of the turn wanted to push you down
off the road, instead of up on to it. My little Datsun 610 never had a
prayer. Off we went, into probably 18 inches of wet, wet snow. We could
see a light down at the bottom of the exit, and we made for it. When we
got there, we could see that it was some kind of an office supply store,
but that it was closed. There was one person inside, on the phone. We banged
on the glass doors, pleading with him to please open the doors and let
us use the phone. He flipped us off and turned his back on us. We glanced
up and down the road. The nearest light was at least a mile down the road,
and God only knew what it was, or if there was even a phone there. No choice,
we went. We were not dressed for a blizzard, and soon I could not feel
my toes or my thighs. On the side of the road we saw a tow truck trying
to extricate a car from the ditch. We asked him if we could hitch a ride,
and he said sure. He took us to the light in the distance which thankfully,
was a motel. Packed. There was not even a chair in the lobby that didn't
have a freezing person huddled in it. The manager brought us towels, and
handed us the phone without even asking. Larry's cheeks were so cold they
had turned white, and I was afraid to take off my shoes. The tow truck
took his burden to the gas station next door, and came back for Larry.
I was told to stay where I was, no discussion allowed. The way my legs
and toes felt, I'm afraid that I wouldn't have been much help anyway. Minutes
passed, then hours, and Larry hadn't returned yet. I was begining to get
panicky when suddenly this huge beast of a man, covered with snow, burst
into the room. As he was shaking off the snow, I realised it was Larry!
He looked like the abominable snow man. After a good toweling, a hug and
a kiss, he explained:
When he and the tow truck driver got to our car, it became obvious
that the car behind us had followed us into the snow, and the car behind
them, and the car behind them. All these people stuck on the slope of the
exit ramp. Our car was the first in the row of stuck vehicles, but it had
also slid forward more than the others. Larry told the guy to start with
the others first - some families with kids - and that he would help. He
spent all that time pushing cars out of the snow bank. The spray from the
car tires is what had completely blanketed him with snow. The tow truck
driver refused to charge us for pulling our car out.
After a half hour or so to dry off and get warm, we decided to see if there were any other motels nearby where we might get a room for the night. We stepped out into the night. The clear, cloudless night. The clear, cloudless, nearly snowless night. Huh?! During the time Larry had spent getting dry, the clouds had cleared, the temperature had risen, and the snow had melted. It was like waking from a bad dream. We were speechless. We simply looked at each other, got in the car, and pulled back onto the highway. We drove the rest of the night to get home, and made the whole way in near silence. When we pulled into the parking lot of my apartment, it was still dark, but coming on dawn. We got out, still not speaking, and got the things out of the trunk, and went inside. Before he closed the door behind him, we turned and looked out at the rising sun. In the glow of the new day he said to me, "Now we have to get married!". I agreed.
January 22, 1996
Six weeks after my youngest son was born, my husband was playing basketball at the gym, and ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Two weeks later he had surgery to repair it. So, I not only had an 18 month old child and a 2 month old child, I had a 33 year old child who not only could not walk, he could not even sit up easily for two weeks. Needless to say, I was one tired woman. When Larry (my husband) finally got where he could pretty much care for himself again, I announced that I HAD to have a vacation. No discussion - I either got a vacation, or I got a divorce! We went on a vacation. We left the kids with Ma'amMa, and took off for Florida. On the way, we decided to stop through - uh, is it Huntsville? - in Alabama to see the space center where Space Camp is, and where they have the big bit of SpaceLab which fell on Austrailia. You know the place. Anyway, after we had spent about 10 hours at the Space Center having a wonderful time, we were pretty darn hungry. We found a steak house not too far away, and stopped to eat. We ordered our decidedly non-vegetarian meals and sat back to rest and wait for them to be delivered. The waitress took a few steps away, then turned and came back to the table. "Wood'ja lacka roe?" she asked. Larry and I looked at each other, confused. "Excuse me?" Larry said. "Wood'ja lack rose?" she said. "A rose?" I said, even more confused. The waitress smiled and shook her head. "Naw, hunny, not a 'rose' - 'rose'! Ya' know - bread?" "Oh, ROLLS!" Larry and I said together. "Yes, we would like some bread!" Jest goes ta show ya'...
Mon, 13 May 1996 .
The fortune read: "You're in good hands tonight".
Thu, 27 Jan, 2000
We found one of my brothers passed out in the bathroom, jammed against the door. We had to kick him to get him out of the way enough to open the door to see if he was still alive! That was fun. ;o)
My uncle got sMaSHeD and spent a couple of hours trying to see who could get the largest number of champagne corks all the way out to the garden from the deck.
As I understand it, numerous other debaucheries occurred, but I was in bed asleep by then (I was 11) and missed all the fun.
At MY wedding, we had purchased 2 (two) cases of Champagne. We had a bunch of guests, but nowhere near the number my sister had. We had half a case left over.
My brother (same one that was passed out in the bathroom at Joan's wedding) came into the reception wearing only a Speedo bathing suit (a 'squeezer' suit, we call 'em) and a garish tie. Sad part is - he hadn't been drinking! I have pictures to prove this.
My uncle and his daughter got sMaSHeD and spent a couple of hours trying to see who could get the largest number of champagne corks all the way out to the garden from the deck. (no, he's not very inventive, and he's terribly predictable)
Trouble is, I was probably asleep in my plane seat by then, and missed all the fun!
Sun, 5 Mar 2000
> Far too many men want all the benefits of marriage without any commitment. Mainly it's animal sex with as many women as possible, and to optain that, they are willing to lie and cheat without any feeling of guilt. A string of broken hearts in their wake is their badge of manhood.<
Not always. Meet my husband, Larry. This is the fella who took an old girlfriend home early from a dinner date because he felt so bad about being out with Another Woman. We had been dating all of two months. I knew they were going to dinner, and I knew she was an old friend. It didn't bother *me* a bit that he was going out with her. This is the same fella who took a hooker his "friends" got for his bachelor party home unsullied after telling his "friends" that he was pretty disappointed in their judgment.
He is what many (including myself!) might call The Perfect Man.
The Perfect Man will give up his tv sports time to take his son out back and practice soccer or t-ball with him. He would rather be home with his family than out at the golf course (though he does love his golf, too!). He gave up a pay raise rather than cut into his family time. He loves his wife and kids. He has never "cheated" on his wife, and she has never "cheated" on him. He gladly takes care of the children when his wife has to work the occasional weekend. She stays home with the kids, he goes to work and makes the money. She has her hobbies and interests, but he and the kids come first. They love each other. They are best friends.
No, he doesn't look like Sean Connery. More like Grizzly Adams. He's just perfect for me!
Fri, 7 Apr 2000
>>A National Transportation Safety Board team was at the scene, but the cause of the derailment was not known. Mayor Martin O'Malley said the fire caused a 40-inch water main to break around Howard and Lombard streets. (...) Part of Lombard Street, a major downtown thoroughfare, collapsed after the water-main break, Kocher said. Much of Howard Street, several smaller roads and the North Avenue exit of Interstate 83 were closed. <<
Guess where WE were? At the Inner Harbor. Which they closed to boat traffic. We were parked at the corner of Lombard and Calvert streets. The next corner is Howard street. Yup, as usual, we were right in the midst of the fray. We were told by the very nice lady at the parking garage that there had been a chemical spill on I-95, that we should go around the other way, up to I-83 and around the beltway (she gave us very good directions, too!). Unfortunately, she did NOT know about the water main break which was pumping hundreds, possibly thousands, of gallons of water onto the roadway, and as much steam into the air. It took us nearly an hour to go two blocks. Not miles, BLOCKS. We thought we would never get out of the city.
After we finally reached the highway, Larry said, "It could be worse - it could be snowing!"
I hit him.
Fri, 20 Jul 2001
