Party of the Century

Yes it was! It really was a great time!

First, let me say that after all the planning and meeting, I was really very nervous. But as Saturday morning dawned, things started looking pretty good and I was really calm.

Picked Renee up at Lipscomb at 11:00 am and we headed downtown. This was after staying up until about 12:15 in the morning finishing up some posters with pictures from the yearbook and Renee and Chris loading up the van. That might have been a little bit of a problem because I moved Lynn home that morning, but hey, he made it!

We got to the venue and called the others to come down and unload the van. Then Renee and I headed over to get the balloons all helium'd up! When we got back, she went on upstairs with the balloons and then I went up to preview.

It was my first time to see the venue, which was phenominal to start with, then add to that the decorations, flowers, etc. Well, tears came to my eyes! It looked better than I could have imagined, the girls setting up had done a wonderful job and everything was perfect! We had some beautiful floral arrangements and lots of Glencliff red and blue everywhere! There was a special memento - a bookmark - that commemorated the event for each guest.

Home we went to rest - I laid down about 1:00 PM which meant I had about 3 hours to rest up. I even got a little sleep.

Up at 4:00 pm, into the shower, then dressed, etc. Jimbo met us here to follow us - we had to make one last stop to pick up the specially decorated cake - and head downtown.

We had live music, CD's between sets, lots of door prizes, lots of fun, and plenty of booze!

Folks starting coming in about 6:30 actually - I took a seat over from the registration table because it was close and looked comfortable, and that ended up working perfectly. I got to meet and greet almost every single person as they left the registration area!

It was so great to see friends I hadn't seen for so long- one person from the class of 1977, Sherry, I had not seen in 30 years. Seeing her brought tears to my eyes, again. I had thought about her so many times thru the years. A good friend since Jr. High, Tammy, made it in from Alabama and another great friend from high school, Margie was there too - I really enjoyed catching up with them!

I think everyone had a great time! I know some guys from the class of '79 want to do the same thing again next year - to which I responded - "I will give them my notes!" It was a blast, but I think I just want to be a guest next time.

I am so very glad to have had this opportunity to help plan and pull this thing off. Couldn't have done it without the rest of the planning crew, my friend the florist, my sister Amy and her husband Ben for scanning and printing pictures and for coming to take pictures that night, and of course Jimbo and Renee for being the legs SO many times!

Thanks guys FOR EVERYTHING, I love you all!

Two More Days!

Til the party of the century! Boy, don't I wish - but we are two days out and things are looking good. I'm excited to get there and see old friends and spend the time talking and catching up - I'm hopeful that everyone who has RSVP'd makes it and other friends drop by - we set it up as a cash at the door thing - so we could have more people than I imagine. Right now we at about 260-70 folks - that's quite a large group.

I will definitely post something about the party on Sunday - stay tuned!

I Cried for my Country Today

Well, actually yesterday, but that's not the point here.

I've been watching Good Morning America's Whistle Stop Train Tour all week. It has been great - they left New York and ended up in Washington DC. Between those two cities, they traveled the rails thru all sorts of little towns, stopping and getting off to meet the people. And, those people welcomed them with open arms, hearts and mouths.

A lot of the show this week was frank discussions over where folks stood and how their life was - where they were succeeding and where they were not having any luck.

I have no idea if GMA has a political affiliation or what any of the host's opinions are so I don't think the show is biased.

By yesterday I had an emotional breakdown where I literally wept for my country, my homeland, and how things are right now. The showed that folks on that were struggling with bills, loss of jobs and industry, increased food and energy costs, all the things that most of us are struggling with too.

One man was 94 years old and said for the first time since the Great Depression, he could not pay his taxes and eat. He didn't know what to do. There was the father who lost his job in the steel industry and does any kind odd job, etc. to make money to keep his family afloat. Moms with kids and doctor bills they couldn't pay because they had no insurance. And it wasn't all bad. There was the young boy who loved trains and arranged a train trip for his school, only to realize the train was not handicapped accessible and his own tears at having to leave some classmates behind.

Real people, good people, doing the best they can every day, and seeing that our government is failing them on every front. That's when I couldn't take it anymore and cried.

Not just cried, but moaned with agony that so many people are hurting in so many ways, and that while my life somedays seems so very tough, I am so blessed and have so very much.

And, out of that despair, I rose up with a new determination. One to be sure that everyone I know is registered to vote and does VOTE on November 4th. I have to do everything in my power to help things in this country, and that means that I have to do everything I possibly can to see a new administration in D.C. come January - and I mean 'new' in the party sense - not just another cloned copy of an idiot that needs his head pulled out of his ass!

I've Got Edward-itis

I'd seen Stephenie Meyer on Good Morning America talking about her series of books starting with "Twitlight" recently. The series centers around girl named Isabella and a vampire named Edward. Initially, I have to admit that I thought to myself "hmm, this has been done - does anyone remember Buffy??" And, at that point I dismissed it as something I might consider reading, but probably not.

Then, enter Amy. Amy is not only my sister and great friend, but she's the one that turned me onto Buffy in the first place. (The Sunnydale in my title is just a small indication of how much the Buffyverse impacted the lives of the Martin 3)

Amy read Twilight - in less than two days I believe - then stopped and bought the 2nd book on her way home from work. That one is "New Moon". Before that week was over, Amy had read all 4 books, totalling about 2300 pages, the online version of "Midnight Sun", had started reading them again AND purchased for me my own copy of "Twilight".

I'm giggling the whole time because of the way Amy is reading - I would rather read than eat - something she discovered this week! She had read the Harry Potter's (my retribution to her for Buffy!), but not like this.

So I get started - a little skeptical at first I have to admit. By the end of the third chapter I was hooked! By the end of the 4th chapter I called Amy saying "OMG, OMG" which was all I could say at the moment except maybe that my next husband was going to be a vampire!!

So, I've got it - a severe case of Edward-itis - and I don't want no remedy! I'm well into the 2nd book in the series and I understand that when you finish the 4th one, you can only start over, a phenomenon called "revamping"!.

Amy has found all kinds of cute things - my favorties being a t-shirt that says "Edward Widower" or something like that since the wife is GONE over Edward, and a website called "twilightmoms" for those of us who are not teenagers but are desperatly in love with Edward.

Let me say this, if you've ever read a Nicholas Sparks book and marveled at how romantic he is - forget about it! He is not even in the t-ball ballpark compared to the major league of Edward!

AND, the movie starts November 21! Stay tuned for more updates!

One Thing

If there was one thing you could change in your life - JUST ONE - do you know what it would be?

Now, really think about that for a minute or two. Because that one thing may change every other thing in your life and those changes may not be good. Like it or not, the path we've taken is just that, and the alternatives may have been worse.

That being said, there is one thing in my life I wish I could go back and change. And no, it's not the idiot I married, believe it or not. It was a few years after him, and NO I didn't cheat.

I know the path my life has taken since then is different, and I can tell myself things could have been worse, but somehow I don't think so. I made a very stupid decision one day that costs me a bundle, mostly in the beat myself up category, but a bundle. I didn't commit murder or physically harm anyone or anything - stop trying to guess!

I've seen some hard days, some trying days, and days I didn't know where to turn next, but if they ever make a time machine that will let you go back, I think I might. Then again, the people and places in my life since then, well I can't imagine for one minute not having them. The friends I have now I would have never known, and I'd be a much poorer person without them.

And, even when we make bad decisions, things usually work out like they should - didn't I just rant about that yesterday?

Safety Issue

My last post got a little radical and I did something I didn't give any thought to - I mentioned the university that my daughter attends.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from one of their staff! They actually have a filter that alerts him when the university name is used online in blogs, emails, etc.

The email was nice and more in a 'so you know' vein. But it got me to thinking, after all of the episodes of violence on college campuses, I am glad they have this capability in place. I'm sure that the 'radical' Lisa considers this an invasion of privacy and against the civil rights of Americans, but I have to tell you that 'mom' Lisa is just fine with it being in place!

When Renee started high school, I could not let her go without having a cell phone. So she got her first phone about two weeks before she started her freshman year. I thought I worried during high school, but as she went on the college, the fear became worse. Lynn got his phone about half way thru the 8th grade. How my parents managed to raise 4 of us without cell phones is beyond me!

I believe we have a purpose in life, and I believe everything happens for a reason. While I know that if God gave her to me 19 1/2 years ago to take her back at the hands of an assassin on the college grounds, it is something I'd have to accept. But I pray daily that is not His will for her life and that she remains safe.

And I never cease to be amazed that the worry you feel when they are babies is nothing compared to what you face when they are young adults!

My Rant on Sarah Palin

For a week now I've watched, listened, thought and tried my best to figure out what in the world John McCain was thinking! AND I'm saying him because it's obvious she is not thinking at all!

I understand she's been PTA president - that really prepares you to step up in a crisis time and do what - bake cookies or hold a carnival! Mayor of a town with somewhere between 6 and 9 thousand folks - I've heard the spread so I figure the town has grown some since she was first elected - hmm - don't see much in the way of an emergency there that could evoke great strength or knowledge. (unless Aunt Bea and Clara are arguing over whose hybrid rose is going to win the annual contest) And, finally governor of a state that, while having the largest land mass of all the states, has less people in the entire state than the city I live in. Tell me again what makes her qualified to potentially be president because I've missed it in this resume.

And I haven't even touched the family issues, which make ME sound like the conservative here. I'm all about voting for a woman, would rather vote for a woman anyday than a man and make that my mission, in most cases. This woman has a 5 month old special needs child! Not only that, but she is about to become a grandmother to an infant whose mother is a senior in high school and unmarried. (as a person who has been forced to deal with DCS for over a year now, can I tell you both instances amount to child neglect under Tennessee standards!)

Flip the switches on this - tell me what the Republicans would be saying if Chelsea Clinton was pregnant and unmarried. That exact philosophy or double standard is the very reason I have to vote Democratic - I can not stand the hypocrisy and 'holier than thou' attitude, demeanor and rhetoric I witness every time I'm forced to listen to someone who calls themself a Republican or conservative.

And to prove my point on this - my daughter is a sophomore at David Lipscomb University. That campus is all pro-Palin, ALTHOUGH, if you are considered immoral by openly admitting you've had premarital sex, or you are pregnant, married or not, you are not allowed to attend classes. And their excuse for Palin is "well, you can never tell about teenagers and what they'll do". They will support the mother to be a heartbeat away from being President of the United States because of some ill-conceived notion that she stands are all things biblical, while they would never allow her daughter to be accepted to their university.

Explain it to me like I'm a 5 year old!

The Wedding

I can't remember how much, if anything, I'd said about the wedding.

Yesterday was my brother Larry and his wife Mitzi's 20th wedding anniversary. That's a pretty major accomplishment, especially in today's world.

For a good while, Mitzi has been planning a wedding. More than just a vow renewal, it was a full blown wedding with the long white dress and bridesmaids, etc. So that was last night.

My daughter, Renee, as well as their daughter, Meaghan, were bridesmaids. All the girls looked so pretty - they wore dresses colored "apple" - the deep dark red like a delicious apple. Larry's guys were all in black - with red ties - made for a very pretty scene.

After the ceremony, there was a party at the American Legion - which was a lot of fun and I ended up staying until 10:00 pm - which is a VERY LATE night for me. I'm almost always sitting up in my bed by 8:00 PM at the latest, earlier if something I watch regularly is on t.v.

I'm sure this morning they are very glad it is in the past - these things seem to take over all of your time, energy and money - and make for great memories - you're just always glad that they're over when they are. For their sakes, I wish more people had shown up - I know they invited about 300 folks and there was probably 50-60 there - not bad for a very rainy Friday night - I just worry their feelings were hurt.

There were some cutie pie kids - the flower girl, the ring bearer, and the attendant for the train were all just precious! Not to mention Austin looking so handsome in a white dress shirt and kackies.

I've been up awhile now, I sure do wish I'd brought home wedding cake to have with my coffee!

Another Week Has Rolled Over Me!

It seems that Saturday is getting to be the only day of the week I have time to blog - must correct that ASAP.

This week rolled over me like a steamroller! I can't remember Monday at all, Tuesday I worked, Wednesday I went to work but was very upset because Lynn was supposed to be having his wisdom teeth cut out and I didn't know where or the details. A blessing happened in that the driver who was supposed to pick him up, etc. was out sick. So, I've made his appointment for next week and I will provide the transportation, so I can be there. And, he is going to an oral surgeon so I feel better. I thought they had him going to just the dental clinic over on Murfreesboro Rd and I figured they were about to butcher him.

Thursday Lynn had a counseling session and a doctor's appointment to follow up on his illness recently - so I was in the van from 8:30 AM until about 3:00 PM that day. Talk about exhausted!

AND, Renee still had class and work everyday and I still had to complete alterations on her dress for the wedding which was Friday night. I did something everyday on the class reunion and thought a lot about the history project which I'd love to just dump at this point.

All in all, to be sitting at the computer at 10:00 Saturday morning is pretty much amazing from my point of view. I can't play too long - too much stuff to do - but I have to catch up on some serious blogging - watch for multiple posts today!