FLASHBACK 1993

capt jack skellington

ghost and goblins everywhere...life's no fun without a good scare"
it's getting close to halloween, my very favorite holiday in the history of ever. there is a new claymation movie coming out. i can't wait to take my boys. "the nightmare before christmas" tells the story of jack, the king of halloween, deciding to take over christmas. it comes from the imagination of the mastermind that brought us "peewee's big adventure" and "beetlejuice". i take my boys. they love it (though, they will surely call me a liar today).
FLASH FORWARD today
the brilliant mind, that brought us "nightmare before christmas", is tim burton. he also brought us a lot of my other favorite movies: "alice in wonderland", "sleepy hollow", "sweeny todd", and "big fish". and i am very excited to see the full length version of his short, "frankenweenie", this fall. although i must admit i am sad that i can't take mini-me with me...
today is tim burton's birthday...get out there and let your freak flag fly!!

                

jack oversees the super bowl party

FLASHBACK july 2009

"i make the best darn waffles the world has ever seen...i'm the waffle king, yeah"
our first vacation together began with jamie making the 12 hour trip, to myrtle beach, with his mama (moniebird) and her friend glenna in tow. driving half~way, moniebird wants pancakes for breakfast. they stop at waffle house, the home of cheese grits (?). yes. cheese grits. does anyone ever really order waffles at the waffle house? thus begins the conversation: why can't you get pancakes at the waffle house? a waffle house has griddles. they have batter. they have spatulas. they could easily make a customer a pancake. they won't. jamie's argument? "duh doy! it's a WAFFLE house!". he tells me about the conversation at lunch. "can you believe them?" me "ummmmm...why can't you get pancakes at a waffle house?" j "again...it's a WAFFLE house! if you want pancakes, go to a pancake house!" me "but...you can get waffles at a pancake house?". jamie rolls his eyes. 
FLASH FORWARD march 2011
although this argument is one we have fun with on a regular basis, we never test the theory out: can you get waffles at a pancake house? i'm certain you can. as a matter of fact, i'm almost 45000% positive i've done it. the discussion comes up again on a househunting trip to charlotte. we see a sign for the international house of pancakes. jamie thinks he'll end one debate right here. he does. they serve waffles at ihop.
one mystery still remains. WHY DON'T THEY SELL PANCAKES AT THE WAFFLE HOUSE?
it's national waffle day. why not try one? from a pancake house.

                  

 

FLASHBACK 1977

"the day my mama socked it to the harper valley pta..."
just as i was entering 6th grade, at berry middle, barbara eden came to town. she was filming "harper valley pta".  it was the coolest thing to happen to lebanon in the history of ever. for me, it was cool because, in my life, there were two people i wanted to grow up to be. samantha stevens and jeannie. i have the head nod and nose twitch down...the magic doesn't quite happen, or does it?!!
today is barbara eden's birthday...unleash your inner jeannie!!

nose twitching

FLASHBACK 1983

 
"everybody sounds the same..everybody wears the same clothes now..."
it's early in my senior year. shelby calls me into her classroom. the other cheerleaders are being hateful to one of the girls and shelby thinks i can get them to stop. of course i'll try...i mean, who is gonna tell shelby no?! not this girl!! problem is, these are my friends and fellow cheerleaders she's talking about. how do i tell them they're being jackasses?  it doesn't help that i think they are being completely ridiculous. they don't like her because she's copying one of the other girls. how, you ask? well...she dared to get bangs! yep. she got bangs. remember how i said it's the 80's? everybody has bangs. everybody. has. bangs. getting the other girls to simmer down isn't hard at all. i just start sitting with her on the way to games. hanging out with her in the hall. in a matter of days we are all besties. life is good.
FLASH FORWARD november 2009
i post a status on facebook. it's pretty funny. i pat myself on the back for being a comic genius. i try to convince jamie that we should move to new york city. saturday night live could use me on their writing staff. but wait? what's this? someone has copied and pasted my status! word for word! right down to the little symbols i use to send secret code to the bk! are you flippin kidding me right now?! i text queenie and we rip this woman apart. this happens again the next day. and the day after that. and the day after that. i'm annoyed. then the bk, in his infinite wisdom, points out that she thinks i'm funny and is just sharing my humor. and "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..." blah blah blah. he's right. i'm an idiot.
my point, you ask? we all have our own sense of style. our special way of talking. our amazing, unique personalities. but there are people out there, even us 40 somethings, that are searching for that. if you find yourself with a copyright infringer (thanks to queenie for that phrase), be flattered. they think you're awesomesauce.

a gallery of the unique personalities in my life:
 

                    

 

                             

 

            

FLASHBACK august 1964

"love, love me do, you know i love you"
john, paul, george, and ringo began their first u.s. tour on august 19, 1964. they had been here before, for a quick visit (a couple concerts and television appearances). this time it was a month long tour. 30 concerts in 23 cities. it was the beginning of the british invasion. 
i love the beatles. i mean...i LOVE the beatles. i must have worn out the grooves on my parents' white album. their music takes me back to many different places in my life. even music they put out individually has a special place in my memory.
my uncle plays the white album every time i visit. he tells me when he heard it for the first time: just before he left the states on a plane for vietnam.  we all have that album. that album that takes you back to a life changing moment in time. what's yours?

FLASHBACK april 2009

 "give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair"
let me start by saying...i am not afraid to experiment with my hair. it's been long. it's been short. it's been in between. it's been blond (natural). it's been very dark brown. it's been red. it's been blue. it's been pink. sometimes on purpose. sometimes not. so now it's april 1, 2009 (nope...i didn't just make that up). my hairstylist can't fit me in for a cut and color before i fly home for a "girl's night". it was supposed to be just a few close friends. it had quickly ballooned into a major blow-out, as most parties do. i needed to look good! a friend of mine said "don't worry...i can help you". tiffany always put streaks of a beautiful red in my blond hair. i need the color touched up. i needed a trim. my friend trimmed the ends. the cut looked great! she colors my hair. me "are you sure that's the right shade?". her "yes. i'm positive. sit back and let me do this.". me "okay? but if you screw this up we're going to be in a fight.". rinse out the color. "what's wrong? you look funny". blow dry the hair. O...M...G!! we are definitely in a fight.  this was not the first time i had fuchsia hair. it was just the first time someone who had cosmetology training had done it. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know: red and white=pink. red and blond=fuchsia!! her "i can fix it!! i can fix it!!". two hours later it was platinum and fuchsia! she did not fix it. i spent the entire night crying. how was i going to attend a girl's night...with a bunch of women i hadn't seen in 20+ years...with pink hair. i waited until tiffany's shop opened. i met her there with my hoodie on. tiffany "what...did...you...do?" me "blah blah blah...yadda yadda yadda (incoherent jibberish)". tiffany fixed it.

   

 
it's national bad hair day. let your freak flag fly...

      

FLASHBACK may 1986

"i can bring home the bacon...fry it up in a pan..."

not my fried chicken

when i moved out of my parents' home and in with my ex-husband, i couldn't cook a thing. no. seriously. not toast. not eggs. not anything. i was lucky to pour myself a bowl of cheerios without disastrous results. yet, i was determined to learn. with no internet or cooking shows, i relied on my mom and grandmas for cooking tips. they bought me cookbooks and mailed me tried and true recipes. i failed at all of them. my biggest, most epic, cooking fail came with a request from my nephew, and partner in crime. keith "aunt chrissie, i want fried chicken." me "sure. i can do that." off we went to piggly wiggly. chicken, flour, milk, eggs, oil. i got this. i fried that chicken to a golden brown. colonel sanders got nuthin' on me! the nephew said it was the "purdiest" fried chicken he had ever seen. we took a big bite. BLECK!!! spit spit cough cough...we looked like vampires! blood from that undercooked chicken running down our faces. it would be another 15 years before i would ever fry chicken.
FLASH FORWARD today
with the invention of the internet and pinterest, i have many tips and tricks at my immediate disposal. i can see pictures of what it's SUPPOSED to look like, instead of just relying on my grandma's description. i still make mistakes. and some of those pinterest recipes are not as good as they look. but i am having fun trying.
this morning i made "cinnamon roll french toast". we saw someone cook it on our favorite show "diners, drive-ins, and dives". jamie "mmmmm...that looks ghud!" me "not a problem. i can do that". i opened the cinnamon rolls. did i mention that opening cans of biscuits or rolls is the scariest...thing...ever? okay. maybe not ever. THAT would be peanut butter. but i digress. 35 minutes later, we had a yummy breakfast of cinnamon roll french toast, bacon, and coffee. one problem. we really would have rather just eaten the cinnamon rolls. it was a total waste of rolls. it was delicious, because it's base was cinnamon roll. but, it has been decided, that in this house, if we want french toast, we'll just have french toast.
should you have a deep desire to toast your cinnamon rolls, you can find the recipe on my bird food page.
happy cooking!!