Happy New Year to all my blogging buddies! You all put a smile on my face every day. May the New Year bring you love, luck, health, and peace in your hearts.

Happy 2007!!!

So, as you know, my parents took Alicia with them to Mexico before Christmas. On the second to last day, my dad had a few cocktails with some friends that were with them, and then proceeded to go outside and play some soccer with some local Mexican Kids. I think they were about 12 years old. Anyway, during the game, one of the kids stuck out his foot, and tripped my dad, sending him head first into a brick wall. He really smacked his head good...about 14 stitches good.

Like me, my dad is not a fan of going to the doctor. When I had 5 stitches in my eyebrow from a tip ball gone bad on the ball field, I opted to take those suckers out myself when they were ready. Now, Dad can't reach the top of his head, so he asked my mom to remove them. She almost passed out at the notion. However, when he asked me, I said, "sure." So today I went over there, and with some sterile household objects, I snipped and plucked until they were all out (I hope.) My poor mom in the next room, was lookin a little pail while I was doing it. My brother, who is visiting from Whitehorse with his wife, was also opposed to the idea of "home health care." It's just that it's so stinkin easy to do these things yourself!

Incidentally, the song that my sis and I wrote for Christmas had a verse that went like this:

(to the tune of Jingle bells)

Dad, he banged his crown
now he wears a frown
guess he learned that alcohol
can make a man fall down.
Hey!

So I happened to notice that all my blogging friends stopped by Alicia's blog to check her out. That was really nice of you all, thank you.

I'm having a hell of a time refueling after a busy Christmas. The mental and physical preparation is very draining. Now I have to get on the horn and return a bunch of calls from clients who didn't manage to get in before Christmas. I don't wanna. Is it too early to retire, and spend the rest of my days lounging?

Everybody I talk to is fighting off a cold or getting over one. My sis was off of work today with a soar throat and chills. Drew is complaining of tummy troubles. Hopefully, by new years, everyone will be ready to boogie.

I got a Christmas card today from my girlfriend, Donna, whose wedding I sang at. She even included a couple of pictures of me singing! I didn't know anyone took any pics of that, so it was a nice surprise. Drew was so busy watching and listening to me sing, it completely slipped his mind that I'd given him instructions to video tape it. So it's nice that there is some photographic evidence that I did, in fact, sing at her wedding. LOL. I hope you all have a wild and crazy New Years Eve, and a peaceful and happy 2007!

Happy Ho ho, everyone!!! I hope you all had a great Christmas and are now having a relaxing Boxing day. Man, that takes it out of you, eh?
Sigh. I got completely spoiled stinkin rotten yesterday, and we all had a fun, but exhausting day. We ate lots of yummy food and laughed a lot, as predicted.

I decided to just leave Drew's Susanne Summers rower in the box and let the chips fall where they may, and he surprised me with his attitude. After questioning me as to whether it was really the same one we saw, he didn't seem to care that much about the picture of Susanne all over the box. Go figure.

My sister, Sheryl and I wrote a Christmas song about our family members, to the tune of Jingle bells. It was funny, cuz Drew's Verse began with
"Hope drew doesn't mind
Susanne Summers' behind
He doesn't mind the leotard
except he finds they bind.
Hey!"

Anyway, too lazy to write a big post and upload pics, so I'll save it for another day.

By the way, if anyone's interested, my daughter Alicia started a blog of her own! She's only just started it, but she posted some of her art, so take a look if you like. She's at funkyblueeyes.blogspot.com

AAAAAAAAh, Christmas... I've always loved it and I always will. Is it busy and costly and stressful? Yes. But I'm a sucker for family and laughter and prezzies (I love getting them, but I especially love giving them.) I love beautifully wrapping my gifts in curly ribbon and glue-gunning cinnamon sticks and decorations in the middle of a big bow. I'll have to post a picture of it when I'm done. It looks so pretty under the tree, and I can't tell you how many times I've gone to someone's house and spotted one or two of these "gift decorations" somewhere on their tree. Gives me the warm and fuzzies.

This year, Christmas will be at my house, where we will start at about 10:00 in the morning. Sheryl makes one of those wife-saver breakfasts (yum-my) so we scarf on that with some bailies coffee or mimosas. Then we open prezzies one at a time (no diving in like animals, please) so we can see what everyone got and socialize. At this time I start just loading everyone up with 7 layer bean dip, and other appies. And if anyone wants a little drinkie-poo I will certainly be a good host and join them. Don't want to be rude. The funny thing is, nobody in my family are really drinkers, but I always want to have a couple on Christmas day. So usually I'm like, "C'mon, Sheryl, pull your head out and have a drink with me!" Nothing like a little peer pressure on Christmas! Fortunately, my Mom doesn't need much coaxing. She'll usually be game for a cocktail. LOL

So, anyhoo, after assembling everything that needs assembling, and a lot of laughter and talking at an extremely high volume, we all role on over to the table to try and cram in even more delicious food. And by God, every year we succeed! The de Konings are not quitters! And this year will be no exception.

I'm pooped.

Today I took a mysterious gouge out of my thumb. Then I bent down to pick up a towel and thrust my head forcefully into my cast iron shampoo sink. Then I wrapped a perm and opened the perm box to find that the activator that you mix with one of the solutions is empty. So I had to leave the lady with a stack of magazines whilst I hauled ass to the drug store to replace it. This threw me off my schedule so that the next clients, who were 10 minutes early, had to wait 20 minutes past their appointment time. While I was conditioning the lady's hair, I somehow splatter conditioner all over the salon wall, while trying to shake the last inch out of the bottle. It's a good thing my clients love me...It's a good thing that I'm so stinkin' adorable...but I digress.

I'm pooped

A wise woman (my sister) once told me, "behind every successful man........is a surprised woman."

I know, I know, that's a sexist thing to say. I'm deeply ashamed.

In other news, I'm frantically getting ready to send Alicia to Mexico with my parents on Saturday morning. Today I have to go to work, and then pick Alicia up from school so we can return the runners I bought for her and buy some that fit. Incidentally, I almost inadvertently stole them last week when I was wandering out of the store chatting with my mom with them under my arm. The alarm thingy sounded and I realized I was shoplifting. OOPS!

Then I must come home and dig in the storage for our luggage. Alicia's been putting a lot of effort into cleaning her room and doing laundry, so we know what to pack. While we're at the mall later, we'll probably finish up her Christmas shopping, too.
I've just been boogieing along with my shopping. While the girl is away, I'll be able to finish up completely. Then if I go to the mall close to Christmas day, I can point and laugh at people who are bustling around. After all, it is the season of laughter and good cheer!

Drew doesn't have a computer, so I'm not giving anything away by telling you this. We were at Canadian tire a couple of months ago, when he noticed this cool rowing machine on display that was on sale from $300.00 to $150.00. We both tried it and agreed that it was really affective. In the following months, he had mentioned a couple of times that we should have bought it when we saw it. So I filed that away until I was ready to Christmas shop, when I made my way to Canadian Tire to buy the rower for him. After some too-hoo and a trip to two different stores, I located the rower and asked the dude who works there to get one for me from the shelf. As he pulls it down, I realize that it's a Suzanne Summers rower which has her picture in a leotard covering one entire side of the box. On the other side are pictures of women using it in all different ways. Now I know for a fact that if he opens the gift on Christmas morning, it's going to put him right off if he thinks it's a "girlie-rower." Not to mention my Dad and two brothers will be there to razz him about it until he refuses to ever take it out of the box! So now I have to find time to assemble the damned thing so he doesn't have to know that it has any association with Suzanne Summers.

Sigh...anyway, better get on with it...

This is a picture of the snowman I made. LOL. It's too cold to play out in the snow for too long.

Some of my clients are so negative about Christmas. No decorations, no prezzies, no excitement about spending a great day laughing and eating with family. I know Christmas means different things to different people. In my family, some are strong Christians, who recognise the religious aspect of Christmas, while others see it as a day of family and giving in a non religious capacity. either way, it's a positive experience. That being said, I can't help but feel a little sorry for those who can only whinge about the crowded malls and the relentless carols, and the "commercialization" of the Holiday. Like, yawn, change the record already! You don't have to put yourself in debt to embrace the joy of the season. I'm a single mom, raising a teenager. It's not like I'm lighting a toasty fire in the fireplace with hundred dollar bills. Some years, when I have more, I splurge, while others that are a little tight, I'm more conservative. But do people have to poo-poo everything that's fun? To me, life would be such a bore, if we never had any Holidays to shake things up a bit. Anyway, I have the next 5 days off of work, so I'm going to shop, decorate, bake, address my envelopes, and chose to embrace the warmth of the season. Happy Ho ho, everybody!

This is the view from my bedroom window, people! Does this look like BC to you? Me neither. Can anybody tell me what all that white stuff is?!?

Very few people in our area of the world know how to drive in the snow. And out of these few people, only a small fraction have a vehicle capable of somewhat sticking to the road. No one prepares for such weather because we only get one snowfall a year, and sometimes it doesn't even stick to the ground.

Though I can certainly appreciate the delicate beauty of a snowfall, I am one of the many people who don't have access to a snow-worthy vehicle. So I'm pretty much trapped at home for as long as Mother Nature decides to blanket our land with snow and ice. Even trips down the street can prove to be a dangerous task. People drive like it's the middle of Summer. Not to mention, you get these geniuses, whose cars handle well in these conditions, who just assume everyone has control of their cars. So they don't mind cutting you off or stopping unexpectedly in front of you, because they don't have the foresight to predict the consequences. Like, say, the front of my car plunging into the back seat of theirs.

Anyway, It's a beautiful thing, as long as you don't have to go anywhere. Many schools are closed (not Alicia's, much to her disappointment.) Lots of people are home from work and in some areas there are no buses running. I really need to go grocery shopping. I guess it's Kraft dinner tonight...

So, as predicted, my mom wasn't pleased with the pics of her that I displayed in my last post, so I'm going to have to find a really nice one of her and post it. LOL.

Speaking of my mom, when I was younger, in my early teens, we went to the mall to do some shopping. We shopped often together, always stopping for a leisurely lunch full of chit chat and belly laughs. This particular day, we were crossing the busiest street in Richmond, at a crosswalk right in front of the mall. The light had turned from red to green and the little white man was displayed, so we, along with several strangers, began to cross. About halfway across, my mom's denim wrap-around skirt, unraveled, and fell loosely around her ankles exposing her silky white slip and a very red face. In the middle of the crosswalk, my mom quickly grabbed and tugged at her skirt, which had become tangled around her ankles.
Meanwhile, I being a young teen, was completely mortified! So I abandoned my own mother in the middle of the road, walking on as though I'd never seen her in my life! Bad...bad daughter!
Thank God, mom was wearing her slip! And that she happened to bring her trench coat that day. The light had changed as she was struggling, and a big semi was waiting to get moving. So to make matters worse, the semi began to make the loud bellowing hooooooonnnnnnk hooooooooonnnnnk that we are all so familiar with. Poor mom finally got the stupid skirt untangled, and off with no help from me. I was still pretending I didn't know her! Finally she had tucked the skirt under her trench coat, closed her coat, and escaped the dreaded crosswalk.
We laughed and laughed once she put her skirt back on and we went for lunch. I can't believe that, I hung her out to dry by leaving her on her own, half naked in the middle of the road, but I'm not here to sugar coat the truth. At that age, EVERYTHING your parents do is embarassing, so when your mom drops her laundry in front of everyone and a honking semi, you can't be held responsible for your (non)actions;)

I think I'm the worlds luckiest person when it comes to family. We always lived in a peaceful home growing up. My parents were more inclined to be silent than to fight in front of the kids, so we were usually blissfully unaware when they had their squabbles. My parents balanced each other out very well. I think, without my mom, Dad would have been extremely strict, where without my dad, Mom would have been extremely lax. Together, we had the soft touch as well as a healthy fear of getting into trouble.

Growing up, my brother Mike was my playmate. We would play for hours with stuffed animals, each one having a name, a voice, and specific connections and relationships with the others. Mike was both the smartest person on the planet, and the most infuriating. Sometimes I adored him, and other times I felt like I hated him, though we were never allowed to say 'I hate you' to our family members. My dad felt very strongly about that, and I'm glad he did. Some of the things I remember about Mike's personality growing up are the way he could tell you every detail of the movie he just saw, so that seeing it yourself would be a total waste of time and money. Or that, if he really wanted to get me screaming, all he had to say was, "Fat cheeks you stink" to me and I would fly into a rage! Look at how cute he was.
Gee, do you think I looked up to him at all? Mike has grown up to be a world traveler, a strong Christian, a musician, and a husband to my sister in law, Glenda. He is very passionate in his opinions, and is still just as cute now as he was with a puppet on his hand. Here he is with Alicia when she was small.

Dennis is my other brother. Ever since I can remember he has been an amazing artist. In face, I'm pretty sure my Aunt Ellen included in one of her posts, how he once used the contents of his diaper to create a 'masterpiece' on the wall when nobody was looking. He could be very hyper growing up, sometimes injuring someone with an arm that happened to be flailing around. Once, he was windmilling his arms and accidentally punched my sis, Sheryl right in the nose. I used to torment him by waiting until he was in the bathroom, picking the lock to the door with the inside of a pen, and sitting on the bathroom counter. He would sit there with a towel covering him begging me to leave so he could get up off the toilet, and I would giggle and refuse, loving the position of power I was in. Ha ha. weird, eh? Dennis was always good natured, and has turned his artistic talent into a career in animation. Here he is with my sis before I was a twinkle in my father's eye.

Now he's a hunky guy who takes an interest in healthy eating, working out, his job, and his friends. He's still good natured, funny, and like all of my family members, is genuinely a good person.


My sister Sheryl is my best friend. Though I made a pain of myself when I was small, she often entertained me with games and rides. She's seven years older than I am, so she used to do my hair, and bath me and stuff. I remember being buck naked while she was running a bath for me, running away, and delighting in the fact that she would always pretend that I cunningly escaped her. She'd chase me down the hall, grab me and carry me back to the bathroom where she would put me down and I would run away again. She would let me hang out in her room and listen to music and give me super-girl rides by laying on her back and holding my atop her hands and knees. The flight was always exciting with turbulence and the occasional crash landing that always ended in fits of giggles. We don't do that anymore. Now we have a friendship that we both cherish. It's funny how the age gap closes.

This was taken a few years ago. That's my beautiful mother between my sis and I. Sheryl has grown up to, not only be my best bud, but a strong, independent woman who I admire for her assertiveness and presence of mind. She is also hilarious and gorgeous.




My mom's gonna kill me for posting this picture because her hair is blowing in the wind and she doesn't like her forehead. I had to post it, though, because one of my favorite things in the world are my parents' smiles. It makes me want to cry to see them so happy. My mom is so sweet and gentle and has a great sense of humor. She is also one of the greatest friends anyone could ask for. My dad is strong and capable and totally lovable. If ever there was a crisis, he was who I reached for. He is super funny, too. My friends always wanted to come over when I was a teenager. They loved the atmosphere around our house.

Anyway, that's my family. They are everything to me and I love them with my whole heart.

Man it's rainy here. Grey, wet, cold in the way that you feel chilled to the bone. See, people think that living in BC is all pretty forestry and Ocean views, but lemme tell ya, it rains alot. That's why it's so darn green and pretty. Now I'm not dissin' BC. It is a beautiful place to live. But it seems like we get two seasons. three months of summer, and nine of fall.

Maybe sitting at Alicia's soccer game in the pouring rain today for two hours is still a little too fresh.
The game was at a community center with a band new beauty of a soccer pitch. The problem for me was the two grande starbucks coffees I had managed to scarf down this morning. I had to leave the comfort of my fold out chair, umbrella, hot water bottle, and blanket, to walk over to the community center to pee. Upon my arrival, I noticed that the place was closed. Duuhh, rememberance day weekend. So, Off I go in the other direction, pass my comfy chair, through the parking lot, to the gas station across the street, rain pouring, wind blowing, cars splashing through giant puddles. The little chinese dude who works there tells me someone has locked the bathroom key...you guessed it...in the bathroom. So I thanked the guy kindly, and made my way across the other street to the subway where I found what I, by this time, so desperately needed.

The journey was so stinkin' long, by the time I got back to my relatively warm, hot water bottle, I kinda had to pee again. By the time the game was over, I more than kind of had to pee. So we hopped into the car, clicked on the bum warmer seats, and went to Mcdonalds for some junky food and a bathroom break. Not in that order.



















Anyway...Long story short...Alicia's team won 3-1, and I'm asking Santa for a catheter for Christmas this year.

Went to Walmart yesterday and picked up some stocking-stuffers for the girl. She doesn't read my blog, but on the off chance she checks in, I won't divulge any privileged info.

I did treat myself to a nice, fuzzy, warm, cozy set of flannel sheets for my bed. OH! I love them. I've always wanted flannel sheets, and they are just as heavenly as I always imagined. Why can't all my clothes be made of flannel? Why can't wearing flannel come into style? I could start the trend, and when people point and stare, I'll just say, "You can laugh now, but next year EVERYONE will be wearing it!"
Kinda makes ya think...

Spoooooky Dragon Puppy ! Look at the expression on his little face. Ha ha! "Why are you torturing me?" He's such a good little dog.

Halloween has never been my favorite thing. There are aspects that I love and aspects that I hate. I have to admit, when Alicia asked one year if we could have Ernie and Bert pumpkins, I didn't think we could pull it off, but they turned out pretty good! When Alicia was small, trick-or-treating was great. She was so cute, and I knew that the number of times I would be able to take her out would be limited. However, it is usually freezing cold and raining, so we had to come up with costume ideas that she could wear a winter coat underneath. Then while she and her little friends were keeping warm running from door to door, I was trying to maintain feeling in my limbs. I have always loved putting together fun costumes for Alicia. We never went halfway, y'know. If I was gonna put in the time and effort, I was gonna come up with something great. Most of the costumes were even appropriate to wear to school...Except the one. After years of dressing her up as bunny rabbits, puppy dogs, and kitty cats, Alicia went through a phase where she wanted to be dracula and other scary stuff. I think she was in grade 7 when she decided to be a suicide victim. I wish I could find the picture, but I can't. I ran a wire through some rope and made a noose. When she put her head through it the remaining end stood straight up as though it was attached to something overhead. Then I painted her face to make it look like she's been dead for a couple of weeks, and pinned a suicide note to her sweater. It was so sweet! Sadly the principal of the school called her into the office and made her take it off. She said it was inappropriate. Why does that word keep coming up with me Anyway, I went to a party this year dressed as a disco diva. Drew was my afro wearing disco man, and our friends did the same. It was pretty funny. These are my friends Dilek and Daveen, and the next one is Drew and I. Don't ya just love his Saturday night fever ensamble? Here's Drew and Dilek's hubby, John, yucking it up. LOL! Anyhoo, I guess I'll get on with my day now. Hope you all had a happy Halloween!

The Many Shades of Alicia



This is my beautiful daughter, Alicia, who just turned 16 yesterday. I love her adventurous spirit. These pictures are of grades 8 through 11 and, as you can clearly see, she takes full advantage of having a hairdresser for a mom.

I just hooked up the new scanner that Drew and I gave her for her Birthday, which is why I am able to post these pictures. Oh yeah, I'm gonna get a lot of use out of this puppy. She also got a load of cash, some clothes, some really cool art stuff, and a stereo for her room. I still haven't planned a party for her and her friends. Usually I'm a little more on the ball and throw a great party at home, but I gotta tell ya, these kids aren't getting any smaller! The boys are freakishly big, but they are still young and sometimes get carried away. Stuff gets broken! So this year I'm going to rent a space called "The Fridge." Basically, it's a big room with ping pong, pool, foozeball, a big screen TV, video games, and other stuff to entertain them. Unfortunately, I'm not sure when it will be available. Still gotta phone and find out. Anyway, I'd better go make some dinner.

My sense of humor has sometimes been viewed as over the proverbial "line." I think I have that same impulse control mechanism malfunction that Sophia from The Golden Girls had. I think I've just always appreciated a good funny, even if it is a little inappropriate. (Especially if it's a little inappropriate)

When I was in Junior high, I think grade 9, a bunch of us were hanging out outside the school smoking and being "cool." I really can't remember why the vice principal, Mr. Scar, called me aside to lecture me on my sense of humor being inappropriate, but I'm sure he had good reason. After the "good firm talking to," he walked with me back toward my friends and, with one hand on his hip, began to address the crowd. "Okay, people! The school day is over. Let's go home!" So I, being the witty, charming, teen-aged idiot that I was, linked my arm through his, strutted beside him, and said, "Okay, Scar, let's go home!"

Mr. Scar shook me off his arm, his face instantly beet red. "That's exactly what I was talking about with inappropriate humor!" he barked, exasperated.

I can't blame the guy. I mean, hello, talk about displaying zero regard for a member of the administration, especially while he's asserting himself to a group of teen-agers. Somehow, however obvious that may seem to me now and about a tenth of a second after saying it, I still blurted it out! I didn't even call him "Mr. Scar." It was just "Scar." That's just disrespectful!

Poor bastard.

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, my parents are taking Alicia to Mexico in December. We all know that applying for a passport can be a time consuming affair. They really make you jump through hoops, what with the pictures, the guarantor, and all the documentation. I'm surprised they don't take a swab from your cheek to make sure you are, in fact, the child's mother. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with the completion of some errands. I went to the passport office last week, and after waiting only about half an hour, approached the cubicle only to find out that one of my documents was incorrect. What I thought was Alicia's father's original death certificate, which I drove all the way into Vancouver to borrow from his parents, turned out to be a copy. So I left the passport office, went home, and got on the horn to Vital Stats to order an original. Sigh. The document came in about a week, so it wasn't too bad of a wait. Every day counts, though, because for one, my Dad won't be able to stop asking me about it until he has it in his hot little hands, and for another, you just never know when some complication will extend the process. Best to get it done in a timely manner, so off I went, bright and early this morning, to get the job done. I got there before it opened, at 8:30 and there was already a line-up. Once they opened, we all filed in and took a number. I was lucky number 11. Can you believe I was walking back to my car by 9:30? It was painless! Anyway, now I just have to sit back and wait for it to arrive in the mail. Oh and I also have to write a letter authorizing my parents to travel with her, and make an appointment with a notary public to have the letter notarized. PHEW! It's good that the process protects children from being smuggled out of the country. It's just a pain in the butt.

This is a very naughty post indeed.

A few years ago, I was at one of our annual baseball icebreaker parties. I don't know why, but they scheduled the party on the same night as a very important playoff game. I, not being a sports enthusiast, was getting really bored with what was supposed to be a dance, but turned into hockey night in Richmond. All the chairs in the bar were turned toward the various TV's, and a few of my girlfriends and I were getting pretty antsy. It was starting to feel like you couldn't even stand up, for fear of blocking someone's view of the television.

After a couple of hours of what seemed like watching paint dry, one of my friends invited me and a few other chicks out to her van to have a couple of shooters and a change of scenery. We got out to the van and piled in, leaving the side door open for ventilation. The stereo cranked to capacity, and a couple of tequila shooters warming our tummies, the van party was reduced to a frenzy of giggling women acting like teen agers.

After a while, we noticed that, once in a while, a person, a couple, or a group of people would wander by our partymobile on their way to their cars. I don't know who would have started such a thing, but whenever someone walked by, we all began to violently rock the van back and forth, moaning, "ohhh. Oh, yeah! uh,uh,uh! Don't stop! Don't stop!" The reactions to our prank were priceless. The back window being tinted prevented anyone from seeing into the van, but we could see out perfectly fine. One couple shyly exchanged glances, and quickened their pace. One couple just burst out laughing. One group of guys pointed and laughed at one of the members running right up to the back window, cupping his hands around his eyes, and peering in, hoping to get a good look at some naughty behavior. It must have been such a funny sight to see the rocking van, hear the blasting music, and the moans of ecstasy reverberating through the parking lot.

Anyway, it saved our night from certain death-by-boredom, and frankly we served our fellow ball players by giving them some free entertainment on their way out!
Everybody wins.

Isn't this just the best example of the pressures on young girls to maintain a ridiculous standard of skinny? Just look at Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, the Olsen twins, Kelly Ripa, and so many more women who fall victim to what they think society expects. admittedly, I have felt the sting of not feeling able to keep up to the Barbie's of the world. I just hope that in this day and age, Girls realize that it isn't normal to be skin and bone.


The reason this is floating around in my head is that I've been working out all week and am painfully aware of every muscle in my body. I've also started to look a little more closely at the junk I've been scarfing down at 10:00 at night lately. I won't lie and say that I'm not hoping to drop a few pounds, but I think my main objective is to feel strong and healthy. I'm 34 now, and my fitness level has dropped since I've taken up "couch sitting" and "channel surfing" rather than the excersise I used to engage in.


Surely to God I can find some happy medium between the above picture, which I would never want to look like, and the one below, which I know I don't look like, but sometimes, on a bloated day, I feel like (LOL):

I feel that this guy and I are kindred spirits. He really gets me. For some reason, I've had alot of trouble uploading pictures such as this to my blog. Also, why the hell is my side bar suddenly at the bottom of the page beside a large empty space? Also, this is the second time I've written this post. Yesterday I wrote it and it wouldn't save or publish. Instead, it disappeared forever! Anyway, the blog must go on... It was in grade ten that I was cast as "Carlotta Castanet de Santiago," an evil but flamboyant castanet dancer who used her feminine whiles to lure in unsuspecting victims of thievery. It was a fitting character... The part included singing solos, dancing, and a character I could really sink my teeth into. The only thing missing was a wide black belt that would make the costume complete. Where oh where would I find this coveted belt? I new just the place. It didn't take long to locate my sister's belt in her room, for I had been in there in the past "borrowing" her white, tasseled cheer leading boots, her sexy bathing suite, a cute shirt she made in home-ec, a kangaroo jacket, and much more. Sheryl looked everywhere for that belt. How could it just disappear, she wondered... It was closing night and we'd had a great run. The week's performances were sold out with audiences that were generous with standing ovations and laughter. I was back stage awaiting the opening of the production, freaking out about the fact that my family was in the audience and I had on the belt that I stole from my poor sister. My cast mates assured me that she would never notice from such a distance that I had her belt. Besides, I wore it backwards, so the familiar buckle was hidden conveniently at my back. All I could do was go on and hope for the best. The show went great and, after changing out of my costume, I emerged into the gymnasium to see my glowing family awaiting my arrival. They praised my and hugged me, and all the while my mind was on the belt. When it was my sister's turn, she squeezed me tight and yelled excitedly, "You were fantastic!" and then followed with, "now give me back my belt." She really could have ripped me a new one, but she didn't want to spoil my big moment, so she let me off the hook. I don't know why I didn't just ask her when I wanted to borrow something. I guess I just thought she was sooooo cool and didn't think she'd lend me anything that was cool enough to be hers. I think it's just a little sister's job to be a pain in the ass and I was very good at being a little sister.