Life

So, it's been a week or so since my last post...a lot has happened.

Since Escort and I got back in contact and started hanging out again, I have gotten to know several of his friends. The first couple from his group that I was introduced to, I fell in love with. They had two children, the oldest was her son from a previous relationship and the youngest was their's together. Then a couple of months later, the couple started having some problems and they split up. Since I was closer to the female half of the couple I, naturally, started hanging out more with her. I wasn't close to the male part of the couple, we would hang out every once in a while when he was at Escort's house, but I didn't talk to him on a regular basis. He was one of the funniest guys I had ever met, but I didn't agree with a lot of his decisions or the lifestyle that he led. He reminded me a lot of the guy that I dated right out of high school, so that probably had a lot to do with my attitude toward him. Last Saturday, I got a phone call from Escort telling me that this guy had died. He had just turned 30 in June. He had started dating a girl from Baton Rouge and had moved there to be with her, they came to Houston for the weekend to spend time with his son. He had his son for a couple of hours Friday night, then Saturday the girlfriend woke him up around 8:30am and he asked her to just let him sleep, the girlfriend woke back up around 5pm and tried to wake him up and he was dead. This is the first time that I have known someone who was my age that has died. Friday was the memorial service for him, it was a very nice service. He was not an overly religous person, so there were no prayers or sermons, it was his friends coming to the front of the chapel and speaking about him. It is very difficult to watch men that you know get up and talk about one of their dearest friends and witness them choking back tears. Everyone was laughing and crying at the same time, although I thought there were some thngs were rather inappropriate. This is going to sound petty, but those of you who were raised in the south will understand what I'm talking about. His girlfriend that was with him when he died said some things that I thought could be hurtful to some of the people that were there and she wore white. There were people in blue jeans and flip flops. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think our generation has totally lost their mind. What would make anyone think wearing white, blue jeans or flip flops to a funeral/memorial service would be appropriate??? Afterwards, everyone assemled at Escort's house and there was a party. Everyone was drinking and telling stories, that part of the day seemed like what he would have wanted. I think what hit me the hardest is that his son is 2 years old, so he won't have any memories of his father. Oh, and I didn't mention, the female half of the couple that I am friends with is 5 months pregnant with their second child. (It's a really strange situation.) So, that child will never have contact with it's father. Luckily, my friend has a huge support system and all of their friends will be able to tell their kids stories about their father. So, to all of my friends out there, thank you for being there for me. We really need to get together more often, you never know what life will bring.

Until next time...

Single Girl

Here's a Blast From the Past

It's raining, it's pouring
the old man is snoring
bumped his head
on the foot of the bed
and he didn't get up in the morning.

I am so SICK of the rain. It has to quit raining eventually...Right?

I think I'm going to trade my car in for a boat, I think a boat is more logical right now than a car. Is it just me or does it seem like there has only been 4 days that it has not rained this summer.

This weather makes me feel blue, and I hate that!

I have nothing else to say.

Until next time...

Single Girl

Ahhh, Memories...

I have a very strange memory. I can remember details about things from things that happened to me when I was very small. I still have memories of when my mother was still married to my sperm-donor and their divorce was final in 1980. (I was born in 1976, you do the math.) But some of the most vivid memories I have are when I hear certain songs and when there are certain scents in the air. When one of these two things happen, memories come flooding back. I don't know why I was thinking about this this morning, but I felt the need to get them into print.

The smell of fall, you know when the temperature finally gets down to about 72 degrees and the air feels crisp, that always makes me think of my friend from Cleburne, TX. We met when I was in the 8th grade and remained friends up until I was about 21, then we lost touch. He always came to Houston for Thanksgiving and then was here for Christmas and usually most of the summer. He was the guy that took me to my senior prom and didn't even have a problem with the Mickey Mouse vest and tie that I asked him to wear. Sadly, around 21 we lost touch and I haven't talked to him since.

"Swinging on Parade" - You've probably never heard of this song, this is the song my high school drill team did the opening "strut" to. Since I am so involved with the drill team alumni association, I attend a couple of home games every year, then leave right after half time. This always takes me back to when I was in high school, there was nothing better than getting on the field and hearing the crowd cheering, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the band playing that song.

"Do You Love Me" - I love this song, mostly because this is the song that my mother and I have a whole dance made up to. I told you all I am a big dork...well, so is my mother. When the band that we used to go and listen to would start to sing the song, the entire band would look over at us. They usually waited until about the third set to play it to ensure we had enough liquor in us to actually get up there and start dancing.

"Lady in Red" - This is the song I danced with Consierge guy for the first time at the hotel Christmas party. Three months later, he broke my heart.

"The Dance" - The first time I danced with my cowboy in 1994 at Wilson Road Dance Hall and at the end of the song, we shared our first kiss.

"Why" - The dance that was choreographed to this song was the most beautiful dance I've ever performed. To this day, whenever I hear it, it always brings tears to my eyes.

"Wonderful Tonight" - This was the first song that Spicoli and I danced to.

The smell of chlorine - When I was growing up, we had a swimming pool. Whenever I get around a pool and can smell the chlorine I remember all the weekly vollyball games in the pool with my mom, my sister, my grandparents, my neighbors and myself. Every weekend we would all get in the pool and play 4-5 games of vollyball. It also makes me think of my group of friends that I hung out with. My friends were at my house every weekend during the summer and we would be in the pool at all hours of the day or night.

"Crazy" - This reminds me of my Nanny, when she would cook she would either whistle or sing this song, it was her favorite. She loved Patsy Cline, so much so that we played all Patsy Cline music at her funeral.

The smell of Swisher cigars - Every time I smell a Swisher cigar I think of my boss Mike and all of our conversations at Pappacito's over drinks and our meetings on the breeze way of our old company.

Until next time...

Single Girl

Part II

So, as you all know, I spoke with the guy Saturday afternoon. Before I talk about our conversation, I'll give you a little more background on him.

As you know, when I met him, he was going to school in Maryland. His major was Molecular Engineering. He had aspirations of being in the Secret Service and was very conservative. When I spoke to him a year and a half later, he had moved to Colorado and was still going to school but he had changed his major to Geology. The last time I talked to him he had taken up snowboarding and he really enjoyed it. Now, on to the conversation from Saturday...

When he answered the phone I said, "Hey, this is Single Girl." His answer to me was "Uh-uh!"

He did not sound like the same person. He uses words like rad and sick and stoked. It cracked me up. Here is an excerpt from our first conversation...

Single Girl: So, you have a little boy now, huh?
the guy: Yea, he's SICK!!!
Single Girl: Aw, what's wrong with him?
the guy: No, I mean he's AWESOME!!!

You get my drift.

Anyway, he told me that he quit calling me because he thought the ex and I were getting married. We talked about all the things that have gone on in our lives up to this point. He told me that the invitation was still there to come to Colorado. He actually told me that he wanted to teach me to snowboard. I told him that I didn't know if that was such a great idea, seeing that gravity and I don't get along too well. (If you don't believe me, go back and read the True Colors post.) All we kept saying was how good it was to talk to each other again. Even though he speaks differently, I can tell that he is the same person that I went out with so many years ago. We spoke again on Sunday evening and he said that I should come to Colorado again and I told him that he should come to Houston. He said, "If I come to Houston, I would melt." I assured him that he wouldn't and that he was here for a whole summer and he was just fine, one weekend wouldn't kill him. He replied, "Hell yea, I'll come to Houston. I'm going to Houston, I'm STOKED." So, I guess that's a good thing. He emailed me this morning and said that he was sorry he had not had a chance to call me back, he is going out of town this weekend but when he gets back he is going to look into flights to Houston next month. So, it seems I will have a visitor in about a month...I'M STOKED!!!

Until next time...

Single Girl

P.S. Don't think I'm getting my hopes up that something will come of this. He lives there and I live here. At least I'll have someone to visit in Colorado. Oh, and one other thing, his name is Spicoli.

Myspace...helping people find exes all over the country.

I love Myspace! Where else can you go and login to a site that allows you to look for people all over the country, all over the world for that matter. I know this sounds a bit stalkeresque, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who does this, so it makes me feel a little better...I have a tendency to look up old boyfriends, flames, hook-ups, etc on Myspace. Not because I'm wanting to boil anyone's bunny, just to see how they are doing. Strangely enough, there are actually people who do not have Myspace pages yet! I find that really bizarre. Anyway, Saturday I was playing around on Myspace and decided to look up a guy that I dated before the ex and I met each other, and there he was.

Let me take you back to the summer of 2000...

I was 24 years old, I was living in my first apartment in Seabrook, it was a Saturday night and I was bored. So, I decided to go to a bar in Kemah called The Blue Marlin. The only available bar stool was at the far side of the bar so I walked over there, sat down and ordered one of their signature drinks...the boat fuel. I was sitting there listening to the band play and for some reason looked to my right and their sat one of the best looking guys I had ever seen. He was olive complected with dark hair and GREEN eyes. We started talking to each other and did some dancing, I found out that he was in Houston for the summer watching his grandparents house while they where in Sweden and in August he would be going back to Maryland where he was going to college. He told me that his grandparents lived in Tanglewood and I had had WAY too many boat fuels, so I told him if he would drive me home, he could stay at my house. :) I know what your thinking, not the smartest move a single girl living by herself could make, but I was 24 and an idiot. Luckily, he was not a serial killer or a rapist! He drove my car back to my apartment and the next morning I woke up and he was gone. He left a note on my bar with his phone number and told me how much he enjoyed meeting and wanted to get together again. While I was looking around my apartment in a hung over stuper, I noticed that he had left his necklace on my bedside table...a classic move, it almost always insures that you will see that person again. Anyway, we went out quite a bit that summer but I knew that in August he would be going back to Maryland, we talked about me going up there in the winter since I had never seen snow, blah, blah, blah, then one night he and I got into a huge fight and he ended up hanging up on me. I tried calling him the next day and he answered and when I said hello he hung up on me again. Now, let me tell you, I don't hang up on people I think it's one of the rudest things you could possibly do. So, I was like, "Fuck you then." and pulled out my wallet that had my exes business card in it and paged him. So, because of this guy, the ex and I started dating.

Fast forward a year and a half. I had moved, my telephone number had changed and I am sitting in the living room watching tv when the phone started ringing.

Single Girl: Hello
the guy: Single, Single Girl?
Single Girl: Yes, can I help you?
the guy: It's the guy, the guy from last summer.
Single Girl: How did you find me?
the guy: The internet.
Single Girl: What do you want?
the guy: Well, I moved to Colorado and it started snowing and I thought about you.
Single Girl: Do you still have the same issues that you had when you were here?
(He had some issues that he had to work out, I won't write about what they were because that's his personal business.)
the guy: No, that was a phase I was going through. You actually are the one that made me realize that I wasn't the way I thought I was.
Single Girl: Oh, OK.
the guy: When I saw the snow, I wanted to call you and find out if you wanted to come up here and see it.
Single Girl: I'm sorry, I can't. I'm seeing someone.

Then after that little exchange, we talked for a long time and kept in touch for a couple of years. Then we lost each other.

So, like I said, Saturday I found him on Myspace. I emailed him and he emailed me back and then sent his phone number...then I called him.

To be continued tomorrow...

Until next time...

Single Girl

People Watching

For those of you who know me, you know that I LOVE watching people. I thought I would share with you why I enjoy this so much.

People watching is an art form...and I, am an artist!

To people watch, you can't draw too much attention to yourself because then people start watching you. There is nothing better than sitting in a cafe or at a bar or anywhere there is a large gathering of people and just observe the people around you. Often, there is an older man that wants to be much younger so he so he hits on women half his age. There are the women that choose to wear very inappropriate outfits, just so they can hussle a drink from some drunk man. There are the couples that are trying to argue quietly, but in the end they have pretty much let everyone know that one of them is having an affair. There are the girls that are so desperate for attention that they will get drunk and kiss their girlfriends just to get men to look at them. There are the younger people that think they are so misunderstood that they have to dye their hair purple and wear all black when actually what they really want is for their parents to say something, anything to them. There are the people that are so pretentious that they think they need to speak really loud so that complete strangers "know" how important they are. There's the old couple that have been married for 50 years and you can tell they still love one another just by the way they look at each other and hold hands as they walk out of the restaurant. These are the reasons I adore people watching. You can tell so much about a person by the way they dress and their body language.

People fascinate me.

Until next time...

Single Girl

For some reason the title bar has not worked the past two nights, has anyone else had this problem???

So, I took my first bellydance class this evening. IT WAS GREAT!!! I forgot how much I enjoyed taking dance classes. When I walk into a dance studio, as cheesy as this sounds, I feel at peace. There is nothing like the feel of a wood dance floor on my bare feet. This studio is a little different than what I am used to since there was no ballet barre, but for the most part it looked a lot like the studio where I took dance. It is one big open room with mirrors on all of the walls, a sound system to the left and restrooms in the rear. Looking back at my life, one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was not buying the dance studio that I grew up in. Let me explain...

On March 2, 1994 I was in a very bad car accident. The accident was so bad that I was in ICU for several days and the total time I was in the hospital was like a week to a week and a half...I can't remember. Anyway, after the accident I received a large sum of money from the insurance company. Well, that was the year that the owner of the studio was ready to shut it down since she had moved to the Conroe area and the studio was about an hour from her new home. She approached me in April of 1994 and asked if I wanted to purchase the studio from her and she was asking only 1/3 of what I had received in insurance money. I thought about it and decided that I wanted to buy it. Well, then a month or two later I decided that I was burnt out on dancing (I had been taking dance since the age of 3) and wanted to pursue something else. So, like an idiot, I went to a vocational business school and now I'm not even in the field that I went to school for blah, blah, blah. I often wonder what my life would be like now if I had bought that dance studio, but then I realize that if I had I would never have met Big Daddy, Mrs. Big Daddy, Driver, or the ex and I would probably still be living in the same area I grew up in. So, while one part of me looks at it as a mistake another part of me thinks of it as my way out of the east side. Is any of this making any sense? I think I'm just rambling.

So, in a nutshell, bellydancing was cool...I think I'll keep going.

Until next time...

Single Girl

I didn't do much this weekend. The best part was Saturday night. My uncle's band played at a local bar here in the Clear Lake area so my mom and I went up there. Have I ever expressed how much fun I have going to a bar with my mother. She and I have very similar personalities and we both love looking at people and making tacky remarks. To quote Clarice in Steel Magnolias "If you don't have something nice to say, come sit next to me." Don't judge us, it's our thing. Anyway, so my mom and I are sitting at the bar and in walks in my other uncle and his wife. We were all laughing and cutting up, I took pictures of my mom and uncles blah, blah, blah and when we went back in for the second set, in walks my sister and a friend of hers. It was the first time that my mom, my sister and I all went to a bar together. It was great! Growing up, my sister and I DID NOT get along. I'm so glad that we are able to hang out together now and we don't try to kill each other. Anyway, we all took pictures together, my sister, her friend and I were eyeballing the bartender all night (our bar has a new bartender...he is HOT!) and Mom was dancing the night away. I love watching my mom dance, she is so cute. I finally got her out of the habit of clapping, I told her that only old people clap when they dance...so she stopped. It was a pretty cool night. It was also a little strange. You see, normally my family can not get together without at least one argument erupting. I have a feeling the reason everyone was getting along so well was the mass quantities of alcohol we all consumed. Have you ever noticed that alcohol can really bring people together. Maybe from now on when we get together at Christmas, we should just all get drunk. I think that sounds like a splendid idea.

Sunday, I had to go to an alumni meeting. The school year 2007-2008 will be the 50th graduating class of the high school I graduated from. We are planning an EXTRAVAGANZA, if you will. The 50th anniversary thing started out with just a celebration of the drill team I was a member of, now it has spread to the whole school. So, there will be events at Homecoming, Spring Show and at the end of the year there will be a cruise that all alumni is invited to go on. We have decided that since all alumni will be invited, we will have a "Prom" the last night of the cruise. Well, my friends, this Single Girl still has her prom dress from 1994 and as God as my witness I will get back into that dress! I don't care that the dress is no longer in style, it's possible that I won't even wear it, but I want to be able to say..."I tried on my prom dress and it still fit!" So, I have decided that as much as I hate to work out, I will start tonight.

As for my summer of new things, I am going to go to my first belly dancing class tomorrow night. I am so excited! Dancing has always been a big part of my life, so I am really looking forward to learning a new style. Hopefully, it won't kill me!

Until next time...

Single Girl

Two New Dudes

Or Duds, you tell me...

I have two new people to tell you about.

Governator and Stand Alone.

I went out with Governator a couple of weeks ago, then went to his house last weekend. As with all the men from the personals, I told him to meet me at Empire. (The people that work there probably think I am some slutty girl, every time I go in there I'm with a different person. Oh well.) Anyway, so we met at Empire and had coffee and talked...blah, blah, blah the usual. This person has a 25 year plan. His ultimate goal is to be Governor of Texas. He and I were raised in two totally different worlds. I grew up in a very blue-collar area of Houston. All of my friends' dads worked in the refineries or some other labor type position. He grew up in Memorial and went to a private, all boys Catholic High School. I grew up in a two bedroom, 900 sq. ft. house with my mom and sister, he grew up in a five bedroom house with just his parents. He is a member of a country club, I am not. He actually called me and asked if I wanted to meet him at the country club for dinner one night, I had to explain to him that because of the industry I am in I wear blue jeans to work every day. (Not really appropriate for country club dining.) He wants to get married as soon as possible, because with his 25 year plan he wants to run for some state representative something or other soon and according to him, "being married REALLY helps you." He seems to be a very nice guy, but he is already telling me that he wants to take me on a trip to somewhere that some Republican convention is going to be going on. That's just a little fast for me. I did have one thought though...Let's say he and I start dating...and we decide that we "love" each other and he runs for governor. OK, I think I could possibly be a political liability. Not that I, personally, have done anything to jeopardize a campaign but I have dated some REAL LOSERS. I could only imagine who would come out of the woodwork. Honestly, I don't think he and I are a match, but he's nice and fun to be around. We are supposed to be going to lunch tomorrow, we'll see what happens. I think in the long run, he and I will be friends...and when he runs for governor, I can tell people, "I went out with him a couple of times."

I went out with Stand Alone Saturday night. The reason I call him Stand Alone is because...he has a mustache. I'm not a big fan of the stand alone mustache, but Doodlebug and I were talking the other night and she told me to try going out with someone I wouldn't normally go out with. So, I tried it. He is 10 years older than me, he works in a plant, and he's only 5'9. So, I met him at a bar in Bacliff. Again, he was a nice guy, but he started telling me how much chemistry was going on between us. He is one of those guys that sits there and stares longingly into your eyes. (That makes me a little uncomfortable) He kept telling me that I was beautiful and that I was melting him. Here's another little tid-bit of info on Stand Alone...He just got out of a year long relationship a month ago and he already wants to be in another relationship. He told me that he could see us really working out. I finally told him that I had to go and he walked me to my car. We stood outside for about 15 minutes talking a little more and he told several times that he would tell me I was beautiful every day. Oh, I almost forgot, while we were sitting in the bar, after one of the times he told me I was beautiful, he told me that he did not have a problem with my body. I was like, "What?" He basically told me that he liked "bigger girls" and that his ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend both weighed more than him. Ok people, I have come to the realization that I will never be waif thin, I have come to grips with the fact that I will always be a curvy girl...but, I really don't want to hear something like that the first time I go out with someone.

So, there you go, my dating life summed up right there.

Ahhh, the life of a Singleton...aren't all of you that are married or in committed relationships jealous? :)

Until next time...

Single Girl

GIRL POWER!!!

Congratulations are in order for our very own little lost Spice Girl...Rice Spice!

I look forward to seeing you sing on the reunion tour.

Tell Baby, Sporty, Ginger, Posh and Scary that I said hello and am very much looking forward to the Houston leg of y'alls tour.

I hope those bitches finally give you the credit you deserve, you made that group what they were!

Until next time...

Single Girl