I Want A Love...

I watched The Notebook for the first time recently. I had always heard about the awesome love story starring Allie and Noah, so I decided to watch it and guess what...it made me cry. I'm a sucker for a good love story

When Harry Met Sally

Sabrina

Knocked Up (Yes, it's a love story!)

Say Anything

I could go on and on. My favorites are the ones that are a little quirky and the people have some random meeting, blah, blah, blah. I'm even a huge fan of the love song and no one does a good love song like country artists. One of my favorites is Johnny and June. Heidi Newfield talks about how she wants a love like Johnny and June (of course she's speaking of Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash.)

But here's my favorite love story of all time...

Whenever you asked Betty, "How did you and Bob meet?" She would always respond with a grin and say, "An accident call and a little pair of red shorts."

It was 1949, a 19 year old Betty was in the car with her sister Bonnie. They were driving along, minding their own business and a little boy on his bicycle darted out in front of them, and Bonnie hit the little boy with her car. (Don't worry, he was OK. I want to say it broke his leg, but I'm not sure.) Of course, after an accident like that the police were called out. One of the two policemen that responded to the accident call was a very handsome, 25 year old named Bob. After interviewing Betty and Bonnie, the officers let the women go about their business, but not before Bob found out that Betty was 19 years old, had just graduated high school and was visiting her sister for the summer. He also found out that Betty did not have a drivers license. Betty overheard Bob tell the other officer that she was way too young for him , but that she was going to make a good wife one day. The town that Bonnie lived in was a small town, east of Houston. The grocery store was maybe three miles away. Even though Betty didn't have a license she would occasionally take Bonnie's car to the store and as soon as she would pull onto the main street in town, there was Bob and his partner, siren blaring and lights flashing pulling her over. Once she pulled over, Bob would always get out and ask her the same thing, "Have you gotten your drivers license yet?" To which she would reply, "No, are you going to give me a ticket this time?" And he would tell her, "No." And she said she always responded with, "Then why do you keep pulling me over?" He would just grin and tell her, "Go get your license." This went on all summer, Bob finally asked her out, six months later they were married on December 22, 1949. And they were married until Betty's death in March of 1997.

In those 47 1/4 years, they moved to San Antonio, had three children and then moved to Houston and then shortly after that moved to Channelview. I got to see the last 21 years of their marriage. Some of my favorite Betty and Bob moments...

I love that Betty always called Bob "sha."
I love that they still played grab ass in the kitchen well into their 60's.
I love that they always kissed each other and said I love you before either one of them left the house.
I love the fact that Bob gave Betty a toilet seat for Christmas one year and she absolutely adored it and said that is was just what she needed.
I love the fact that she got pissed off that he gave her a new microwave for Christmas the next year because, "There was nothing wrong the old microwave."
I love the fact Betty would put her hair in rollers and Bob would meticulously apply the permanent solution to every roller on her head.
I love that Bob would call Betty "Edith" all Archie Bunker like.
I love that Betty never knew how to put gas in her own vehicle and would let Bob know when she was at a quarter of a tank and I love that Bob would grab her keys and take her car to the gas station and fill it up.

As you've probably already guessed, Betty was my Nanny and Bob is my Paw Paw. So, Heidi Newfield, I don't want a love like Johnny and June...I want a love like Betty and Bob.

Until next time...

Mandy

Christmas with the Paw Paw

Sunday was Christmas with the Paw Paw and his wife Dean in Smith Point, TX. Now, you probably don't know where Smith Point is, not many people do...it's at the end of the Earth. Seriously, you take I10 to Anahuac make a right and drive until you hit water. It takes a little over an hour to get there and this is the first year my family and I didn't get lost going over the river and through the woods. We usually get there around 1:30 and leave before it gets dark...because no one wants to try to find there way back to I10 after dark. My whole family was there and there was a lot of laughing and cutting up. Here are some of the funnier moments from yesterday...

I was standing on the front porch talking to my sister and Victor comes running up the stairs onto the porch and he was looking behind him to see if someone was chasing him. All of a sudden, I feel something hit me in the ass...it was Victor's face. When he turned around, he ran right into my ass, ricocheted off and fell on his ass. He then proceeded to get up and inform me that I had a fat butt. Thank you Victor, I was unaware of that little factoid.

A couple of weeks ago, Paw Paw told Mom that we were not to buy him any gifts. He said that with the economy as bad as it is right now, we need to save our money. So, when she showed up with a gift, he gave her the stink eye. He opened the gift and it was Bill O'Reilly's Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity.

Paw Paw: I told you no gifts.
Mom: Oh, hush.
Mandy: Tell Paw Paw the back story on the book.
Mom: Well, that was supposed to be one of your gifts from last year. When I bought it, I hid it and forgot about it. I found it a couple of weeks ago. So, there ya go.
Paw Paw: But this is an old book.
Mom: It's not that old, it's still on the best seller list.
Paw Paw: But it's like a year old.
Mom: I know, I bought it last year.
Paw Paw: I told you no gifts.
Mom: Have you read it?
Paw Paw: No.
Mom: Then shut up or I'll take it back.

My mom and I were sitting on the porch with Jerob and Jereth.

Jereth (the nine year old): I want to spend the night.
Mandy: You need to go tell Paw Paw that you want to stay here tonight.
Jereth: Jerob, do you want to spend the night with Paw Paw tonight.
Jerob (the twelve year old): No.
Jereth: Why not.
Jerob: Dude, we don't have any clothes and THEY'RE not going to come get us tomorrow.
Jereth: Mom will come and get us.
Jerob: Dude, mom can't find her way back here and Mandy and Me Me have to work...we'd be stuck here.

I love seeing my Paw Paw. And he's finally able to walk around without the help of cane. Looks like titanium joints are the way to go!

Me and the Paw Paw!

Until next time...

Mandy

The Lothario

I know how much all you enjoy my Willie stories.

Today, Willie came in looking for my boss, but the boss wasn't here yet.

Willie: Hey Clydesdale, where's Mark?
Me: I don't know, his phone is off.
Willie: I really need to talk to him. I'm going to leave him a note.
Me: OK.
Silence
Me: Willie, I thought you told me you were divorced.
Willie: *with a sly grin* I am.
Me: You're wearing a wedding ring.
Willie: This isn't a wedding ring.
Me: Right.
Willie: Seriously, I started wearing this because when I took my wedding ring off I had the tan band.
Me: A likely story Willie.
Willie: It's true...when you going to let me take you out?
Me: Sorry, Willie, I started seeing someone a couple of months ago.
Willie: Alright, Clydesdale. You just let me know when you want me to take you out...you know I'll treat you real good.
Me: I know you would, Willie.

So, without further ado, here is a photo of me and the infamous...WILLIE!



Until next time...

Mandy

I am so hot and sexy

Not much to say at the moment. But here's a funny little exchange that happened yesterday morning between The Guy and myself...

We were laying in bed talking on a lazy Sunday morning.

Me: Ughhh, my nose won't quit itching!!!
The Guy: Uh oh, I hope you're not getting sick.
Me: I doubt it, I'm slightly allergic to Christmas trees so I get sneezy and stuffy at this time every year.
The Guy: (Turning to look at me.) You're allergic to pine trees.
Me: (Turning to look at him) Yeah.
The Guy: (Pointing at my nose.) You have a booger.
Me: OH MY GOD!

And with that, I shot up out of bed and ran to the ladies' room to blow my nose.

Nothing says hot and sexy like something hanging out of your nose.

I guess we've reached a whole new comfort level in our relationship.

Until next time...

Mandy

What's in a Name

I want to change my name. No, not my first name because Amanda is the most awesome name in the whole world. I'm talking about my last name.

I hate my last name! Seriously, hate doesn't even begin to express how much I dislike my last name...if you combine hate, loathe and detest that might come close to how I feel about my last name. You see, my last name is the only tie that I have to my sperm donor. It pisses me off that I'm walking around with HIS name. When I was growing up, I begged my mother to change our last name to her maiden name, she would always tell me, "Mandy, you're going to get married one day and your last name is going to change. Just be patient." And I've been patient...but let's face it, I'm 33 years old, I've never been married...I've never even been engaged. Every birthday that goes by, is another year that I have to have that man's last name. I mean seriously, the damn thing ends with an x and it's mispronounced ALL. THE. TIME!

When I told the mother of my thoughts on changing my last name, she asked me what I would change it to. I mean, if I go with her maiden name then my name will be a little rhymey and people would expect me to speak Spanish more so than they do now. I thought maybe I could go to the nanny's maiden name, but her maiden name is french, my sister's middle name and it gets mispronounced as much, if not more, than my current name. And here is another dilemma...I've been in the same industry for almost 10 years and I've had customers follow me from one distributor to another, so they know me as Amanda Sperm Donor's last name.

What to do, what to do...

Until next time...

Mandy

They're trying to speak to me!

I think my appliances are out to get me, one by one. Last October I posted this about my dishwasher. For about a month after the dishwasher incident I was scared to use it, so I hand washed everything until the mother told me to get a grip and loaded the dishwasher and started it.

Now, I think my microwave is trying to talk to me.

Let me explain...

About six months ago, I was asleep and around 2a I was woken up by a strange beeping in my house. At first, I thought maybe I needed to change the batteries in my smoke detector, then I realized, no probably not, I've never changed those batteries and they're probably deader than a doornail. So, I get up and follow the strange beeping...I walked down the stairs, through the living room and into my kitchen and that's when I realized my microwave was beeping and beeping LOUD! Not only was there a weird beeping, but I had accidentally left the microwave door open and, it's hard to explain, but the door open and the light coming on and shining on the wall and the cabinet was WAY creepy! I slowly walked over to the microwave and closed the door and the beeping started coming faster! So, in one swift move I unplugged the microwave, and your going to think I'm crazy, but as I was reaching for the plug I start saying in my head...

"Please quit beeping when I unplug you, please quit beeping when I unplug you!"

And it did. So, I went back upstairs and went back to bed.

That weekend, I plugged the microwave back in and that night the same thing happened. So, I got in the habit of keeping the microwave unplugged while not in use. Then I started noticing that when I was heating up my Spagetti-o's it would start beeping at me while the heating up was in progress. This was really starting to freak me out! So, then I started heating up soup, spagettin-o's and raviolis (yes, I know, I eat crap) on the stove.

One night, the guy asked me, "Why don't you heat that up in the microwave?" That's when I told him about the beeping and that I had come to the conclusion that something from beyond was trying to contact me using Morse Code, and I don't speak Morse so I think the fast beeping is them yelling the code at me. (This should tell you how awesome and patient he is) He looked and as serious as he could be...

The Guy: Mandy, have you set the time on your microwave?
Me: No, I don't think I ever have.
The Guy: That could be why it's beeping. Have you looked in your owner's manual?
Me: No, I'm not even sure where that is. I might have thrown it away.
The Guy: So you just put it up there, plugged it in and started heating things up? Didn't read the manual or anything?
Me: Nope, it's a microwave, you plug it in, stick the food in there, and hit start. Why would I need an owner's manual for that.
The Guy: I have a feeling that might be what it is, I don't think anyone is trying to contact you through Morse Code.
Me: Well, I'm not chancing it.

I haven't tried setting the time yet...maybe I'll try that this weekend.

Until next time...

Mandy

I'm Alive!

Hello, my faithful blog followers. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. A lot has been going on, not so much with me, but with friends of mine.

I'm pretty proud of the fact that I'm "drama-free" and I think I've figured out why God has made my life so stressless. (I'm not sure if that's a word or not, but I'm going with it.) Apparently, I was put on Earth to absorb some of my friends problems. I was talking with the mother and told her that this is the first time in my adult life that my friends' problems are more than, "Why didn't he call? He said he was going to call! I slept with him and I never heard from him again! BOO HOO HOO." No, now it's real shit! In the past month this is what I've been there for...

1. A set of friends that are going through a divorce. I am friends with both parties and so I have heard both sides. The male half of the couple started dating a girl very shortly after they split and he has recently broken up with her. So, not only is he dealing with the end of his marriage he's also dealing with the end of a relationship that got way serious way fast.

2. Another friend, who is divorced, is now dealing with serious issues with their ex and most likely is going to go through a very long, drawn out custody fight.

3. Another friend called me at the beginning of October and told me that his addiction to pills had reared it's ugly head and that he was going to go through a month long outpatient rehab type thing.

On a happy note, I have been seeing a guy for the past two months, everything is good and he's pretty awesome and I like him a lot. And that's all I'm going to say about him at this point. I haven't mentioned him here because it seems like whenever I mention a new guy on this little blog, and I get all excited about the prospect of a new guy it blows up in my face. So, I'm going to keep him under wraps for a little while longer.

One thing everyone should know about me...I am a worrier! MASSIVE WORRIER! So much so, that my mother doesn't tell me things until she knows if there is something to worry about or not because she knows that I will sit there and freak out until I get the all clear. The worrying got so bad this weekend that when I was on the phone with the guy he told me he could tell something was wrong and I just busted out crying and said, "I just want everyone's life to get back to normal, I'm worried about everyone and all this stuff is happening and the holidays are coming up blah, blah, blah." He told me that it might be time to step back from my friends and let them know that I'm not actually a licensed therapist and that other people's problems shouldn't bring me to tears.

I know all this, but this is in my nature and you can't change that. I'm a firm believer in friends are the family that you pick. And when anyone in my family is hurt, then I will hurt with them.

Until next time...

Mandy