November 21, 2003 Wow! You guys really do pay attention! Great going on the Katrina quiz! Most of the people who took it got 8 out of 10 or better! A few of the questions were really tough and the two most often missed were almost not fair. One was about where the flowers from my first wedding came from. That's quite a story and I shared it in the year 2000, so if you missed that one, it's not surprising. It was, in fact, before the Nonsoapy Journal officially existed. It was something I wrote in a soap column, back when I used to share snippets of my life in the soap writing I did. Then I had a very divided group of readers. About half said "I love when you write about the weird shit you've experienced in your life" (and it's definitely been... interesting!!) and about half said, "Um, can you please just stick to the soaps??" Since my soap column was called "The Soap Journal," I created the "Nonsoapy Journal" so I could write about nonsoap opera related things. Now, I enjoy writing in the Nonsoapy most, so I'm really glad it sprang off on its own. The story of the wedding flowers will be included at the bottom of this column for those who haven't read it. If you still want to take the first quiz, it's here: Of course, you'll want to take it before you read on... * Wanna do it again? (I've gotten hoards of responses and I'm so glad you're enjoying this!!) THE I KNOW WAAAY TOO MUCH ABOUT KATRINA QUIZ I've got a lot of questions, so I'll include another one soon! Here's the wedding story: My first wedding was great fun. It was 1978 and my family were as poor as little church mice. As the only daughter, I was the one shot my mother had at wedding preps and we set about Operation Wedding Decoration about a week before the blessed event (yes, a week). My intended had just been stationed on Guam and was flying in for the wedding, hooking up, then flying out a few days later. I'd be following in a few months. My mother made my dress in record time (we'd known about the wedding, but had to wait for a "good" payday to get the material, etc) and we found some great white eyelet on sale at Hancock Fabrics. I think all of the supplies ran about $8. Payless was having a sale and I got some nice white sandals for $6. My aunt knew someone who would make the cake. I was 16 and prom was in two months, so I was lucky that all three of my bridesmaids were not only going, but had already purchased their dresses (whooo hooo!). My mother called up the church where I'd been baptized and they agreed to let me have the wedding there. My fiancé's father was a mail order minister and would do the honors. Flowers were all we were lacking. It was April and we'd had a late frost, so whacking daffodils like we'd planned wasn't possible. Mom called the florist and tried to work a deal, to no avail. Still over our budget. It was the DAY before the wedding and we were wracking our brains trying to figure out what to do about flowers. Then a light came on in my mother's eyes, one I have learned to fear before and since. She had an idea. The next day, I walked down the aisle with beautiful bundles of silk flowers tied to every other pew and down the banisters of the church. There was a giant basket of magnificent flowers on the altar and each of my bridesmaids carried colorful bouquets with ribbons from my mother's sewing stash cascading down the front. It was glorious. Everyone commented on how lovely the flowers were and what life they brought to the festivities. The day after the wedding, Mom and I piled all the flowers back into her little 1970's Gremlin and put them back on the graves and the dead folks didn't miss them at all. Mama's rationalization, "Honey, they're dead [in Ky, the word "dead" has two syllables, so you have to drag it a bit to get the full impact] and I'm thinking they can spare them for just a day." True story. THAT's how we got a nice wedding for about $50 when you count the cost of the pigs-in-a-blankets, punch and relish trays. :) My mom was nothing if not resourceful. Delena had a nice birthday yesterday with her family. My son Josh (child #3) gave her his Playstation 2 (wow!) saying he never used it now. She was in heaven and used her birthday money to buy a few games used. We may never see her again. Proving good stuff also rolls downhill, she passed her Playstation 1 down to her little brothers since the Playstation 2 will also play Playstation 1 games. She's going roller skating with her friend, Krista, tonight as the rest of her birthday celebration. It's hard to believe she's 11 already, but she's so grown up in so many ways, sometimes it's hard to believe she's only 11. Paradox supreme with cheese, please. (Now I just have to manage a game cube for the boys by Christmas. Yikes! I foolishly promised them one back in the olden days when Eric had a JOB and looked like he'd have it for a good long time. Grrr. Thank St Jude there's a Santa Claus!) Other than New Moon, nothing is planned for the weekend, but in this house, nothing is planned ever. I've given up. What happens, happens and I just move along with the flow. That's how it's going to be until we get some semblance of normalcy going again. Eric is making all kinds of good contacts almost on a daily basis... we just have to get them to produce fruit (wrong season for growing fruit). I'm working on getting over whatever my illness was. I've pretty well determined that it's the Excedrin I'm taking for the tooth pain that is causing my chronic upset stomach. I've always been very aspirin sensitive, but I was hoping that the small amount in the pills wouldn't affect me. I'm trying to get the tooth to be tolerable just on Tylenol. I did call my insurance carrier and changed my provider from the ghetto to a place closer by that also has a bit of a broader reach. The change takes effect December 1st and by then, I will have finished my run of antibiotics, so I hope they can get me in sooner than January, which is when the back alley dentist I saw on Tuesday can get me in. I just want this to be over. Never thought *I* would be begging for dental care! WOW!! Did everyone see ER last night? I actually stayed up and watched it and I about lost my mind when that helicopter dropped right onto Romano!!! Holy shitsticks! Helicopters HATE that guy! Talk about a shocker! I'd forgotten what it was like to watch shows minus spoilers! I had no idea! Also, on Things I Like from yesterday, WHAT WAS I THINKING??? You guys have got to keep me from hurting myself here and remind me to put on my HELMET these days! I forgot one of the most important entries!!
I just started watching old episodes of The Sopranos on DVD a few months ago and man, this show ROCKS! I'm up to the point of Olivia dying and when I told Josh, he said, "Did you get to the part where Carmella and Furio knock it out?" Holy shit!!! Um, NO!!!! So far, Carmella is sadly, sadly neglected except for a quick grope with the contractor when she showed him the bathroom wallpaper! If ANYONE deserves to be ridden hard and put up wet, it's that filly, Carmella! For the love of God, someone bang that woman! :) Love it! Hope everyone is doing well and by all means, my dear friends, have an absolutely STELLAR weekend. Don't we all deserve it??? Love to you all,
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