Ya Got ta Have Friends ~

A couple of weeks ago, I experienced the great pleasure of having breakfast with all my best girlfriends at one time. We all went to high school together and I'm proud to say, we remain close to this day. Of course, because we all have lives of our own now, there have been some time warps where some of us have gone a while and not seen or talked to some of the others, but the minute we do regain some contact, it's like we've never been apart at all.

This picture below was taken by a little old lady coming out of the restaurant we had been in. I asked her to take the group photo and she warned me that she was not very good at taking pictures because her hands shake. I think she did a fine job, don't you? :)

We have our 25th year class reunion this coming September and I just hope the rest of the class is as well preserved as we are.

I'd like to dedicate the song, 'Thank You for Being a Friend', to my best buds! The lyrics are written below for your reading pleasure.

Thank You For Being A Friend - Song Lyrics

Thank you for being a friend
Traveled down the road and back again
your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant
I'm not ashamed to say I hope it always will stay this way
My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow
And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew
You would see, the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say,
Thank you for being a friend
Thank you for being a friend
Thank you for being a friend
Thank you for being a friend
If it's a car you lack I'd surely buy you a Cadillac
Whatever you need, anytime of the day or night
I'm not ashamed to say I hope it always will stay this way
My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow
And when we both get older with walking canes and hair of gray
Have no fear, even though it's hard to hear I will stand real close and say,
Thank you for being a friend(I want to thank you)
Thank you for being a friend(I want to thank you)
Thank you for being a friend
And when we die and float away into the night, the Milky Way
You'll hear me call, as we ascend I'll see you there, then once again
Thank you for being a friend
Thank you for being a friend
Whoa, tell you about a friend(Thank you right now, for being a friend)
Thank you for being a friend(I wanna thank you, thank you, for being a friend)
Thank you for being a friend !

Lunch With the Bunch ~

Happy Monday, all! I'd like to introduce you to my daily lunch bunch from work. This is the group I eat with most every day and we have such a wonderful time "letting it all hang out" during our free hour in the day. Here is a secret for you . . . . most of the time we take an hour and 15 or 20 minutes - shhhhhh! In these photos we were at a great local meat & veggie place called, Dale's. We were having a "send-off" lunch for our expectant mother in the bunch- she's the one in the hot pink top (giggle). Since this photo was taken, a couple of months ago, the little momma has had a set of beautiful twins, a boy and a girl. She's on maternity leave now and the lunch bunch misses her very much! I really look forward to lunch with these great friends every day. We usually end up laughing so hard, some of us are either crying, or peeing, or both! By the by, no one peed at Dale's. We try our best to maintain our self-control when we make that rare venture off the premises to eat among civilization.

We usually eat in our company's on-site cafe, "Cafe Bon Appetit", where we either bring our own lunch or buy lunch from a large selection of daily delectables. It really doesn't matter what we're eating because fun is always the main course on this group's menu.

If any of my lunch buddies read this post, I'd like for them to know that I love our lunches together and always look forward to 1:00 pm - what a bright spot in the day!

Only once before have I had the pleasure of a daily lunch bunch that I looked so forward to visiting with. Sandra, if you are reading this, you know that I mean the lunch bunch I used to share with you years ago when we worked together. Back then, that was also a big bright spot in the day and I have never forgotten it and never will. I am very fortunate to have found as great a bunch in my present job as I had 10 + years ago.

I miss you, Sandra.

Bon Appetit, all!

PS - The word lunch is mentioned 60 times in this post. There is a prize for the first reader to find them all. JUST KIDDING! :)

Grazie Mille! Amy ~

I'm a little verklempt today.Yes, I've been to Amy's blog and she has posted my interview for her fascinating spot, "Inside the Blogger's Studio". What an honor! Thank you so much, Amy. You have really made my day and I do so appreciate you thinking of me and "highlighting" me in such a way. I had so much fun with these questions and I appreciate you not giving me any really hard ones :)

Amy is such a sweet, lovely friend to me. The funny thing about our friendship is that we don't even really know each other in person.

We've only met a couple of times through her mom, when she and I used to work together, but other than that I have just gotten to know her through her blog. She's witty, clever, creative, totally charming, and a joy to "read" every day. She always takes the time to read my blog and leaves me sweet, encouraging comments. We're gonna get together very soon, in person, and have a nice, long visit - and see Mama Mia!, even if it's on DVD. Until then, I'm going to keep reading her blog each day, and for those of you (if there are any) who may not have had the pleasure of visiting Amy's blog, I highly recommend it. You'll be so glad you did.

Amy, thank you so much for believing that I am interesting enough to be invited "into the blogger's studio". I thoroughly enjoyed it. Much love and many, many hugs to you!

On another, but indirectly related, note I have had a case of blogger's block for the past couple of weeks and I've just been sad and worried that I had nothing else to "say". I enjoy this so much and want to continue to be a part of the bunch but have had nothing to share. Once again, Amy has inspired me. Because of her, I had lots to say and share - at least for today.

Yvette

This is my dear friend, Yvette. We've been friends since high school. I'll say since 9th grade but it was really 8th grade. However, Yvette does not remember me in 8th grade even though I sat right behind her in Mrs. Crider's English class!

Yvette is my party buddy and my "swimming" buddy. We are at karaoke together 3 nights a week, and we usually go to dinner together and take our kids with us, at least once a week (Anyone for Mexican? Ole'!). Every weekend that the sun shines brightly, you can find us in a pool, on our neon-colored floats, working on our savage tans and wondering what the poor folks are doing. Right now, we're pretty dark and "skinny". We both go to Cassie to get our hair cut, we go to the same place to "get our nails did", we go to the same gynecologist, and we both love a good fried bologna sandwich at JD's BBQ :) ~ thank you, Yvette! We are always struggling with our finances and never have any money. When we do have a few extra dollars, one of us'll say, "Let's go buy a shirt." That's just our thing. We're not too interested in what goes on the bottom part but we want the top part lookin' good!

Yvette singing some karaoke - Shakin' by Eddie Money is her theme song.

Every year we say that we're going to the beach in the summer, but we have yet to make it. For the two of us sun-worshipers, laying on a sugar-white Destin, FL beach for a week, or even a long weekend, would be a little slice of Heaven. Maybe one day, but until then, we have a pretty good time right here in the armpit of the south. We've accompanied each other on many milestone events: we went together and got our cartilage pierced (for those who don't know, that is the top of the ear ;), she went with me to get a tattoo, I went with her to get her nose pierced, I helped her move out of her house when she and her husband split up, and she helped me move out of my house when me and my husband split up. When we moved me out of my house, it was literally she and I all alone, driving the moving truck and doing all the lifting - we were such WOMEN that day! I'm sure you could hear our roars but didn't know what was. By the by, we have both moved around a few other times after the initial split from the husbands. We have tried to get a place together but since we each have a teenager and they are of the opposite sex, we would need 4 bedrooms and we can't really afford a 4 bedroom place. So, for now we each have our own place but we're just right down the road from each other.

My favorite picture of Yvette - taken a couple of years ago.

Yvette once told me that I was the kind of friend you could just sit with and be silent, without feeling uncomfortable. That was a great compliment to me. That's just the way we are - totally comfortable at all times. I know that I could call and wake her up in the middle of the night if I needed to, and she knows she could do the same. I did find out a few years ago, however, that I should never again ask to borrow a pair of panties ~ a story for another time :) We say what we feel like saying and if we get in a tiff and need a few days of space, we take it. It's a wonderful friendship and I'm very blessed.

Yvette, I hope you read this post because I am really gushing over you!

Love,

Your BFF ~

Everyone Needs an Ethel ~

My friend, Nancy, is my most fun and crazy friend. Now, I don’t want my other friends to get offended by this because they know I love them very much and each of them has their own special place in my heart (I already mentioned how much I love my friends in a previous blog) but Nancy is the one who sits on “ready” and always looking for a fun time and lots of laughs just like me.

I first met Nancy 16 years ago when I started working at a company she worked for. We became instant friends that very day. Since then, we have had umpteen adventures. We are so much like Lucy and Ethel, it is scary. However, since I’ve always been a big Lucy fan, she let’s me be Lucy and she’s Ethel. She is a few years older than I am but you’d never know it.

Nancy has taken me on several trips with her over the years, and had it not been for her, I would never have gotten out of Mississippi/Tennessee! We rode Hangman and Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Opryland in Nashville, we (Nancy) also talked to Fabio outside his limo in Nashville, we rode Hulk and Jurassic Park at Universal Orlando, we flew in a helicopter in Gatlinburg, we’ve been to ghost town in Arizona, we’ve been on a graveyard tour in St. Augustine, we drank Hurricanes at Pat Obrien’s in New Orleans, and we’ve been to a Cher concert in Little Rock, AR. These are just some of the highlights – she’s fun!!

This picture is of Nancy, me, and our friend, Cindy who went with us to Universal Orlando. We’re the ones in the raincoats. I know, I know, but it is a water ride.

This one time in Nashville, we decided to stay later after checking out of our hotel, so we could attend the opening of a new Hard Rock Café and see all the stars that were attending. Well, our Jeep was broken into and things were stolen but we didn’t know it until we were standing around eating snacks out of the back and happened to notice the broken window. We gals really like our snacks! Meanwhile, we had to drive 3 hours home with a trash bag taped to the door as it flapped and made this sound: ppppfffffffttthhhhh all the way – what music! By the by, the tip top of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s head looked really good from what we saw behind about a 10 foot deep crowd.

On another Nashville trip, we went to Opryland Theme Park and it rained the whole day. After walking in shorts all day and being wet, my fat legs were chafed in between. That night in the hotel room I was in so much burning pain, but could only laugh from being made fun of. Well, when I laughed, I peed, and that made the burning worse. Nancy did go to a local pharmacy and buy me some cooling spray to comfort the chafe – that’s what friends are for!

Nancy has a 2nd home in St. Augustine, FL and I’ve been there to visit a couple of times. The last time I went, we had 2 other friends with us. One day, we went to the beach club and everyone but me wanted to do water aerobics – I didn’t need any exercise that day. I needed to lay on my lounger and watch the class and make sure my friends were not goofing off, and catch some sun rays. When the class was over, one of our friends (I’ll call her Lil) got out of the water and came over my way. As she came towards me I noticed that her swimsuit boobs were very shiny – well lo and behold, she had that swimsuit on wrong side out! I thought I was gonna bust a gut laughing. I was trying to hold it in because I knew Lil would be embarrassed. She had gone all morning and been around the club and in the aerobics class with that suit on like that. I was able to tell her discreetly – yeah right - and we rushed over to a changing room where I stood guard and she fixed herself before anyone else got a load of her. I tried to hold it in and not tell the others but finally, that night as I was bunking with Nancy in our room, I had to spill it or bust. We laughed so hard, I’ll bet the next door neighbors heard us. Anyway, Lil told it herself the next day and it was still just as funny.

Nancy and I have been out to Arizona twice to see our friend Gloria. Gloria has a beautiful home there (this is not Gloria's home in this picture; we were at the ghost town) and was the perfect hostess for us on these two trips – we got freshly-made Bloody Marys with breakfast each day. The first time there, we went to a local Flea Market and I bought so much pottery, that I had to buy an overseas-sized suitcase so I could load it up with my pottery and check it on the plane. The 2nd time we went, we all drove from Gloria’s to Sedona (to date, the most beautiful place I’ve seen).

This one time in New Orleans, Nancy bought me a set of fake boobs (no photo available) and dared me to pretend they were my real ones and show them off in the French Quarter to get lots of Mardi Gras beads. Well, I’m not proud of this but I took on the challenge and am the proud owner of 5 lbs of red, gold, green and purple beads! Just kidding – it’s only 2 ½ lbs.

Nancy and I have quite a bit of fun right here at home too and she’s taught me a lot. My first time to ever take outside fast food into a movie theater was with her. There is just something about that and the fact that it is a no-no that makes the food tast so much better! We don’t just do snack stuff, we take hamburgers, French fries, and cobbler or other dessert in!

The first time I skinny-dipped (chunky-dunked for me since I’m weight-challenged) was with her and some other girlfriends in Pickwick Lake where one of our friends has a lake house. The rest of the bunch were seasoned skinny-dippers but I was new to the game. It was dark though, so I joined in. After I got in the water I became very scared that some fish or water snake, or some other amphibious creature might come up and bite me while I was nekked! That is very frightening to me. We do have our swimsuits on in this picture below.

Anyhoo, long story short, Nancy is a forever friend and I look so forward to making more memories in the future.

Ethel, I love ya!

Friday Frienday

Lucy and Ethel’s Friendship Recipe:
Full Measure of Laughs and Tears
Dash of Wacky Fun and Frolic
Sprinkle Generously with Celebrations
Blend with Phone Calls as Needed
Warm Over a Full, Loving Heart

Today, I’d like to introduce you to three of my great friends: Nellie (Penelope Primrose), Randie (Miranda Everlove), and Tillie (Matilda Chamberlain). We all went to school together from the 8th grade through high school. I actually joined them in the 8th grade but they were already school chums for some years before I came along. I feel very blessed to still have my high school friends so close to me after ten (plus a few) long years out of high school. Before I continue, I should mention that the names above are actually aliases, as their real names were changed to protect their innocence (if there is any). One of the friends in particular seemed a little worried about what I might post about her, but maybe after reading this, she’ll trust me and I can reveal true names in a future posting; maybe pictures too!

We were always in the same click throughout high school but afterwards we drifted back and forth within each other’s lives but never were more than a phone call away.

Nellie is my party buddy. She is single like me so we have lots of time on our hands to hang out. She has a sassy teenage daughter who is really sweet but doesn’t want anyone to know it :) We were in 8th grade English class together and I sat right behind her but she doesn’t remember that :( Up in high school, I tried to make sure I sat next to her at lunch because the school played music for us on the intercom during that time and I liked to sing to Nellie. She hated it but that made me more determined to "wow" her with my talents every day. Little did she know she'd be having to hear my "caterwauling" 3 times a week later in life! We never did just a whole lot of stuff together in high school but occasionally did go “ridin’ around” together with other friends when we started driving. We’d also gather at another friend’s house in the summertime to watch soap operas. She and I have been pretty constant companions for the last eight years or so. We go to karaoke together, lay out and stay very tanned all summer together, and occasionally hoist a little toddy together but mostly for medicinal purposes. We make sure we head off any sickness well before it can get into our system. We never have any money but always want to buy a new shirt. When we do have a few extra dollars, we hit our favorite Mexican restaurant with our kids and load up enough to satisfy us until the next time we have a few extra dollars, unless we decide to go buy a shirt instead. Nellie is a forever friend!

Randie is my level-headed buddy. She is married to a great guy who is perfect for her. She and I really grew up together and were inseparable all through high school and into young adulthood. We weren’t the best of friends at first sight because we liked the same guy. She already liked him and then I came to town and started liking him too. I didn’t know she had dibs on him but she figured I was moving in on her territory. Anyway, when we both finally realized that he didn’t, and would never, like either one of us for a girlfriend, we decided we’d become best friends and still pal around with our “boyfriend”. The three of us hung out a lot for the rest of our high school years. It was revealed to us later on that the boy was gay. Of course we felt better because that had to be the only reason he wouldn’t choose one of us. I just hope we didn’t turn him gay :) After becoming best friends, I was at Randie’s house as often as I could get there. She had horses and we rode them and just hung out most every weekend. It was great. I was just telling my son the other day about my trip Mount Rushmore as a kid. I went with Randie and her parents and we got to ride in a helicopter up to the presidents’ faces. We were so close, I think Randie picked Abe Lincoln’s nose! We later lived together for a while in her sister’s house; we had the upstairs. We’ve been working at the same company together for 10 years now but we rarely see each other at work. She is very professional and has a real position. I am not and don’t. However, when we do see each other and email, and talk, it’s like we’ve never had a pause. We have a great time and enjoy each other’s company very much. Randie is a forever friend!

Tillie is my same birthday buddy. Guess what? We share the same birthday. She is married to a great guy and has two adorable daughters. Tillie and I used to be a part of a group that would gather at another friend’s house in the summertime to watch soap operas. She and I really didn’t do a whole lot of hanging out together during the school years. She always had boyfriends and I never did. We did walk home from school in the same group though, and once she knocked my beautiful, new purse off of a guardrail and into a ditch of sludge several feel below us. Of course, it was a total accident (I’m admitting that I know this for the very first time) but I’ve always said she just “threw” that purse in the ditch. We still laugh about it today. Tillie was a world traveler and lived in a foreign country for a few years and we missed her a lot. Over the years we drifted and were not really close but we did get together on occasion as we all did, to have lunch to catch up and keep in touch. I will always be so grateful to her because she asked me to sing at her wedding when she married her current husband several years ago. It was such an honor and a total thrill. It was my first wedding gig! It will never matter how long we may go without talking or seeing each other, but the moment we do get together, it’s like there was never a pause or any time apart. Tillie is a forever friend!



Several months ago, Tillie was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was all it took for the four of us to buddy up and hold tight once again. We started emailing, calling, and we try to plan get-togethers for at least once a month. Just the thought of one of us being so ill brought us all together again. Tillie has had surgery, chemo treatments, pain, sickness, and has lost her hair but has a great prognosis and should make a full recovery – Praise Our Lord! She’s been wonderful and has had the most positive attitude and it has really inspired us. She is a total joy to be around and we always part ways in a better mood. This new-found friendship with my old friends as adults is such a wonderful blessing to me. It’s so easy to be friends as kids because everyone is the same and that is all you have. When you’re adults, you have to work at it because everyone has their own lives, families, and different interests. We are so lucky to still have each other and to still live close after all these years. I was so frightened at the possibility of losing one of my dear friends and it really changed me. I’ve always loved my friends but now, I have a much deeper love and a real appreciation for them. I’m gonna make sure they know it. I’m so happy that we are all close again and right now, I’m looking forward to seeing my buddies in a couple of weeks to do lunch. We’re gonna celebrate Tillie’s end of treatment, and also each other and our re-kindled friendship. I love you guys with all my heart!






Denise