Here We Go Again

It seems that I have discovered the trigger to "mandemonium", at least for me. The trick seems to be as simple as developing an interest (however small and superficial) on someone else. Then BAM, boys coming out of the woodwork!

Not even 24 hours after I made the declaration about having a crush (which, by the way, has predictably faded as quickly as it began) and it started. Suddenly, once again, I am the most interesting girl around. I swear, they are EVERYWHERE!

This time, it even seems to be coming from all over the country. Thanks to facebook, the power of mandemonium becomes a global event. Suddenly friends of friends and friends of their friends have access to the phenomenon and the usual rain of interest grows to a torrential downpour of potentials.

Am I complaining? Not really.

I was contacted last week by an old flame from the way distant past. It's been nice catching up with him again. We've spent a lot of time this week emailing, im-ing and texting. Staying in contact over long distance is a whole lot easier than when we first tried (and failed). I'm looking forward to catching up face to face in a couple of weeks. He's a VERY sweet guy and I was sorry that things didn't work out with us way back then.

And the repeat offender, you ask? Yes, of course he's suddenly all interested in me again. It can't ever be simple for me, why would you even think otherwise? Don't worry, I already put my foot down and told him he was not going to do to me what he did last time (those of you who weren't directly involved in my "Best Year Ever" probably have no idea what I'm refering to and I apologize that I won't be offering details. Suffice to say, it's a simple case of "I don't want you, but I don't want someone else to have you either.") I gave him one chance to "speak now or forever hold your peace." He had nothing to offer me, so as far as I'm concerned, no response is response enough.

Crushed

So, I have officially finished my creative writing class. I turned in my portfolio yesterday and if I say so myself, it wasn't half bad. Actually, I'm rather pleased with it. It contained a revision of the story I wrote for my workshop piece, a slight revision to a poem I had turned in for class, and a brand new poem (the instructor was kind enough to let me start from scratch on my second poem since I was terribly unhappy with the other one I had worked on). I'm still debating whether or not I want to share them with my readers on this blog. It's not that I want to hide them or anything, but the story ended up being 10 pages and I don't want you guys to have to sit through that much and both of the poems have a less than cheery feel to them and I don't want to depress anyone. I think I'll wait until I get his feedback next week before I decide anything (maybe he will suggest some more revisions....) In the meantime, what do you guys think? Do you want me to put my final works up for you to see what's been keeping me quiet on the blog front lately?

Also, my fears of being thrown out of class for lack of talent was completely unfounded (as most of you were so kind to point out as I was going through my panic stage). In fact, when I told the instructor about the panic I felt when I was working on my first piece for him and my comment on this blog about being thrown out, he laughed at me and told me that he could honestly say that I was one of the best writers in the class. In fact, he said he wished that he could have an entire class of writers like me. That comment made the entire class and all the doubts I struggled with totally worth it all. I took this class to prove to myself that I could do better than the C I accepted last time I took Creative Writing, and now it doesn't matter what grade he gives me. I got what I needed out of the class.

So, now that the class is over, I can return to putting all my words into my blog again. I apologize for my long silences and uninformative entries lately. It seems I only have so much creativity at a time. I've been out here at mom's for five weeks now and only worked on my scrapbooks twice. Not good at all. But Barb is on her way out today to do some scrapbooking with me, so maybe I'll make up for that.

I'm sure you're wondering what's been happening the last few weeks, so I thought I'd do a quick catch up. Obviously, I managed to get out to the fair a couple of times. That was fun. Except for the first day, I ended the day with the WORST migraine I have ever had. It was so bad that I started throwing up on my way home and then the darn thing lingered for the rest of the week. Thankfully it was gone on Friday or I would have had to miss my second fair day.

Jade and I started doggie training. She's already a pretty well behaved dog, but we do have a few things we need to work on (for example, she barks at anyone she doesn't know and won't stop!) The training is just as much about teaching me how to handle her as teaching her the right behaviors. I think it will be good for us. Besides, it gives us something special to do together. Apparently there is only one other dog/owner signed up for the class, but they weren't there for our first class, so Jade and I had the instructor's full attention. It took Jade about 40 minutes (almost the whole class) to warm up to the instructor, but by the end of class, we were getting her to stop barking when people walked by. At one point, someone peeked in to see what we were doing and Jade looked at them and then looked right back at me without barking. She got a big treat for that (that's the behavor we are looking for).

I've babysat for J'sai a few more times while Kristina finished up her class. He's at the stage where the teeth are starting to poke his baby gums, but not enough to break through, so he's very uncomfortable right now. There was a lot of crying going on those days. Poor baby. The dogs would get all stressed trying to help me figure out how to make him feel better. It wasn't an easy task. It's good though, because it reminds me that I don't really need to be in a hurry to get one of my own.

Oh, and probably the biggest, and most unexpected (for me) news of late is that I've developed a crush! I know, it doesn't sound like much (and in all honesty it isn't because I'm sure that it will pass pretty soon) but for me, it's a huge relief. The last crush that I had was Terry and after everything we've been through, I was afraid he broke me. My short relationship with Steven reinforced that idea since I never really felt much during that time. But finally, someone new has triggered the fluttery butterflies and distracting daydreamy behavior. It's kind of nice being distracted because of a happy, sunny mood for once. I forgot what it's like to float through my day.

Don't worry, I'm not going to turn this into something sappy and wax eloquently about the lastest object of my affection. In fact, this isn't about him at all. I'm not really surprised in "who" I chose to crush on (he is exactly in the mold of all my former "crushes") and like I said, I completely expect it to pass soon; but rather this is about the fact that I am seeing a change in me. I guess crushing like this is a sign that I am FINALLY moving on.

One side affect to having a crush: I find myself giggling for no apparent reason again. It's so annoying. :-)

So, that's what's going on here. Mom and Don have been enjoying their trip, but are ready to be home. They should be here sometime next week and then it's back to my little boring apartment again. I get so spoiled out here.

Two Single Riders

Like I said, I love the fair. So much so that when Colynn asked if I would go with her to the fair since Sara and Ashton are in Arizona now, I didn't hesitate in saying yes, even though I had just been there a few days earlier. We went after work (I had taken the entire day off on Monday). Considering it was a Friday evening, it wasn't as busy as we had expected.

This time I rode the rides. Colynn and I ate some dinner (because we CAN'T go to the fair without eating something!) and then promptly set out to make ourselves as motion-sick as possible.

We also had some fun with photos. We got one of those big buttons (that makes two for Deema this year!) and then we did one of those old fashion saloon girl photos. It was a lot of fun.

The view from the top of the farris wheel

I couldn't belive I talked Colynn into riding this one!

And you thought I was imagining things when I said the single people are discriminated against.....

A Day at the Fair

The Clark County Fair is one of my all-time favorite events around here. I'm not quite sure why exactly, since I've never been a 4-H person, couldn't care less about most of the exhibits, and am picky about which rides I choose to ride on (if any at all). I do love to eat at the fair (that's the main reason I go, in fact), but I suppose if I really wanted to, I could find the same foods elsewhere and for probably a lot cheaper price.

Yet, every year I wait anxiously to attend the fair.

Derrick and I have started a tradition of going together. It kind of happened by accident but worked out so conveniently that we've maintained the routine. We always invite our friends to join us and rarely hang out for very long together, but we do catch up with each other for random events (like the pig races!) and the whole crew of us squeeze into the little photo tent to get our button made. This year there were 11 of us!


Barb and Kristina and I like to wander around and check out the animals and crafts and stuff. And eat (okay, that's mostly me, but they do a bit of it too). Derrick, Jimmy and Jackie like to spend the day on the whirly rides. So that no one has to miss out on anything, my friends and I usually take Jimmy and Jackie's kids with us, but this year Damien was old enough to ride some of the rides too, so we just had the girl. And Kristina's little guy.

As usual, there was plenty to see and even more to eat. My favorite thing at the fair is by far the pig racing (Derrick and Damien both got a ribbon for betting on winning pigs), but this year we also had Medieval Jousting which was a ton of fun to watch.







And I did get on one ride. Derrick wanted someone to go on it with him and neither of his friends wanted to do it. It didn't take much persuasion to get me on it(something along the lines of "Deema, you want to ride the slingshot ride with me?" to which I answered "absolutely!"). None of my friends would have done it either, so I'm glad that Derrick and I were there together.


The ride was not near as scary as it looks. Course, I've also jumped from a plane....

The Bottom-Half Car Wash

Yesterday was the college's annual "Bottom-Half Car Wash". It's a fund raiser for Child and Family Studies. I always mean to get over there to support them, but I never get the chance. So I made a point to get over there yesterday.

It's such a fun experience. The kids come out and wash the car for you (hence the "bottom-half" getting done better than the top). The teachers supervise to make sure that no damage happens to the vehicle (and to take care of washing the unreachable parts - like the hood).

All the kids in the program participate, from the toddlers to the school aged. The toddlers had just finished a car when I got there (now that's a true "bottom-half" wash!) so the grade schoolers took mine.

It felt a little strange to watch the little ones working for me. I felt like some child labor lord, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves and it was for a good cause, so I just stood back and watched.

My car had been needing a bath in a bad way. It felt so much better after getting washed.

See how pretty? Except for the badly missed spot on the door. But that's what happens when you use cheap labor.

When I got home, I pulled out a sponge and some soap and water and got the missed spots. It only took a few minutes and it made me chuckle, so it's all good.

Unexpected and Sad

I woke up this morning to some sad news: Michael Bailey passed away last night.

I am well aware that chances are not one single reader of mine knows or cares who Michael Bailey is. He wasn't a famous actor, writer, spokesman, artist, or musician. He was just a local deejay on one of my radio stations. And yet, the news grieves me deeply.

Perhaps it's the fact that it comes so close to my losing Grandpa and Bill. Michael had been battling Leukemia for most of the year. I can't remember when exactly I remember hearing about it, but I do remember feeling sad for him, and yet amazed and happy that he continued as best he could with his passion for radio. Even when he got to the point that it was best for him to stay in his house rather than travel out to the office (and again later when he was confined to the hospital), he kept up his radio persona. They found a way for him to broadcast from whatever location he happened to be in.

I remember him doing a commercial for one of the local restaurants (the Melting Pot, perhaps? That was his favorite it seemed) around Father's Day and he mentioned that his health had improved enough that he was able to go out for dinner with the family. Even though it was intended to be a commercial for something else, I remember feeling the happiness that he was feeling better.

This morning, the morning listeners were calling in and commenting about the loss. I was in my usual rush to get ready, so I didn't have a chance to call in (and I'm not sure I would have anyway) but I decided that it was worth me taking a few minutes and commenting on regardless of venue.

Michael was the evening deejay for the station. He had a wonderfully pleasant and calm voice that made the drive home in the rush hour traffic much, much more relaxed. That soothing voice will truly be missed.

Those of us who listen to the station mostly in the a.m. knew Michael best as "Mr. Leaky Brain". Every morning, the show features a segment called "Stump the Jock" where listeners send in trivia questions to try and trip up the know-it-all deejay, Bruce (aka "Mr. Smarty-Pants"). On those days that Bruce would be gone (vacation, sick, whatever) Michael was usually the one they brought in to fill in for him and would then he would get stuck playing Stump the Jock with us. He wasn't as randomly knowledgeable as Mr. Smarty-Pants, so he was affectionately dubbed Mr. Leaky Brain as a result.

It's weird for me to walk around today and know that not everyone is affected by this information. In my tiny world of one, this is news on the level of losing Heath Ledger or Michael Jackson! In my mind, radio will never be the same again! I even shed a few tears for him and his family and his grieving listeners. And yet, like I said, not one of my readers will have been aware of this life-altering event until after reading this.

I'm just too sensitive. Probably the lack of sleep doesn't help.

On a completely unrelated (and opposite) note: I managed to get my paper written for class last night. It ended up being 7 pages. I hope the class forgives me for the length since I tried to include a little humor into the story. As far as the first revision of my poem, it's coming along surprising well (considering as of midnight last night I was staring blankly at my original poem and contemplating taking the zero). We'll see how it turns out.