the other "A" month

That's what I said last night.
He had asked when school was to resume and I had said "April 18."
"Oh? Are you not teaching until the spring?"
"No, I meant August. The other 'A' month."

Yeah, that was a conversation stopper.
But he did offer me a Mentos.
It was like being in a "boy meets girl" commercial.
(smile.)
'Cept we were at "Odd Lot: The Musical" at Muse Arts.
I had thought he had gone last night, so I was pleasantly surprised to find him there.
Waving at me from the top row.
That was definitely a very pleasant surprise!
And I went straight up and received a hug - very nice!
Then I sat down beside him, there on the top row.

You never sit on the top row.

True 'dat. But I did last night!

Please tell me you aren't fixing to be crazy again...

Well, I can't promise that. I've been attracted to him ever since I first saw him. He has very caring eyes. And a gorgeous silver streak near his temple. I really wish I could convince my hair to do that...

You need to calm down, g'friend. Don't be putting moves out there and scaring folks.

Again, I can't promise that. You know how I am - full-TILT boogie or not at all! Rather, those are the two paces I most favor, though I did try to travel at a more reasonable speed two years ago.

Please to be careful, okay? What was that quote that you were taken with in "Belle"? Didn't you type it into your phone for later viewing?

"The world is a devastating place. You must learn to protect your emotions if you are to keep matters of law and love from devastating you." Lord Mansfield was talking to John Davinier, would-be suitor of Belle.
I still think that is a remarkable piece of advice.
However, it is a bit isolationist, isn't it? And the young suitor declined to take that advice and did end up victorious, winning the heart of said fair lady.
Of course, he didn't so so alone. She was pretty well set on winning his heart, too.
I think the man with the caring eyes has a fondness for me.
This isn't the first time he has made sure to attract my attention and given me a hug.
This is the first time we have sat together, though. We kept glancing at each other during the show, as we both vocally - and frequently - responded to the frivolity onstage, even when others were not dpoing so.
At one point during the second act, my right foot touched his left foot... and we both left them like that for several minutes, even moving the touch up to our calves.
I know, I sound like a school-girl, right?
I'm a school teacher, and I am a girl-type of person.
Yeah, time for me to go and give this a rest.

Later, dear. Do be careful. That way be dragons, you know.

Well, if those dragons are Night Furys, than count me in...
He likes dragons, too.

we are the champ-eee-ons!

Yep, you got that right -
that's me,
holding the first-place trophy!
For what, you say?
For scoring 550 points
in Justin's
"Forget I'm 40 Scavenger Hunt"
birthday party
last night!
My three team mates and I totally rocked it!!!
Mostly,
perhaps,
for garnering
the highest number of people
(I think the count was 70!)
on film
wishing our host
a "happy birthday!"
That's something he can treasure over and over.
And we had a blast asking strangers to do so,
from the cashier at the new CVS at Abercorn and DeRenne
to the River Street worker toting the trash bin,
from the ice-cream loving family
to the honeymooning older folks, all
- except one! -
gladly complied
with our request for a birthday greeting on video!
I will make sure I do the same in the future for any folks gathering such fun footage!
We also really rocked it on the other thirty-nine items on the Scavenger Hunt list. Well, not all of them, as we ran out of time on some while others we simply did not have a consensus to perform. (Cartwheels, anyone? No, I don't think so!)
I really didn't know the three women on my team. Two, Mel and Lynita, are fellow Odd Lotters, like Justin is, and the third, Jessica, is a big fan who is frequently at their shows on Monday nights. I've known Lynita a long time, and we are fb friends, but we aren't close. Justin put us all together, partly because none of us were coupled up and only one of us (Jessica) had a video maker.
So, after a scan of the list, off we went to pile into my car. But, wait! One of the items was someone had to "wear their clothes backwards all evening" - so I volunteered to do that and did so!
Before we drove off, though, Mel entered my car "through the front window" like the guys in Dukes of Hazzard! (I even got to keep a memento for that one! LOL!)
Then, off to the CVS for "Mentos and Coke" for the item at the top of the list! Mel also did the "nap in an unusual location" in their toy aisle and I was the one who "found" her there. What a fun way to start!
Then to bounce over to the midtown YMCA to "get in the shower together" - NOT! It was closed. Drats!
Over to downtown, with Lynita and Mel calling their "moms to say I love you" enroute! (Lynita called her mom twice, since my mother is dead. Nice touch!)
First stop: Forsyth Park! There, Lynita and Mel "ran toward each other in slow motion", "marched around the Pulaski monument", and off we went again! North of Gaston Street!
(If you're from these parts, that means "to the real downtown Savannah". Inside joke, y'all!)
After we parked around the corner from the Lucas Theatre, it all became a bit of a blur.
Off to place Mel with her "doppelganger", Lynita reciting a sushi "haiku" on Broughton, Lynita as Romeo to Mel's Juliet in "the balcony scene"!
Mel and I singing "A Very Merry UnBirthday" with an older couple, all of us in an "earthquake" with a bunch of young revelers!
Gathering "jokes from three people" (including a kid I shared my "Flatman and Ribbon" joke with), being part of "twenty feet walking in unison" with a group of travelers, and getting the "theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire" sung by an artist on River Street!
Jessica danced and received 9.5 from "the judges on the street", Mel did a "pole dance" on a Handicapped marker, and one of us shook "the hand of a bearded man"!
Then Mel and I did our "kung-fu fighting" in a parking garage, Lynita and I were "on top of the world" on the toy tugboat, and both of them were against me as a homicidal vagrant, like "an episode of Cops"!
Lynita also sang "never gonna let you go" to a very nice fellow and Mel echoed in the "Magic X on River Street"!
Lynita was "Forrest Gump on a park bench" as I sat responding to her madness, then she and Mel did the kidfun "wheelbarrow"!
Mel also had a case of "celebrity mistaken identity" with a near-Sheldon Cooper!
Then they all 'washed" my car while "Workin' at the Car Wash" played in the background - sadly, I was working the camera and the scene was not recorded. Drats!
But we DID get all of us vamping to the "Mission Impossible" theme as our final item!
We looked for "a fence to all climb over", a "street vendor to sell something to", a person to "help get their groceries to their car", and another team to "secretly film" - but were unsuccessful.
I don't even recall the other (five? six? seven?) items on the list!
Then, off to Muse Arts to turn in our video by 11 PM!
Success! We were the first team there!
Then we were all treated to each other's works of art on the big screen! Nice! Four teams, four versions of the many skits, four times the fun we had already had!
And... when all was said and viewed, we WON!!!
What a night!
Thanks, Justin, for inviting me to your party!
And even, though I didn't get to keep the trophy, my car will be my reminder of that fun evening. How so? Part of the window vent guard was broken by Mel's re-enactment of the country boy "jump in the front window". But hey, that bit of plastic is almost thirteen years old - no problem! That will be my car's badge of honor!

see, i do listen to you

A dancing crab! That's just one of the many gifts the bfe showered upon me tonight during dinner at one of our favorite spots. He said, "The wind-up waving crab makes me smile. You need an entity to put your hopes and dreams into - let Col. Crab help you out!"
The little crab was not the first gift brought out of the blue, though. (Bag, that is. You'll get it soon.) There was a theme linking the presents and I needed to figure it out, he said as he began pulling out presents. First, for my creative side, came a kit to build my very own crazy foam frog. But, as he said, the frog "needs a friend" so he also gave me a foam kit for a lovely crab with pipe cleaner legs and googly eyes. Very sweet! After all, don't we all need friends to share life's adventures?
Next, a package of shark tattoos, for my "bad-ass" side. Yo! Or maybe that should be yo-ho-ho? Hahaha!

After the scary sharks came the silly dancing crab. Then, something he had bought for the ensemble, but was unfamiliar with. The sailboat consisted of two metal die-cuts with a magnet in the middle. Termed a "screen saver", the purpose is to keep birds from crashing into plate glass windows and doors. Still, it tied in with the theme, even if he termed it "??!?".
Knowing my fondness for animated films for kids, he had searched out "Saving Nemo," not realizing he had the name wrong. When he (understandably) couldn't find it, he bought the next film with a title he knew I would like: "The Reef". Wonder of wonders, I haven't seen this one before! Yea! He added a trio of plastic sea creatures to play with before, during, or after the movie. Nice!

When he saw this metal fish, he said it spoke to him and was "the inspiration for all this." He knew glass would not do, as I am a klutz and break fragile objects. He is also very familiar with my collection of colorful wooden fish, some rather whimsical, others more true to nature. So, he had seen this unbreakable piece of ocean-inspired art and thought of me.
See, he does listen to me. What a very nice way to show it, too!
Maybe I can help him with his biology lessons so he doesn't mistake frogs for aquatic life. (smile)

Later, he even treated me to the improv comedy show at Muse Arts Warehouse and we enjoyed the show together, writing lines on dialogue slips, yelling out words to be worked into story lines, cheering and applauding! Fun, fun, fun!!!

touch me touch me touch me touch me!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show song is totally appropriate!
I was in SUCH a great frame of mind today! My mood ring would have glowed warm purple for mellow and loved. Truly!

And I have figured out why, too.
Touch.
I scored major touch from all kinds of sources today! It's been pure magic, the transformation of a physical sensation to a balm for my mental, emotional, and spiritual self!

How did it begin?
I met my stepmom for lunch and a movie, something we haven't done in far too long. Schedule conflicts, what with my Fridays being consumed either by meetings or special make-up tests for students. In other words, lots of special favors for others, none for me. Boo hiss!
So this was an especially nice way to celebrate my first day of Spring Break! Oh, yeah! Hugs, first, then a leisurely lunch at what has become our favorite twice-named restaurant. The manager even brought us a free sampler of their new treats: fried mushrooms for her and fried pickle chips for me. Yum!!! Nice and crispy and zingy pickles!
Then off to the movies! She even got an extra dollar off because it was Senior Monday. Nice! We got the popcorn & soda special, too (and a free refill on the large tub before we left, of course!) and had a good time laughing at the movie.
I may have enjoyed "Identity Thief" more than she did, as it had the expected harsh language in it, and a bit more than she liked. Still, we totally enjoyed being with each other and ended our day together with more hugs before going in our opposite directions.
I went home, put away the popcorn, and checked facebook. Oh, yeah! The indomitable JinHi had received a clean-of-cancer decree by her doctor! The evil marshmallow was gone and had left naught behind!!! Woohoo!!! A quick call then to my house-mate. Had he heard the news? Nope, not yet. Yeah! Definitely a night-brightener for both of us!
Then north I headed to downtown for some improv to add more laughter to my life. Great idea! Hugs for the loving husband of the indomitable JihHi! Hugs from friends there when I entered! Hugs from friends there when I exited almost wo hours later! Hugs, hugs, hugs!!!
Then to the Liquor Posse for a bit of camaraderie around a team trivia table. Nice! Some of the Philo Cafe crowd were there, too, adding to the merriment. I can't recall if our team won or lost, but we sure had fun trying! Then hugs before we all dispersed into the night.
Wow! What a fabulous day!

sweets for the sweet

Today, I shared more of the delectables purchased on Friday! These are three of the chocolate-clad, pecan-drizzled, toffees, made with that fabulous sourwood honey- smoky, tangy, anchoring the sweet to this realm. Fabulous, I do declare!
I had purchased a small bag of these treats, taste unknown, but knowing my love of caramels in all of their incarnations. I treated myself to one as a post-brunch dessert on Sunday, after dining sumptuously on a bratwurst and leftover kale from the night before. The toffee hit just the right note, singing a delicious melody to my eager palate. MmmmMmmmmMmmmmmmmm!
I celebrated my first day of Spring Break by having lunch and a movie with my step-mom in Bluffton. Before leaving home, I placed three of the toffees into this little plastic Chocolat sleeve, especially for her, to share the goodness with another who would truly appreciate the quality and nuances of the tastes. I waited until our time together was nearing its close, so she would have a treat to enjoy when she returned to Beaufort and got settled in for the evening. A sweet before-bed "hug" to remind her that I love her.
Later that evening, after the first part of the ODDitions at Muse Arts had successfully hit my laugh button for two hours, I headed over to the Crystal Beer Parlor where the Liquor Posse was holding court. Monday is team trivia night and the LP, in various configurations, can be found there reliably, usually winning. This night, some folks from Philo Cafe were there, as were some from Drinking Liberally, but to no avail. The team was losing. Losing badly, too. But the contestants were still in a wonderfully happy mood! Definitely a good place to be for the tail end of my evening!
Sometimes, even my scant knowledge of Trivia lends an occasional correct answer, generally in the sphere of the sciences, but tonight I was of help on the movie trivia. The question was a bonus question with ten parts. I helped on three of the questions of linking movie stars to the movies for which they received Oscar nominations. Not enough of a help, but we had fun together in the attempt. I need to make sure I do this more often!
A woman was there celebrating her birthday, which is actually March 17th. That's right, Saint Patrick's Day. She had decided that she should celebrate HER special day ahead of time, to make sure it didn't get lost in the backwash of green flowing over this town next weekend. Good idea! At the end of the party, she had extra green armbands and was generously passing them out to folks in the Parlor. How very nice! These elastic bands sported little filigree shamrocks chasing each other along the expanse of green. Even nicer! We each received one, and one of the folks gave me theirs for my house-mate. What a pleasant surprise for the peace guy!
What a wonderful day for me!
And tomorrow I shall feed stale popcorn to ducks and geese and gulls!

are you ready for this?!

Last night was fabulous!!! The Odd Lot improv group was celebrating the birthday of one of their own... and they had special skits JUST for him. Elvis was there, talking about his return to Earth from his erstwhile home on Venus, the planet of Love. (Hahaha! See? I did get it!) So was Christopher Walken and Don Knotts, temporarily inhabiting the same body and fighting over it, too. Oh, and let's not forget the Cowardly Lion, part of the prison detail to pick the poppies in Oz! Rawr! A crowd of folks was there in the audience, to cheer on the mayhem and to help the celebration. I am SO blessed to have been there!
My favorite skit, though it was certainly a hard choice, was "Soucy Kills!". Ordinarily, it would have simply been called "Last Lines, the game in which everyone dies", but this time, the birthday boy was designated the slayer of all. And what was he slaying? A list of horrible, horrifying creatures, that's what!
First up was the Chupacabra, cast to type, which made it even funnier. The creature met its match, venturing within reach and having its spine ripped out through its back and then thrust into its heart. Ahhhhhh! With its dying breath, it uttered the audience-generated words on the slip of paper - but spoke in Spanish! What a stroke of genius!
Next up was Cthulhu, denizen of the darkest ocean depths, burbling his threats at the Soucy. Quick as a flash, the Soucy hurls a bowl of batter at the squidlike monster and then dunks him into boiling oil! Hahaha! And Cthulhu utters his final words in - what else? - Cthulhuese, as he collapses to the floor.
The Queen of King Scorpions then sashays onto the stage, clashing its fierce claws and thrashing its terrible tail. No, seriously, I saw it! The Soucy approaches, and, whilst the insect threatens to sting, he places his finger on the center of its thorax. Oh, no, the deadly poisonous Soucy finger! The scorpion goes through incredible death throes, before succumbing, exclaiming all the while, "No! No! No! No! No! No!"
Thomas the kitten then meanders onto the death floor, finding a spotlight in which to lick his paw and look cute. Then the Soucy is on him! Oh, the poor kitten is cuddled to death! And, in true kitteh-speak, his last utterance is a single, pitiful "meow". Nicely done!
So, for those keeping score, we have four fierce creatures down, with only once having an English last line. Awesome!!!
Little miss Shirley Temple skips forward, singing about good ships and lollipops. The Soucy is not amused. He makes short shrift of her and her song, and she joins the bodies littering the floor.
Now it's time for the Dwarf, arch nemesis of the Soucy since childhood. This one is hatless and approaches fearlessly, on its stubby legs, but draws too near. Rip! Out goes its heart and the Dwarf leaps from the shock, before gravity pulls him to its bosom. Hah! Take that! One dwarf down, one Soucy still standing!
And the Dragon decides to take him on! Plodding across the stage, taking care to avoid the human hurdles at its feet, it breathes fire in the Soucy's direction. Once, twice, then the Soucy blocks its mouth, forcing the fire to go scorching back into the body of the beast, evoking a smell of barbequed flesh. (Yes, I did smell it!) Game over, the Soucy victorious against all! Woohoo!
I wish I could recall the last lines of the last three fierce creatures, but I was too tickled to commit them to memory. Still, know ye that they were quite appropriate for the occasion, made remarkable by the fact that they were randomly drawn from the hat filled with lines from the audience. GREAT fun!