Tag: Memories

Wine Coolers and Cramped Spaces – Down to 23

1994In my very late teens after graduation, I had two chicas that I were constants in my life. Blondie and I had met on the business high school and I met Kinky though Blondie.  By the way, I have changed their names to protect the innocent.  The funny part of that whole statement is that none of us were very innocent.  Blondie offered to let me come live with her in her very small one bedroom apartment.  And then Kinky was there all the time, too.  That means 3 late teen girls were living together in an apartment a little over 500 sqft. with a single bathroom.  We were all broke all the time and still managed to go out and have fun on a regular basis.  Blondie worked at Chili’s, so we got a discount to eat there and I was all good with eating mac and cheese made with water instead of milk and tuna fish.  Kinky was a genius with a make-up brush and taught me some tricks that I use to this day.  There was drama and laughter and good times and crazy times.  We watched each other deal with boyfriends and family issues and always had one another’s back. 

To this day, I still can’t tell you how we pulled it off, but we went to whatever club or bar we wanted to and always manged to find a party.  And then we always got home in one piece.  We never let each other leave with a person we didn’t know or lose track of each other.  We created a bond that I thought back then was pretty damn cool.  Little did I know that it would hold strong despite where we each ended up.

Kinky eventually left San Antonio and moved up north to Chicago.  I had planned on joining her, but God had a different plan and it included my surprise pregnancy.  She met someone got married and then moved back and then got divorced and moved away again and ended up in Jersey.  She then met her other half and they had a mini version of her and they married and have had another.  Blondie has stayed closer to home most of the years.  She married someone 10 years her senior that she met in the midst of our party days and she settled down and got married.  They then had a super handsome son and now her life is really about to change because she is on the verge of divorce after being married well over a decade.  Through all the ups and downs and miles in between, we always find each other when it matters the most.  There are 2 things I know in my heart of hearts about both of them, they have always been straight talkers to me and if I decide to start dancing on an empty dance floor, they won’t question my sanity and they might even join me.  Love you ladies but the phrase crazy bitches is probably more what you would expect hear – so Love You Crazy Bitches. 

32 Days Away and Wondering about Underoos

underoosWonder Woman Underoos were the underwear of choice when I was about 4 to 5 years old.  I wanted to get up every born and put on why my Underoos and transform to Wonder Woman.  I knew that I was supposed to be an Amazon woman and when I grew up I would chase down the bad guy and use my lasso of truth on them.  Underoos were AMAZING!  I remember other friends, boys and girls talking about what which Underoos then owned and which were our favorites.  The one thing that annoyed me then was that I wanted to wear some of the Underoos made for boys.  As the years passed, I still longed to wear those super cool Underoos. Every now and then, while shopping, I would stumble across them and noticed that new looks and designs would come along.  Eventually, I had my own kids and wanted them to have those moments of being their favorite super hero.  Let their imagination go wild as they ran around the house saving the world and stopping the evil villains of the world.  Find them in the underwear section of the store for boys was pretty easy in the late 90’s when my oldest was small.  He preferred Batman and would submerge himself into the alter ego of Bruce Wayne.  Again, I would reminisce about myself feeling invincible in my own Underoos.  Then came son number 2.  When he hit the age for Underoos, my husband and I noticed that they were hard to find.  I wanted my youngest to enjoy the same excite and wonder that the rest of had in our childhood.  I would check every undewear department that we came upon.  Where had Underoos vanished to? 

I took to the internet and started some research and read that production of Underoos were stopping.  REALLY?!?!  The only thing I could do now was starting hunting online for those who were charging more after the news or pray that a pair in just the right size fall from the sky.  Let the miracle happen!  okay, it wasn’t exactly a miracle that happened, but I was pretty exciting when I finally spotted some Underoos.  My in-laws had taken my family and I on the local military base to do some shopping.  As was now a habit, I wandered over to the boys underwear department and there they were.  A pair of actual Underoos.  One package and in just the right size and on clearance to boot.  I did a little happy dance and told my hubby.  Z would get to experience Underoos.  I know this seems crazy but their are few things that I can share with my boys that are exactly the same as when I was a kid.  He loved his Underoos!  The sad part was that there weren’t anymore.  Now, I have shared with friends how much I loved Underoos and that I would wear them to this day if I could.  This is where the whole growing up can come into question.  Does a grown woman really need to wear Underoos?  At what point should the matching underwear stop?  Actually never!  Woman can wear matching underwear our who lives if we want.  Whether you get you stuff at Wal-Mart or Victoria Secret or Agent Provocateur, woman still wearing matching underwear.  Now they looks and styles vary and most women are looking to wear a cami matching their panties, but many like their bras to match.  Well, someone somewhere must have been thinking the same as me about still wanting to don their Underoos as an adult. 

This past Christmas, my “big sister” (not by blood but by spirit) got me the most fantastic present….Adult Wonder Woman Underoos!!!  I was so excited I wanted to explode like a 9 year old on Christmas Day.  Turns out that Hop Topic has started to make Underoos for adults.  The designs are a little different and the styles seem to be focused on DC Comic characters for women and for guys their are DC and Masters of the Universe ones.  I love my Underoos again!  The first time I wore them, my little one came into the bedroom and said “Mom! You are a super hero.  Guess what, I am too! I have on Spider-man underwear. Do you think Daddy and Buh Buh are wearing some too?”  I can’t lie it made my heart happy…

Buffy Slaying Away for 33 More Days

To say that I am a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a bit of an understatement.  Those who know me well know how far this little love has gone.  (Notice how I avoid the word obsession) For those who do not know the joy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, here is a brief summary.  It was a series created by the brilliant Joss Whedon and premiered in the Spring of 1997.  The series revolves around a high school girl named Buffy Anne Summers who is the chosen girl for her generation that is gifted to be able to fight vampires and demons by night and deal with teenage drama with an attitude during the day.  And she has a group of friends and frenemies to help along the way.  The series came along when my son was less than 1 and it was a great way to take a break from the every day once a week.

Buffy became the one show that I always watched.  Even when I didn’t have a TV, I would always manage to find a friend who would record it on VHS (you know those things before DVR) and let me and Dru come over to watch.  As the years passed, I started to collect Buffy items and read the books.  I had those things all over our apartment.  Then I got hooked on the comics as well.  In fact, one of the reasons my friends pointed out, that Steven was the one, is that he bought me a Buffy novel that I was waiting for pay day to pick up.  I still keep that book in front of all the others facing out so that I can see it (that is such a girly thing to do).  Dru grew up with Buffy being a staple in our house and when Steven joined our family he reluctantly sat through every episode.  Even the repeats!

Why I love this show is a bit of understanding that it was more than just a girl killing vampires and dealing with demons to me.  The intimate relationships were complicated and friendships were intense.  Buffy’s family situation was confusing and not black and white.  I just found it so oddly comforting at that time in my life.  I would find these deep ideas and metaphors in episodes that I felt were about what was going on in our real world at the time.   And, yes, I DID love that every week there was some demon or vampire that had invaded Sunnydale and Buffy would overcome with so snarky words and cool death scenes.  The music was great and to this day I still get sad when I think about the break up between Buffy and Angel.  I have called my hubby a demon because there was an episode when Buffy is in college and she is convinced her roommate is a demon – why you ask? Because the chick’s nails grow like every day and she has to clip them.  Steven’s nails grow super fast and when he scratches me (by accident!) I accuse him of being a demon.  Makes me laugh and is a bit twisted but he just ignores me.

My love of Buffy has spread to all facets of our lives.  My snake was named Spike.  And I had the coolest females rats named Cordelia and Willow.  And my super sweet princess (a little black and white wired hair terrier mix) is named Buffy Anne.  I named her that because she is a tough little thing and a total survivor.  So to me the name was quite fitting.  Dru loved the character Angel and when he left Sunnydale and got his own spin-off, it was a guaranteed night of mommy/son bonding time.

Now, my youngest son, who was born like 5 years after the show ended, is named Zander and I have had people assume he is named after one of the characters on the show as well.  BUT, I love to point out that the character’s name was actually Alexander and his nickname was Xander.  Z has seen Buffy and while I was pregnant I even watched the entire series start to finish.  There are times now when it is on or I am binge watching that Z will go look for our dog and tell her that she is on TV.

I don’t think I will ever get tired of the show or any of the cast.  I have watched every show/ movie that has had someone from the show.  And I discovered the genius of Joss Whedon that I have passed on to my boys.  Buffy is the reason we have watched everything Joss has ever done.  We have found some comedies that had former cast members or tuned into a show that we have never seen just to see form Buffy stars.  I love that any given week I can watch TV and catch a glimpse of something that takes me back to Buffy.  And I look forward to Buffy being around in some form until I actually get old – like 95 years old.  Until then, if I’m sick or need a pick me up, just throw on some Buffy and I am all good.