Deuces

My freshman year of high school I was placed in an A.V.I.D. class, but it wasn't until many years later when I actually discovered what, and for whom, that class was designed. I guess I always saw it as shear luck that I got placed into that elective course involuntarily.  I never knew why I was there, but I utilized the time to eat oranges and chat with Amy.  I know we had tutors come in and I know we utilized that hour to get work done.  Frankly, I thought it was genius that I got to do homework while eating my favorite citrus fruit in school. We went on field trips to colleges and I remember them being boring field trips.  The campuses seemed so big and felt like light years away.  I really only went to get out of school for the day.  I remember walking on those vast campuses missing the "fun" field trips of my youth to places like the Frito Lay Factory and the Wonderbread Factory. Ho-Hum. It was in A.V.I.D. that my teacher, Mrs. Puckett once gav...

I have my mom, -She is wild and fun and generous.  Why, just last weekend I watched, in slight horror, as she karaoked Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf".  She drives me batty every once in a while because she talks really fast and my mind can't keep up... and then I feel tired.  But on our mother-daughter dates we love to see the latest flick and have a nice, long lunch. She often forgets that I am now 31 and she likes to preach about what I shouldn't be doing.  Like, she'll talk about the dangers of tanning salons in an accusatory manner, even though I have told her a million times I haven't been in a tanning bed for like, a decade. And then there are the other moms who have shaped my life.  Are you one of them? Moms can be aunts, siblings, neighbors and the moms of your friends and boyfriends.  I even have great girl friends who always make me feel well-taken care of. I've had several moms that I think of often. My mother-in-law i...

I have a decent memory for names, which is super helpful in my job.  I can quickly commit it to memory, and put the associations and puzzle pieces together. This is why I remember my 4 Roberts. The first Robert I dated was when I was 16- clingy Robert- the one from my days at Del Taco, remember?  Clingy Robert was Hispanic with dark locks and olive skin.  It was with clingy Robert that I went on my first ever bowling date.  It was the first time I realized that bowling lanes were slippery, and the first time I fell on my behind while, likely, trying to look adorable on a date. My second Robert was best known as "Sweet Robbie".  Robbie was blonde, and for the life of me I can't remember where we met.  Sweet Robbie and I would hang out at his grandmother's house, although, ironically I never met his grandmother.  Sweet Robbie was quiet and we would spend many summer days in the pool at his grandmother's.  I don't even remember how and why...

The barista's name was Steve. My best friend and I frequented the mall at age 20.  You know, at that in-between age when we were too young for the bars but couldn't quite get our enthusiasm up for the 18 and overs. My bestie and I loved going to the movies and it wasn't unlike us to see 2 or 3 flicks in a week.  We were free to date no one and everyone and we always chose to date each other. Maria and I would go to the Ontario Mills, like, A LOT and part of our routine was to get a Starbucks coffee or a blended coffee drink from GameWorks (I know, who woulda' knew Gameworks had bomb blended drinks?). And the cute barista drew me in more than I needed. Maria and I, to this day, blame our "Freshman 15" on Steve and all our blended coffee drinks. Steve was foxy back then (he later became completely gross and unfoxy, so I need to stress "back then".) Steve would flirt shamelessly and on one clever occassion he wrote his name and phone numbe...

Of course, of course... Many of my favorite Vegas trips have been with my girlfriends.  Suites at the Montecarlo overlooking the strip, getting into booths at Rain and Ghostbar and walking down Las Vegas Boulevard in shoes that just weren't meant to be walked in. But most of my favorite trips to Vegs were with my family. As kids, we would frequent the strip and stay in what we now know as the dodgy Circus Circus.  As kids we had no clue that the CC was a dodgy hotel- we thought it was awesome. Sometimes we would stay at the Flamingo Hilton, the one that looks like Barbie threw up all over it, you know the one?? But we loved it. When I was a kid I always wanted to stay at the Excalibur, because at the time that was the new hotel and it had an amazing arcade.  We couldn't afford to stay at the newest hotels so we always retreated to the trusty Circus or Flamingo. I also always wanted to stay at the Tropicana, but only because it had a water slide at the pool....