Stepping Outside My Box

A few months back, someone opened a Painting with a Twist location here in Meridian.  (http://paintingwithatwist.com/meridian)  I've been thinking about checking it out for a while, but I can't even really draw straight stick-figures, much less paint.

But...an old friend I've recently begun to reconnect with invited me to a private party there Friday night.  I tossed around the idea for a few days, should I go, should I not go?  Art is not something I'm comfortable with, I won't really know anyone else there, blah blah blah.  So, I just went for it and signed up.  Once you pay for it, there's really no backing out I guess. 

I went, and guess what...I had a really great time!  They teach you every step of the way, and they'll even help you fix it it you're not crazy with one of the steps.  I think it turned out ok, but I'm always my toughest critic. 

Robbie either apparently liked it or just wanted to spare my feelings, but, either way, it ended up on the living room wall.  It's not too shabby for my first one, and a few friends are looking at which painting to do next month.

So I guess I learned that it's ok to step outside my comfort zone every now and then...

Eating Habits

Weird, random post from me today...

So, a coworker was making fun of me because I'm eating Wheat Thins dipped in ranch dressing.  (It's pretty freaking awesome.) I know I'm one of the pickiest eaters ever, so I decided to list my strange eating habits in black and white just so I can see how strange I might be.

• Apparently Wheat Thins and ranch dressing is a good place to start.  (Cheez Its and ranch dressing is pretty great too).
• I only eat the crust and sauce when I eat pizza - I ALWAYS pick the toppings off.  I've done this as long as I can remember.  (And I don't order breaksticks with sauce because they taste different). 
• Nor will I eat pizza (crust and sauce) with peppers and onions.  The taste seeps into the crust.  Yuck.
• I usually only eat salads when I make them at home.  This is because I don't like the "crunchy" part of the lettuce, I only like the leafy part.  Exception is at Subway because they have shredded lettuce.
• I only like biscuits for breakfast from McDonalds or Hardee's.  I always get bacon and cheese, no egg.  I open it, eat the bacon first, then the cheese.  Then put strawberry jelly on both halves of the biscuit and eat them separately.
• A1 on fried catfish and crinkle-cut fries in awesome!  My husband thought I was nuts until he tried it - seriously good stuff.
• I like deer meat as long as I don't know it's deer.  If you tell me, my throat will close and I will not be able to swallow.  All stems from learning I was eating deer steak as a child while watching Bambi.  Thanks Uncle John, scarred for life.
• I have to have a tomato product in my diet at least once a day, preferably salsa, tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes.  Though peeled home-grown tomatoes in the summer with salt is by far top of my list.
• I dip my cornbread in ketchup.  Can't eat cornbread without it.
• I also put ketchup in my butterbeans, and sometimes in my peas.
• I don't like cheese on my hamburgers except from McDonalds.
• I can only stomach cream cheese and sour cream if it's cooked in something, and I'd prefer not to know it's in there, though I cook with both a lot.
• I hate ricotta cheese and cottage cheese.  It's a texture thing...
• I don't like chocolate.  I'll eat it every now and then in the small form of a Hershey's kiss, but that's it.  (Except I love Rolo's - all that caramel, I don't mind the chocolate so much).  Don't like chocolate cake either.
• I don't like ice cream.
• I don't eat leftovers, except from Olive Garden, Nick and Al's (pasta only), DePalma's, and Pearl Garden.
• I only eat Chinese food from Pearl Garden in Tuscaloosa.  I ate there so often when I lived there that nothing else tastes the same.
• The only vegetables that I'll touch are the "Southern" ones, and I don't eat all of them.  Some of my faves are tomatoes (duh), butterbeans, black-eyed/purple-hull peas, stewed potatoes, whole kernel corn or corn on the cob (hate creamstyle corn!), and that's about it...though I have had a friend make me squash before, and I really liked it.

 Ok, maybe putting it in black and white wasn't a good idea.  I am kinda a strange, picky eater...Oh well.

Being Noticed

Ok, let me just go ahead and throw in this disclaimer.  This post is liable to sound really conceited and vain, but those who know me well know that's not me at all.

I received a compliment the other day by one of my close guy friends, and it's probably about the nicest compliment I've ever received.  I get hit on a lot, and I have no idea why.  I consider myself to be average.  I don't wear make-up, EVER (wore it for a brief stint when starting high school and hated it),  I've recently grown my hair longer because my husband asked me to, but I have no clue how to roll it, fix it anything.  It's straight, always.  I'm most comfortable in jeans and flip-flops, but I can get dressed up with the best of 'em (without makeup and with plain hair, of course.)  I'm a guy's girl, really.  I wanna watch Alabama football and dirt-track racing, and I don't have to be all fake for that.

I DO have a fear of being fat, so I do yoga 3 nights a week, I run, and I strength-train with light weights. 

Normally a woman's compliment is "nice ass,"  "nice breasts," blah blah blah.  Because all of THAT is flattering, ugh.  For instance, the other day on my way to work, passed a guy on the interstate in jacked-up Chevrolet, Georgia plates. He speeds back up to get next to me, rolls his window down, holds out a piece of paper with his number on it, and tells me to call him. What is wrong with people?!?! That's not flattering, that just makes me think you're psycho. Why would men think this is a compliment???

All of that being said, the compliment I received was:

You're beautiful and can carry on an intelligent conversation for hours on multiple levels with every genre of of personality. Some would say people instead of personality, but it's really the intellect that you can communicate with. Each of them responding to you in a positive way. That my dear, is not only great marketing skills, but in a real and honest sense; it shows your brilliance to care enough about someone else to learn enough about them to effectively communicate with them. All without asking anything in return.

That absolutely made my day, my week actually. Rarely as women do we get to hear stuff like this.  That's pretty sad...

I'm Not Getting Your Damn Tickets

So, for those of you who don't know, I work in a conference center with a performing arts theater.  http://www.msurileycenter.com/  Check it out sometime. 

What I really hate with a passion is when our new seasons are announced, because I start getting the "Hey, can you get me really good tickets to .....?"  NO!  First of all, if you know me well, you know that I don't get to buy my tickets early, nor do I get a discount.  If you don't know me well enough to know that, what makes you think that I know you well enough to care how close to the stage you are?????  I mean, really.  Don't you think it's a bit presumptious and rude to just ask me to help you when you don't know me that well anyway? 

So, no.  I will not be helping you get your tickets.  I'm sure you'll get lovely seats, as all our seats are great.  Good luck to you!

Ok, off my soapbox now...Just needed to vent.

Friendship

“A friendship that can end never really began” - Publilius Syrus

I came across this quote last night, and it really made me stop and think.  At the end of 2010, I lost the person who I trusted as my best friend.  Part of it was my fault really.  I kept something from her to try to spare her feelings, and that led to her believing she couldn't trust me.  There was MUCH more to the whole situation on both sides, but that's the one part of the whole deal that I truly regret.  There were a lot of things said over the course of a month or so that we'll never be able to take back.  But...I miss her.  I miss our conversations.  I miss knowing she was always there for me to go to.  I miss her kids.  But, do I miss her, or do I miss the friend I thought she was?  Is she still that same person I knew and all this clouded my judgement?  I guess I'll never know...

I've been dealing with the whole concept of friendship.  I always like to think I'm a good friend.  If I consider you a friend I would walk to the moon and back on hot coals for you, seriously.  I seem to come across as a hard ass to a lot of people, but I'm a huge pushover when it comes to my friends.  But, I can't shake the question of whether it would have been best for me to tell her which would have led her to a fight with someone she loves or whether I should have just kept it to myself like I did.

At 33 years old, do I really need to have a label of a "best friend?"  My guard is way up these days.  I have a friend who considers me her best friend, but I'm not at the same point in our friendship as she is. I have a few true friends whom I know I can call on at any time...I've heard people say that your spouse should be your best friend.   While I certainly love Robbie, I simply don't see things that way. 

Maybe it's all just me and everyone else is normal.  But, I like me.