The Story Continues...

My roommate, Trish, sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at me with confusion as dress after dress flew out of the closet, across the room, and onto my bed. I was running out of clothes to throw and my bed was about to completely disappear.

"This is impossible!" I yelled. "How do you dress for a date with a complete stranger? I don't even know where we're going!"

"Remind me again. Why are you going?" Trish asked.

I stopped my frantic search and turned to her. My brain tried to process an answer, but came up empty.

"I don't know," I sighed. "It makes no sense. I know nothing about him but his name." I collapsed onto the edge of the only visible corner of my bed. "And that he has some kind of grudge against 80's music."

"He could be a total weirdo. And how did he know where you lived? Now that's kind of creepy," Trish pointed out with a look of barely-hidden worry.

"I know, Trish. It makes no sense. But, I think that's why I want to go."

___________________________________________________________________

Charles Silver was punctual. That was the second thing I learned about him. The third was that he didn't own a car.

I had been told by my mother when I was fifteen that you could tell a lot about a man by the car he drives. She would point out the small, but well-maintained economy-sized cars and judge the driver to be "responsible and stable". The neutral-colored four-door sedans received an "unimaginative" or "married". And the flashy two-seat sport cars usually garnered the same response as the monster-sized pick-up trucks that required a ladder to dismount. She would smirk and just say, "Over-compensation."

Once I was old enough to understand her definitions, it became habit to try to classify men in this way. Unfortunately, it was not going to help me any with unlocking the mystery that was Charles Silver. Mom never classified bicycles for me.

He pulled up to the curb on a tall, black bike, his helmet covered in artwork that looked a lot like a fire-breathing Cocker Spaniel. I knew then what my second question for him would be at dinner.

"Wow. You're here," he stated, surprised but still wearing that confident smirk.

"I'm here." I eyed his bike. "Sooo, where are we going?" I paused. "And how are we getting there?"

His lips spread in a wide smile.

"Food is our destination. And I can offer you two options." He motioned to the front of the bike. "The handlebars, with a magnificent view? Or, the seat, with the security of your arms around me?" He waved toward the seat.

At that moment, I was grateful that I had chosen to wear the shorter, black dress and ballet flats that Trish insisted on, instead of the long dress and heels that I was favoring.

"Well, why not? Here goes nothing," I mumbled under my breath as I gathered the skirt of my dress and headed to the seat.

"Prefer security, eh?" Charles teased as he glanced over his shoulder at me. "Well, I'd bet money it won't be long until you're up front, enjoying the view and holding on for dear life."

I didn't know why, but it seemed to me that Charles Silver was more sure about who I was than I did.

To Be Continued...

This is some random writing that I did back in April of last year and I never got around to continuing the story. So, this is to refresh my blog memory and to, hopefully, urge me on to writing the next part.


I walked along the gravel-covered ruts through the cemetery. The stone markers were haphazardly strewn throughout the grass, as if the earth were rejecting their intrusion and the intrusion of those they marked. The wind breathed through the tall grass and stirred applause from the millions of leaves on the trees. I couldn't remember the last time my life was this still. Everything around me was speaking, reminding me that it was all alive.

I almost become lost in their voices until my eyes fell upon the rough headstone. SILVER. "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have...ah, what a load of crap." He always did have a strange sense of humor. Like the time we met. I was staring at a poster for the theater group's production of Moulin Rouge on the community board of the campus when his voice interrupted my thoughts with, "Why go and see that when I can just tell you about it right now. They all sing a conglomerate of 80's pop, fall into forbidden love, and the girl dies a tragic, but beautiful, death. There. Now you have that night free to have dinner with me."

I turned to see a mischievous smirk upon the face of a man who could only be described as boyishly charming, as cliche as that was. But I had heard enough pickup lines to know that I shouldn't give in too easily to a witty remark and its accompanying smile, no matter how cute he was.

"What makes you think that I don't happen to love 80's pop, or that I would go to dinner with you, a complete stranger?" I asked him coyly, using emphasis on the word strange.

"Are you kidding? One, nobody likes 80's pop. At least, not enough to sit through two hours of it. And two, I would think it would much more exciting to spend those two hours enjoying dinner with a complete stranger than any length of time listening to an odd blend of Madonna and The Police."

I had absolutely no comeback to this and he stole the advantage by quickly adding, "Great. I will meet you outside of Henley Hall, 7 p.m., Friday."

"Wait. How did you know I live at Henley Hall? You don't even know my name."

"Sure I do. Barbara."
He waited for my reaction, and must have seen my confusion.
"Sara? Beth?" That same smile spread across his face again. "Ok, so I don't know your name. What shall I call the lady that will be haunting my thoughts for the rest of my existence?"

"Paulette. But you still didn't tell me how you knew where I lived."

"Ah, that I will save for you until our date. Until then, I think I will just let you go mad trying to figure it out. And just so we're not on uneven footing, the name is Charles, Charles Silver." He walked away, slowly picking up speed, but still managed to look back once more with that same grin on his face, like he definitely had a secret, and I was it.

Friday Fun

Once again, I have snagged a list from Laugh Outloud. It's from fill-in-the-blank Friday. Enjoy, steal, share.

1. The first thing I do in the morning is hit the snooze button.. at least five times. It's a good thing my alarm is my phone and it's on vibrate.

2. Every night before bed I take the only free time I have to myself to use the computer, watch a little tv, or read a good book until I can't keep my eyes open anymore.

3. My favorite thing to do when I'm having a bad day is take a nap, even if it's just for 15 minutes.

4. Something that makes me cringe is the dentist drill and cutting my leg while shaving.

5. Social situations are usually really fun, and a great reason to get a little dressy.

6. I like to collect bells from places I visit. I have some from London and Ireland.

7. Weekends are for cleaning house, chilling with family, relaxing, and doing something fun.

Flying High

H's reserve unit celebrated it's official activation with a semi-formal banquet last week. It's the first formal function we've attended since he joined the reserves. And since we rarely get to to dress up and get out of the house sans kiddos, we really did it up. H bought a new suit, which he was really needing anyway since the last suit doesn't fit so well since he's lost 60 lbs. I also bought a gorgeous dress that I loved the minute I tried it on. On this rare occasion, I also got a mani, pedi, and wore more eye make-up than usual. What can I say...I'm a no-frills kinda gal most days. But, oh, I sure enjoyed the pampering.

The banquet was full of good food, GREAT cake (from Linda's cakes), and speakers that shared and honored the history of the 44th group. The 301st Fighter Group are also under the 44th, and the original 301st group were the Tuskegee Airmen. THE Tuskegee Airmen. And there were four of the original airmen at the banquet. It was an honor to be in the same room with these men. It was amazing. I HAD to get some pictures with them. Also present were some of the original 44th Bomb Group. Each of the veterans were honored with a statuette of a fighter plane. One woman received the statuette for her late husband and she said, "He was always on time and on target. And he never made a mistake...just look at me." She was awesome and so appreciative. The keynote speaker was a vet who is now a lawyer that fights for veterans that were never honored with medals for valiant service and actions. He has been instrumental in making sure that these veterans receive the medals and honor they are due. One veteran received his medal during the activation ceremonies that day after over 60 years of waiting for it. It was awesome. Being in that banquet with all those that have served and are serving made me so proud. And it makes me want to be a part of it even more. So, remember all those that make your freedom possible and say a prayer for them. And if you see a service member, thank them for their service, without hesitation.

Stolen from Laugh Out Loud:

Laugh Out Loud put this up first. I'm just following her hilarious footsteps. Personally, I didn't think the first few were that funny, but some of the rest had me in stitches.

"Random Thoughts of 25-35 year olds:

1. - Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
2. - Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.
3. - I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
4. - How the in the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. - I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
6. - I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
7. - The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
8. - LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
9. - I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
10. - Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
11. - How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
12. - I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
13. - While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
14. - MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
15. - I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
16. - Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty.
17. - Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
18. - If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
19. -Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
20. - You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
21. - Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
22. - I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
23. - "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
24. - I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
25. - When I meet a new person, I'm terrified of mentioning something they haven’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
26. - Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
27. - I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
28. - Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
29. - Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
30. - It really makes me mad when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
31. - I wonder if cops ever gets mad at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
32. - I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
33. - I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?"

Some vids at the end of a good day.

It seems that everywhere I looked online today, there were video clips. In the news and on some of my fav blogs. Guess it's just the day to watch vids. Enjoy.

"Chinese Susan Boyle?" Wonder how much practice this took?

New Nike Tiger Woods Ad A media ploy that I would never have thought of. Too much? Or suprisingly appropriate?

Determination to the Point of Stupidity by DIY diva. I love that she recorded herself, and love more that she posted it.

Feetie bla bla blas by Lemon Gloria. Jordan is a cutie, and very talented.

Soooo...now what?

Well, the official word has come down and the OTS boards are cancelled until further notice. Some are speculating that it will be two years before anyone else gets accepted as an Air Force officer.

Soooo, yeah.

Well, I am going to be looking at my options, thinking, and praying for a while. In the meantime, I am still working 2-3 days a week at the HR office and still love it. I am also enjoying my family, helping my mom however I can in her job search, and occasionally feeling the tug of my brain trying to get me to write something, anything, down on paper to get one step closer to actually writing that elusive book on my bucket list. I am also feeling the guilt of not exercising my P90X around my waistline. Ugh. Motivation, where are you when I so desperately need you?

Anyone got a cuppa I can borrow?

BTW, if anyone knows of a job that would pay me boatloads of cash to organize people's houses for a living, without actually having to deal with the people during the process, that would be magic. Thanks.

Living Life.

We made it back home safely after our trip to Utah. Gotta say though, as good as Little Man was for me on the road, I don't think I will be making any long trips without H again. We missed him and it's so much easier to travel with two adults.

The kids were able to visit their BFFs. However, I don't think Mister would call his friend that any sooner than he would call her his "girl" friend either. I was also able to visit with 3 of my 4 closest friends, my LonDolls. I was glad to find them doing well, living life and overcoming challenges with the style that only they have.

My blogging will likely go from random to sparse in the next while. I am trying to spend less time on the computer and more time focused on life.

Before I go for now, a quick update on my military aspirations. There are rumors circulating among officer candidates, as well as some recruiters, that the next selection board may be cancelled. The first one of this year was cancelled already. An email was sent to some recruiters letting them know that they are looking to cut back on AF personnel. The cancellation has not been confirmed and nothing official is being said, but usually where there is smoke, there is fire. So, it wouldn't be a shock if it was cancelled now...just a huge disappointment. We'll know more on Monday. So, keep this in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks and hope you all have a Happy Easter.