That Kinda Girl

I recently talked about being on the debate team in college. Tonight I was reminded of a conversation I had during that time. It was with a boy. A college boy. Can I just stop here and admit that boys used to really, really intimidate me? Especially college boys on debate teams. They made me watch the news. And do research on stuff like foreign relations and healthcare and stuff that totally took away from my Golden Girls time. Anyway, during that time I spent a lot of time with boys. There were a few sweet girls, but for the most part, it was guys. Up until that point most of my experience with the opposite sex was when boys fell in love with my friends and they became friends with me to get the dirt on my friends. You know what I'm sayin'? I have hot friends, y'all. :)  (I still ask Josh, "Are you sure I'm the one you wanted?) Anyway, I tell you about my inadequacy and social awkwardness with boys to hopefully explain this conversation. Maybe. We took lots of trips on weekends to tournaments and spent an abnormal amount of time together on 15 passenger vans. I wasn't old enough to drive because of insurance rules, but due to my ability to never sleep in the van (do y'all notice a pattern in my life?) I was always the designated "keep the driver awake" person. It was during one of those trips that the driver, a boy, said, "You have a personality." I wasn't quite sure how to take that and he went on to say, "You seem like one of those girls that wouldn't have a personality." To this day I still have no idea how to take that comment. Should I be grateful he concluded I do, in fact, have a personality? Should I be offended that he originally thought I didn't have a personality? Who knows. The reason I share this is because it made me realize that sometimes we just don't realize how other people see us. You know what I mean?

Well, tonight during supper Josh and I were discussing Baby Watch 2010 and Josh said that he had a feeling that my baby niece is going to make her appearance this weekend. I remarked that I should probably  have my stuff packed and he said he couldn't believe I didn't already. The truth is that I've just been draggin' through this week. My thought was that if it happened tonight I was afraid I wouldn't have the energy to even walk to the car. Then....I realized there were some things I really needed from the store and I should probably have them if it were to happen tonight. Or tomorrow. So, I got everybody (including Josh) into bed and headed out to the store. I got my essentials: toothpaste, bodywash, long, dangly, sparkly earrings. Wha? First impressions are important people. I want babygirl's first thought upon seeing me to be, 'Aunty Em really knows how to accessorize!' Okay, so in reality I will probably be reminded, if not by her than by her big brother, why I haven't been able to wear long, dangly earrings for going on 8 years now. Oh well....I was going to take the big, tacky clearance sticker off, but then I decided, Nah. I take a lot of pride in how cheap I am. :)

Okay, so if you're wondering what the heck that has to do with the story I told you above, there really is a point, I promise! So, I went from being too exhausted to do anything to bouncing off of walls and driving 45 minutes to go shopping. As I headed out I realized I was a little low on gas. After my shopping trip I stopped by a gas station and tried to avoid eye contact. Not to be mean, but I just didn't have the energy to conversate with drunk people at the gas station. That takes a special energy y'all. I paid and went back out to pump my gas and a guy pulled up in a low rider truck blasting reggae music. It was a 50 year old balding, white guy and somebody asked him to turn the music up. He pointed at me and said he didn't think "the lady" would like that. First, I am totally offended when people who are older than me treat me old. It's bad enough when all of the teenagers treat me that way because I AM to them. But c'mon! He then asked me if I minded. I assured him I did not. Maybe it's just late. Maybe I've had too much caffeine and not enough sleep lately, but I really got offended. Do I not look like the kind of girl who would enjoy a little reggae music in the parking lot of a gas station on Friday night???? Do I have "Baptist Preacher's Wife" tattooed on my forehead????

Well, just so you know, I've been known to cut a rug. To boogie down. To....well you get what I'm sayin'.....It seems to mostly happen with my friend Cortnee. She brings it out in me. And that reminded me of a story I never told on this blog. About a night when 4 friends stopped at Sonic because a certain friend (whose name starts with an E and rhymes with....it doesn't rhyme with anything. Oh well.) had to have a Diet Cherry Coke. During the wait it would just so happen that a crowd of teenaged spring breakers would gather in that parking lot. And it would just so happen that a certain N'Sync song would come on. And a certain friend whose name starts with C and rhymes with.....geez, I need to go back to first grade. Anyway, Cortnee felt the uncontrollable urge to jump out of the truck and show those spring breakers what was so sorely missing from their lives. The "Bye, Bye, Bye" dance.

I think this picture is blurry because I was shaking uncontrollably with laughter while I was taking it. Just so you know, we showed those teenagers who rule! They all clapped for Cortnee as we drove away. Next Spring Break, I'll be dancing to some reggae......    :)