Fond Memory & Good Buy

Years ago my Dad used to take us to a restaurant called "Teddy's." They had great burgers (I liked the chili cheese burger) and the whole place was decked out with Gloria Vanderbears. You could buy the bears from the North American Bear Company there, but they were waaay too expensive (even in the early 80's) for us to have ever gone home with them.

I remember Gini's favorite was Scarlett O'Beara. Well, I found a good buy the other day while antiquing with my husband. Scarlett O'Beara (79) and Rhett Beartler (84). I have their tags in a drawer, and they're in great original condition. The pair is worth around $400. I bought the pair for $40.

Of course, for me the value is more sentimental than monetary, but all in all, I'm thrilled to have them.

(The pair of bears is featured here on my anniversary gift to Geoff. We celebrate 4 years of marriage on Thursday, and I got him two porch rockers).

Back to School - SERIOUSLY

This is not a meme. I am in a sense, back in school. I am studying my little heart out to obtain my Series 7 License (or Serious 7 as Geoff calls it). At the end of October I will take a test; if I pass (and take another test for the state level), I will be able to trade securities. In case I haven't said it in awhile, I LOVE MY JOB!
I'm a little rusty on the studying and I really want to do well on this stuff since I use it daily, so I'm having to apply myself more than I have in a long time. But this is great for me. I'm excited about the possibility to further myself in my new field. I told my boss before I was hired that I needed my job to have meaning and a purpose, and this field does that for me. Not only can I help others manage their finances, I can do it for myself and my family.
So wish me luck as I prepare for this test!

The Big 2-0

No, I'm not celebrating a birthday... Or my 20th felony indictment... Or my 20th tattoo.
I'm celebrating being
20
pounds
lighter!!!
Every time I pass back down into a different decade of weight I drawing a line and saying "never again." My new diet is great, easy to follow, and more of a change of lifestyle than a diet-diet. That on top of the exercise is working for me. It's slower than I had hoped, but I continue to keep it off, which is the important part of the progress.
I've entered my name in a competition at our gym that is somewhat like a mini-biggest-loser competition. I'm not sure when it starts, but I think maybe the end of the month. If I win, I get 10 full weeks of personal training for FREE, so I'm hoping for that extra boost. My goal is to lose 17 more pounds by Thanksgiving. Depending on what the nutritionist says at that point I'll either have 10 or 20 to go.
Just for the record, once I lose the final 17 I will weigh what I did when I started college. If I lose 10 on top of that it will put me back to my starting high school weight, which seems to be my highest goal. But for some reason that weight is actually at the top end of my class for bone structure/height, so I may need to try to drop another 10, which would put me at Junior High Weight. I have never been skinny, skinny, but I was never really huge either, so I'm not sure it's realistic for me to weigh at 26 what I weighed at 12. But I'm doing what I can do to get to that next 17. For now, I'm just thrilled to be down by 20.

High School meme

1. Who was your best friend?
Cheryl Ponder. Still is one of the best friends I have ever had! She's in Germany now (married military) and I think about her at least once a week. It's not the same only catching up over the web!

2. Did you play any sports?
JV Soccer in 9th, then we moved to Vestavia and the Coach was a bit, um, creepy to put it gently. Glad I didn't continue to play, though. I heard the team there was not the type of crowd I wanted to be influenced by.

3. What kind of car did you drive?
I was lucky to miss out on the family hand me down 80's Oldsmobile. I took my driver's test in my Dad's 84 Dodge Ram Pickup Prospector series (UGLY). But I mostly drove a 91 Camry handed down from my grandmother - a car I drove through college and grad school and early marriage until it tried to catch fire in my driveway.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you?
With the marching band at a football game, at opening night of a school play (backstage working of course), or at home grounded (again)

5. Were you a party animal?
Nope.

6. Were you considered a flirt?
Yes, but not as much as my sister. :) (Just kidding, Gini)

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir?
Yes, yes and yes (and theater)

8. Were you a nerd?
Probably. Not the biggest nerd, but a little bit of one. Still am I guess.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled?
Close once to being suspended, but no.

10. Can you sing the fight song?
Don't know that we had one, but I can do all of the cheers still ("Waaaaave yooooouuuuur hands!...") AND I can sing the Alma Mater!

11. Who was your favorite teacher?
Too hard to choose. Though we started out kind of rough, and she was a tough teacher, I simply loved Ms. B (Brasell) the theater teacher (my senior prophecy was that I would become the next Ms. B which I took as a compliment though I think some of the folks thought that was scary). I also liked both of my English teachers, Ms. Quin and Mrs. Rainer. I actually still write to them from time to time. And who could forget Mrs. Lovoy - AP American History? As a senior prank some friends and I camped out in her front lawn. Her neighbor woke us up with a shot gun.

12. What was your school mascot?
Stan the Rebel Man

13. Did you go to the Prom?
Yeah, senior year was way more fun than junior, though!

14. If you could go back, would you?
Are you kidding?!!? The nightmares are bad enough!

15. What do you remember most about graduation?
Having Jeremy Darabaris (my prom date, one of my sister's college friends) and my friend Daniel Axsom (also a college boy from Louisiana) come and surprise me at graduation lunch at my house. Also, I graduated from high school the same weekend as my brother graduated from college, so my grandparents were there too.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day?
At Cher's house watching "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (although I think this was actually a bomb threat day and her mother came and picked us up from the stadium).

17. Did you have a job your senior year?
I was a soda jerk at Green Valley Drug Store

18. Where did you go most often for lunch?
the Senior Patio or the Theater shop

19. Have you gained weight since then?
WAAAAY too much. And I haven't been happy with my weight since 9th grade. But I'm on the way back down. I won't say how much I've lost so far here, but the numbers are in the double digits!

20. What did you do after graduation?
Went on a senior trip with some girls from church (we went to a friend's grandparents' lakehouse). Then went to Samford University.

21. What year did you graduate?
1999

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date?
Jeremy Darabaris, one of my sister's college friends. My date's grandmother died and he couldn't come (he was from Mississippi), so Gini asked two of her guy friends if they would go, and one of them was fairly condescending about it, but Jeremy was thrilled. We had a blast!

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion?
I've told my friend Cher (who's in Germany) that I'll only go if she does. Don't know how likely that is...

24. What is your biggest regret in high school?
Don't think I want to go there.... (I have a few).

MEME: Now you jump in and tell me about you in high school!! You're it: Summer

Every Dog Has It's Day

Today was a great day for the dogs. It was hot Hot HOT! So we all went out to the national forest nearby and let the dogs take a swim. I think the pictures speak for themselves...