My Fifth Grade Flashback

Being an elementary school teacher, I get the chance to revisit my past quite often. The things that these kids do and say can stir up in me the same insecurities, joys, and emotional rollercoasters that I felt when I was their age. I recognize the insecure look of a girl who is trying out a new style or haircut. I see through the fifth grader who mentions a certain boy's name, oh about 50 million (that's for you, Jayme!) times and then insists that he's disgusting. And when I hear any of them talk about whatever star is their current crush, I simply sit back and think...

"He/They can't hold a candle to NKOTB!"

Yeah, I said it. This can't come as a surprise to any of you. You remember my post about my favorite music group of all time. I love them, I really do! I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with them... oh wait... different unreasonable teen crush...

So, when I got the chance to go see the boys from Boston, I couldn't resist! I knew deep down that it would probably be one of the most enjoyably cheesy nights of my life, but well worth the 86 bucks I would shell out to go ($68 ticket, $12 awesome customized t-shirt, $5 to help Julie with gas, and $1 for my part of the parking). I was totally right. Since I don't do cameras, I am swiping some pics from Kristi's facebook albums to post here.

Brooke and I waiting for everyone to change into their groovy t-shirts, designed by Kristi. I don't love this pic of me, but it's a good shot of our shirts. :)

Brooke and me being "suddenly surprised" with our upgraded seats. We were on the first row after floor seats -- even better than floor seats because 1) we didn't pay floor seat price and 2) I could see over all the floor seat people's heads!

I assume this was taken before since we're seated. Shanna is already getting that mocking look on her face...

Building anticipation as their tiny heads pop up from the stage...

The first ultra cheesy moment for me -- Jordan in the sunglasses. Come on now.

You should know that to me, Joe can do no wrong. I am completely certain that at this moment, he is wishing that he was singing to me instead of this chick.

As close as I get to dancing. Note Shanna, who was I believe in utero the first time she "saw" the boys, is making fun. I will not deny that I joined her at times, much to Brooke's dismay.

My boyfriend, Joey-Joe McIntyre, walking right past us heading to the second stage. Brooke's hand is touching him here, and I touched his hand just seconds later. Yes, I am twelve. Don't care. I touched Jon and Donnie when they came back and Joe again. Again, yes I'm twelve. Still don't care.

A shot of the fellas singing on the second stage, very close.

Kristi, flashing a victorious smile after defeating the drunk girls who elbowed and stepped on her and Julie.

Overall, it was a wonderful time with new friends (the South Newton gals) and old friends (NKOTB, duh.) I definitely enjoyed the old stuff far more than the new (pervy) stuff, but also admit that I have had that "Dirty Dancing" song in my head a lot lately ("Oooh it's so crazy, she's like Baby, I'm like Swayze" --- classy and destined to be classic)

I remember back in the day I would rate the boys in order that I "liked" them. That order would be: 1) Joe 2) Jordan 3) Donnie 4) Jon 5) Danny. Now I would have to rank them on my skank scale: 1) Donnie 2) Jordan (though they are close...) 3) Danny (just because of all the muscle shirts really) 4) Joe 5) Jon. (Even though I don't consider Joe skanky at all, I have to put Jon last -- he's too timid and anxious to be skanky! Besides, they are all willing to sing this trash... they gotta be on the scale somewhere...)

I'm going to end this now because this has turned into one heck of a post. But there is so much more I could discuss -- beer chugging (not us), giant brassieres (again, not us), spastic dancing on top of a piano (wish it was us), Jordan's pale skinny shirtless dancing self... but it's getting late. And maybe those are stories better told in person...

Why Bless Your Heart?

First, all good southern women know that you can basically say anything that you want about anybody or anything as long as you follow it up with “bless his/her heart”. I figured if I named my blog this, then whatever I say here will be covered with a big ol’ bless your heart at the top!

Second, the whole reason I started this blog in the first place was to share a bit of myself with my friends. Humor is one of my favorite things to share with loved ones and since it is so valuable to me, I hope that the things I write here, both serious and humorous, will in some way bless your heart.

My New Blog Design...

… is finally here! I am so excited to have it up and running!

So, it’s taken me two weeks to finally make all the decisions needed for Kristi to work her magic. You guys know me and you know how amazingly anal and picky I am, so this should be no surprise. She was extremely patient with me and my indecisiveness and if you are looking for a change to your blog, you should definitely visit her site!

Now, I’m just waiting for inspiration to hit. My birthday is this weekend… that should inspire me! :)

My Blog Name Decision

So, I didn't really give anyone much chance to respond (except Heather who has WAY too much time on her hands... heh heh), but I had to make a decision quick quick so that Kristi could get going with her fabulous design. I am home today with ANOTHER headache (no need to go into all the details --- my doctor is now treating them as migraines... fingers crossed!) and finally got inspired...

And the winner is.... well, I'm not telling you now! It will debut along with my new blog design sometime in the near future! I'll leave you with a tiny hint: Adam may or may not really understand my blog title... hmmmmm???

Here's hoping that my new design will inspire me to post much more often! I know you want it!

My Conundrum

What a great word!

So, I'm in the process of having Kristi give my blog a makeover. Ever since I saw Brooke's, I've been itching to have her do mine as well. It took me weeks to decide on a design theme and now I need to email her more specifics.

I AM STUCK!

I don't want my new pretty blog to be titled Amanda Has a Blog?!? Any suggestions???

(I know full well I'll get no responses because everyone has given up hope that I'll ever even update this thing again... :)

Addendum (another good word): I had dreams last night about naming my blog. I had decided that I needed to continue the whole "My ______" trend I had started with the post titles (a tribute to Scrubs) and came up with the following, which in my dream, I was CONVINCED were amazingly good names that I wanted to use: My Hope is Built (yeah, that's it, nothing else) and My Piddlin' Pad. I'm not even kidding. (I believe this came from churches that have little notepads for the kids to color on -- I'm pretty sure either the one at my church or another one I have visited said "Little Methodist's Piddlin' Pad")

There has to be better ideas than this! Why am I stumped???

My "Filler Post"

I haven't posted in ages, so I thought I'd post SOMETHING to fill in the gap a little more until I am inspired to post something else.

So, I absolutely love this commercial. It makes me giggle everytime I see it.



Bonus points to anyone who knows who that chick is. I recognized her right away, but I'm a pop culture nerd after all. :)

My Tag

My dear friend Brooke tagged me on her blog like a month ago, and I'm finally getting around to writing my list. I'm not sure how interesting it is, but maybe you'll learn something about me you didn't know. Or be reminded of just how quirky I am. :)


1) I have an unreasonable fear of bowling and have never actually done it. It's really not so much a fear of bowling as a fear of not being good at something and people watching me stink at it. I know, I know, most people aren't good at bowling. But I'm not most people. :)


2) My biggest dream is to be in a Broadway musical. And also that dream would have to include a) being good enough to do it and b) not being completely terrified to be on stage! Details, details...


2a) Considering my number 2, this one shouldn't be a huge surprise and therefore I'm making it 2a instead of 3 -- I love musicals!! Movies or plays, makes no difference to me. I haven't seen nearly as many live shows I would like to but I have seen Phantom of the Opera, On the Town, Miss Saigon, Ragtime... sadly that may be it. Then there are shows that I haven't seen, but know the soundtrack by heart -- Wicked, Les Miserables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Then there are the movie musicals that I love, both those that were previously broadway shows and those that are just good ol' movie musicals -- Mamma Mia, Chicago, Moulin Rouge, Hairspray, Rent, Grease, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Calamity Jane... I'm sure there are others that I'm leaving out, but you get the idea. I love em and quite frankly, I wish my life was a musical. Everything is better/more dramatic/more bearable when music is involved.

3) I am a lesson drop-out. I took dance lessons for about 4 years in elementary school taking tap, jazz, and ballet, but dropped out mostly because I was chubby and felt really insecure in my leotard. Sad, huh? I wasn't outstanding or anything, but I remember being decent (and the tallest girl in my class!). Then in high school I took voice lessons for three years, singing Italian arias and showtunes. I would love to be taking them now that my voice is so much more mature. I miss singing (other than in my car and in the shower...)

4) I am addicted to lotion. I have to put it on right before I got to bed, after I wash my hands, after baths, and any other time I feel my hands getting the slightest bit dry. When I was little, I remember waking up and feeling that my hands were dry and not knowing what else to do, I licked them so they would feel better and then went back to sleep. Now a bottle of lotion by my bed does the trick in these situations.

5) I believe that the reason I work so well with autistic kids is that I'm a touch autistic myself. I have major sensory issues... I don't like certain noises in the car or other closed in places(whistling, loud music, anything shrill). There are certain fabrics that I absolutely cannot stand to touch (yet I do it anyway then shudder). And there are several foods I don't like simply because of their texture (mushrooms and pears come to mind).

6) Speaking of food -- my absolute least favorite food in the world is a food that you might find to be pretty mind, but I absolutely hate it and almost cry if I accidentally get some in my mouth. RAW CELERY. UGH. I hate it with a passion!!!!

7) I would love to have a job as a professional organizer or planner of some sort. Maybe an event planner or event coordinator for a location. Or going in and organizing people's homes. I really enjoy this type of work. I guess that's why I'm getting my masters in administration -- it's the job in education that involves the most of that type of thing.

I'm sure there are more interesting things I could have included, but there you go for now. I'll probably add more to it later as I think of things.

So, I'm supposed to tag 7 people? Hmmm.... who hasn't been tagged? Oh well...

Lee

Heather

Jayme

Jen

Briana

Beth

Dawn