Going Simply Green Give Away!

If you are interested in simplfying your life and also going a little more green in 2009, please check this out to assist in your New Years Resolution. Go here to check it out!

On the B Side: Kathleen is an old friend of mine from home sweet home. She use to scare the crap out of me and now I think she is absolutely darling! Check her out, leave her a comment and post to your blog if you are interested in doubling your odds! Happy New Year!

Paths that were Crossed

I received the news yesterday and was shocked, stunned and saddened. My Father emailed me the news article the next morning. When things like this happen the news travels very quickly in a small town. It is difficult; difficult to know what to do, difficult to know what to think, difficult to know what to say and difficult to imagine something like this happening to someone you know. Admittedly I was quite tearful and have thought a lot about his family and mostly his Mom; Jackie.

Jason was my first serious boyfriend in HS, my first love. We were an unlikely match and were together for about two years. Prior to that we 'went out' in Middle School. I can still remember the summer between 8th and 9th grade when he *tried* to kiss me at Washies Playground. He was the bad boy/cute Produce Boy at Weis Markets who drove a silver Celica. The two of us had an intense love/hate relationship that I am able to look back and laugh about. Here are some of the crazy memories I have;

• Once Jason backed up into the wooden planter at the gas station as he angrily followed me and my bff Michelle. He squished his tail pipe shut and was very unhappy when he realized it and had to pull over at CVS.
• Once we hit a dear out near his house. He paid to get his car fixed and then hit another dear the next week. I swear he had the worst luck.
• His Mom worked at the deli in Riverside and was always nice to my Poppop. His Aunt Lori owned a pet grooming salon and was also sweet to Poppop. Poppop use to call Jason "Byron" to which Jason never corrected him. Anyone who was nice to my Poppop was a rockstar in my book!
• He came with my family to Allentown as my Mom and I were dancing in a Children's Festival (we were part of a belly dancing troupe). On the way home he hit a stationary and brand new BMW on the highway going 60 mph. Yeah, that was bad.
• I ran over his leg, not once but twice at the Coastal Mart in Riverside (not on purpose). He use to wait for me there as he could spot me coming off of the bridge on my way home. I can still see the headlights on his car popping up signaling for me to stop.
• Once when we were in a screaming match by the side of the road a Riverside cop stopped and broke up the fight and sent us on our way in separate directions.
• He punched a huge dent on the inside drivers door of my little red Mazda (Blaze) and he also punched a hole in one of the walls at school outside of Mr. Yeager's room. I think I frustrated him a little...
  
• I drove up with him and his parents before he started college to see his new apartment. It was so surreal that he was going to have his own place and he bought me a promise ring with a little diamond in it before he left for college.
• He always had a little jar of Carmex (white jar with a yellow lid) in his car.
• He had a thing for Stevie Nicks but mostly listened to rap music.
• He had a huge bass pumping stereo in his car and could always be heard from a distance. He put one in the back of my Blaze once and while it wasn't my thing I thought it sounded good but my Dad got mad at him (after he called my parents home phone and told them to eff off) so he ripped it out of my trunk and threw it at the bottom of our driveway so Jason could come pick it up.
• He was an aggie with a curly type mullet that was fairly cool back in the day (or was it??)and he liked shirts and stickers that said, "No Fear"
• One time he peed on school grounds and Mr. Price (our Principal) came up and stepped right in it unknowingly! He did get suspended for that.
• He use to throw stones over the greenhouse at my bedroom window when I wouldn't answer my phone and one time he even snuck into the house through the doggie door!
• We went to his Senior Prom together in his Dad's antique blue corvette. I wore a little sequined number that I got in NYC. We skipped partying that night (it wasn't my thing as I didn't drink/smoke/do drugs but he could often be found at the rabbit bowl with his Washingtonville friends) and he slept on the couch at my house (nothing naughty, get your minds out of the gutter).
• Once we went skiing together. I slept at his house the night before (he lived right near the exit of route 80) and had my first migraine caused by my tumor that night...it was awful and I was terrified and never told another soul as I didn't know what was happening.
• We drove to a mall in NY and had Glamour shots (gay, I know) taken together. My alternator belt was loose and so we had to drive home on Rt 80 in the dark with no headlights, AC or radio and we had to keep our speed above 60 mph to keep the car from stalling out. Right before our exit (#33) we hit a huge pot hole, bent a rim but were able to make it to Avenue H in Riverside somehow before stalling out again. That was the day I found out you have to put the car in neutral if someone is going to push it...whoops!
• One time while were fighting I was at a party at Tammy's (a clean one). We could all hear him and his bass driving around but he never did find her farm house!
• My Senior week at OC in NJ was a blast. He found me (I was there with 5 guy friends) and insisted I drive home immediately. He followed me the whole way to make sure I made it safely. We got lost in Harrisburg or some place.
• He tried to start a fight with the Elders in front of the Adam's house and he also jumped on the hood of my car on Market street one night after I met with the missionaries.
• He came to visit me once while I was at PSU and we went to the mall to hang out.
• For my 17th birthday we hung out with Marcie and Bill creeping around the state hospital.
• He always said, "it's eleven eleven (11:11) and somebody loves you."
• He got me a kitten; Franky. Franky was the best and always played with the lid from Jason's Mountain Dew. Franky disappeared after we broke up :(
• Tammy and I skipped school and drove to Hershey for wrestling State finals. He drove back with us in a huge snow storm and opened his window just as a huge semi drove by sending dirty snowy slosh all over the inside of Blaze. He didn't think it was funny!
• When he turned 18 he insisted that he have my name tattooed on his hip. This became a huge issue as I was adamant that he not do so. We compromised...I went with him and picked out a tattoo. It was a lizard that matched a silver ring I had. We were dumb!!!
  
• For Valentine's Day our junior year I ditched the Campus Life group (Youth for Christ) that was meeting at my house that very night so that Jason and I could go to Friendly's for Ice Cream. My mentor wasn't happy but I was too head over heels with Jay not to go.
  
• He had the greatest dog Manda, the cutest little cousin Ty and the sweetest Mom Jacki. He looked up to his cousin Jess, loved his older brother Ernie and really wanted his Dad's approval. My heart goes out to all of them at this time.
• There are a thousand more memories that need not be posted but I did want something to document our time together because I am sure as time goes by I am less likely to recall these things. I won't soon forget the chicken coops, Hunter's ice cream and the drive in (again, nothing naughty!!)
  

On the B Side: All of this was a very long time ago but he always made me laugh and kept things exciting despite that fact that I frustrated the heck out of him. We were like night and day and made a very unlikely match. Ultimately we had serious differences in our lifestyles and desires. We did have some fun times and I am sad that his life ended so abruptly and so prematurely. It's always sad to see people slip away senselessly.

My Adventures Part Duex

Does being in NYC on St. Patrick's Day with my garments on backwards count? What about the time I went #2 in the ocean (had a really good reason & yes it still embarasses me)? Then there was the time that our family dog was being chased down by Jazzy and Tommy (you know exactly what I am talking about)...and taunting Jazz about gynelotrimin and his tirade with the red bat. There was the time I kind of wrecked my Dad's Porsche and the Friday night parties at my home. I had nothing to do with cigars being lit on the stove and kicked those guys out, the food fight (I still feel bad about the raisons smached in the carpet, Dad) or the missing champagne (Richie was not welcome back) but I will take credit for in part for Dave's underwear in the freezer (sorry you had to find that, Dad!) again I was the mastermind but didn't actually do it.

There were trips to Philly, trips to NYC to visit Stady and belly dancing in Allentown. Yes, I bought a car on a credit card and yes it required that it be pushed to pop the clutch to start it. I loved that baby jeep, can't believe it survived the mud bogging (can't believe WE surived Clanc!) and still can't believe Clancy was brave enough to balance on the roll bar while in motion (I so agree with the cop on this one)! There were plenty of cross country road trips with all kinds of experiences (waking up behind the wheel only to learn we were going side ways at 65 mph on I-80) and I still contend that it is not my fault my Dad involved the State Police from two different states that one time and I'm pretty sure there is still a warrant for my arrest in Idaho but at least my car wasn't impounded like Trace's was that day!

There are plenty of crazy anecdotes from my mish (I so am not a child of hell) and one too many stories from the cottage (which I would prefer to forget). I clearly remember the day I ruined the piano recital at the Villa (Cathelic Conservatory and it was an awful accident) and the time I hit the guy on his bike (his name was Freddy but all of his friends called him Spaz and I don't care what anyone thinks...trying to pry his bike from underneath my car through my tears was no easy feat!) Senior week is another memory with lots of laughs and I'm still aghast that Tammy and I ended up in Delaware.

Again, most of these stories can be reduced to the bottom line; it was always something silly and always just my stupid luck! Lucky Charms, right here. I really was a scaredy cat of the ultimate kind (still am) and quite innocent in most cirucmstances (except for being a guilt riddled observer which I know is just as bad and also the reason I ended up in court that one time). I won't take the time to explain each of these things but again I contend that I have never done drugs, never had detention, painfully feared consequance and hated the idea of letting anyone down. My Dad has only ever yelled at my twice in my life and far worse than those two times was the sting of 'I'm so disappointed in you' that one time (going back to the court appearance!) None of this is to say that I haven't significantly shredded his nerves while he was worrying about my silly self.

The fact of the matter is that most of my 'adventures' are relatively small, more humorous in nature then actually adventurous. If you read any of the comments from my last post I will admit that yes, in HS I had a bit of a run in with eggs. Keep in mind that Route 80 passes through Danville (across the Susquehanna River from Riverside and also where I went to school). My best friend Michelle and I giggled lots, got regular sugar highs from eating pixie stix, dyed our hair with Kool-Aid and took way too many crazy pictures of ourselves doing nothing.

She was the wild one, the brave one and we always had tons of fun. I worked for her parents and dated her older brother. She was 2 years younger than me, full of personality and for a period of several years we were inseparable. After I turned 16 we had a blast in 'Blaze'. Blaze was my little tomato red (the kind of tomato that needs to sit in the sun a little bit longer to really get red) Mazda 323 that my parents had bought for me the summer before my 16th birthday while I was at the beach with Michelle and her family. The license plate read, 'BRITTA1' and again, I was okay with that regardless of what anyone thought.

Michelle and I were always looking for fun and getting into just enough mischievous to giggle our guts out. We use to blast songs like 'Rump Shaker' and sing along to 'Life is a Highway'. We went through a period where we would go on egging sprees. I would drive and she was responsible for acutally throwing the eggs. Again, I was way too scared yet involved myself nonetheless. Granted I thought it was hilarious but I was far too fearful to actually throw the eggs. The paramont of this nonsensical deed was when we went out into the middle of no where (never took long) to an overpass of I-80. Again, I was the driver and she responsible for tossing the eggs down on the cars passing underneath us.

We bought more than enough eggs on the nights that we did this and rather enjoyed it when there was construction and traffic was down to one lane. Michelle reached a point where she didn't just toss the eggs over but would huck handfuls of them down as hard as she could and had her timing down to an art. Then we would bust it out of there to the gas station by the exit to try to catch the poor victims of our awful act cleaning their cars. It was bad, I know. We thought we were so funny and looking back I wish I would have seen the bigger picture but I would be lying if I didn't confess that it still makes me smile just a little tiny bit looking back and I'll also admit that I would be horrified if I knew my children were ever involved in such deeds now. Can we say h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e?

When this no longer seemed fun we bought the stinkiest cheese we could find (usually Limburger), left it in my garage for an extended period of time until it was substanitally ripe and then would rub it on people's mufflers late at night hoping that when they would turn their cars on it would generate an awful stink (later Clanc and I learned that an open can of sardines stuff under the seat was far more effective!). We had to drive with all of the windows down on these nights because it stunk so bad. It seemed ingenious compared to thinks like Tic-Tac-ing (throwing corn kernals at things in the Fall) and toilet papering (which I have never done). Again, I was the driver, Michelle was responsible for the cheese and we always hit up people that we knew. I can't say that it ever really stunk for our victims or even that they noticed but we thought we were pretty clever and more than that I think we enjoyed the thrill of it. Plus it brought way less guilt for me than the egging experience!

I suppose our activities in a small town were somewhat limited but regardless we had our share of 'small town' fun and managed to avoid hurting anyone in the process. I haven't always loved my small town but being away brought me a whole new appreciation for it. Michelle and I grew apart when she started smoking and then drinking. Despite my involvement in the other shanigans I knew that I wasn't interested in being associated to eithef of these things. That was really hard for me but again made me think about what I felt was right and how I really wanted to live my life. She was adorable and I did so enjoy our time together! We did mend our relationship but things were never the same and shortly thereafter I went away to college.

On the B Side: I love living life! I love remembering things from the past. The passage of time is so interesting to me. You know the past happened but you can't remember what it really felt like yet your mind recalls it. Life is about living and learning and from these things we grow and evolve. It's a beautiful process and it's natural that we will mess up, make mistakes and fall short. The important part is to LEARN and keep your eyes up! Life truly is an adventure!!

PS The only thing I do with eggs now is cook them and I just want you to know that if you are reading this you must post about your own adventures!!!!

An Iron Maiden at Heart

In little ol' Danville Pennsylvania the mascot is the Iron Men given the historical significance of my home town. I miss it terribly but alas, I digress. The mascot is but a mere image is that of a posed bicep with bulging muscles. The only thing stranger than that are the school colors (which really are the town colors) of purple and orange! Yes, I was officially an Iron Maiden!

Today out office site had a team building activity for us consisting of a morning at the movies to watch, 'Iron Man'. I was skeptical and decided at the last minute given some prompting to attend and I a so glad that I did!!

While the movie was not something I would recommend for children it was nonetheless AMAZING! Robert Downey, Jr. was AWESOME! Above all else I was so excited that he is making such a killer come back and I loved the irony highlighted in the movie as it relates to his real life run ins with alcohol! He's a great sport and not at all what i would have imagined for a role like this but it works and it works well!

Keep in mind that I'm not really into action packed adventure movies about super heros (although Dayton and I do enjoy Spiderman together). I went into this one expecting to nap and from the get go it was engaging and the character development was rich. Four stars for this one and the shoot em' up scenes are the only thing that keeps me holding back that final star.

I will admit that after the movie the guys in the office were rolling their eyes at my analysis. Watching it reminded me of the aspiring rice cartel in China trying to take the form of OPEC given the undying desire for money in this crazy world of ours. It also struck me of the wars currently raging in our world and for that reason it was somewhat hard to watch at certain points. I'll stop before I subject anyone else to my random thoughts!

Regardless, I only cried once and remained awake the entire time! It really was a great flick and should certainly be seen over 'Made of Honor' this weekend! Today I felt like an Iron Maiden all over again! Now ladies dig up a babysitter, grab your hubbies and go enjoy yourselves Iron Man style! Iron Man did Danville proud!

On the B Side: I love when something catches you off guard. You form some kind of opinion based on limited information and then BAM! You find out you were way off base and really had no idea. These are moments that serve as ephiphanies that help us to see ourselves and our lives more clearly and allow us to shed pre-conceived notions. It's just too easy to form judgements and live in our own little paradigms! I love it when I suprise myself without even knowing it! Please tell me you've been there!