Flashback Friday # 199

Forget It, Just Forget It.

Greetings one & all.

For the last month or so I've spun the epic story of my love life (or lack thereof) in the 10th grade. It seemed like I went from walking on broken glass to licking a light socket. Either of those would have seemed to be more favorable to a young man spurned by Cupid.

I was never a leader in High School. Always a follower. I wanted so desperately be be "Normal". I later discovered that normal is a setting on a clothes dryer. Life is never normal.

I came to the realization that being normal just wasn't in the cards for me. Fine! Be that way! Forget it, just forget it! I didn't need to be normal. I needed to be me.

I made up y mind that I was going to stop chasing skirts. Don't get the wrong idea. I still liked girls A LOT, I just figured that if I couldn't find someone to go steady with me, I'd wait until someone asked me. What's the worst that could happen (other than graduating High School with a total of two girlfriends). Normal or not, my mind was made up.

92

Sunday was my MIL's 92 birthday. We took her to a Mexican resturant that makes a big deal over someone's birthday. Doesn't she look dandy in that sombrero?

Flashback Friday # 198

I Hated That Commercial

A big "hello" to all who have stopped by.

If you've been reading this post for the last few weeks, you've read of a frustrated 10th grader who has girl troubles. It was like a sitcom, minus the laugh track. Only, to me, it wasn't funny.

It was bad enough being ostracized at school for not having a girlfriend. Anyone who was anyone had a "steady". Then a commercial would come on the TV and rub salt into my wounds.

Close-Up toothpaste ran a series of commercial that began by shouting out "Close-Up wants to know HOW'S YOUR LOVE LIFE?" I dreaded those commercials. When they would come on, if I was alone, I would scream at them "Thanks for (expletive delete) reminding me!" Go ahead, Close-Up, kick a man while he's down.

Since we didn't have TV remotes (nobody did because they hadn't been invented then) When I would see one of those commercials start up, I'd spring from the couch or chair to turn it off. I never made it before being screamed at "How's your love life". Oh for a mute button back then.

Sometimes, You've Just Need To Laugh

There are times when bad things happen to good people. There are times bad things happen to bad people. And then there are times when bad things happen to stupid people. If the camera is rolling, it will catch them all. Here is a hilarious video that I recently spotted dealing with "Treadmill Fails'. II hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

A Great Honor Was Bestowed Upon Me

Yesterday, We were all abuzz because "The Woodsman" had consented to allow "The Boy" to get baptized. He said when The Boy could explain why he felt he needed to be baptized, he would allow it. In times past, The Boy would freeze up and his mind would go blank. Thanks to Bible Quizzing (which he participated in this year, covering Apostolic doctrine) he was able not only to explain why he needed to be baptized, but he was also able to reference verses to back his argument up.

When the Pastor asked who The Boy wanted to baptize him, since there are many licensed ministers in our church, my wife sent a text to "The Ogre" to find out. The answer came back that he wanted ME to baptize him. I'm not a licensed minister, but Pastor has taught profusely about the man being priest in his household. There have been other men who got to baptize their children, now I was going to get to baptize my grandson.

He had already repented and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, being baptized in Jesus Name would complete his spiritual birth.

Flashback Friday # 197

Familiarity Breeds Contempt



Greetings, one & all. Welcome back to the exploits of my youth. For those who have just joined in, I am currently in the midst of narratives of my Sophomore year of High School, aka "The Dark Time of My Life".

As I've mentioned before, if you don't have a significant other in High School, you are nothing (at least it was that way in my school). Having broken off with Kelly and striking out with Shirley, I found myself in dire straits. The rejection by Shirley had made a critical hit on my self esteem, so I figured, perhaps I should take a look at some of the girls I had turned down earlier in life.

One of these was Connie. Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. In Flashback Friday #19, I wrote about some things I learned in Elementary School. See #7. She reminded me very coldly.

Perhaps Carol? She had liked me since Jr. High. I never really looked at her as girlfriend material, but we had become close friends. Could we take the next step and become steadies? I felt safe, because even if she turned me down, I was sure we would still be good friends. Since she rode the same bus as I did, I figured I'd ask her on the way home.

I sat next to her on the bus (which I'd done before, seeing we were good friends) and asked her if we could talk. She got a serious look on her face, like I was going to tell her that I was going to assassinate someone important. When I finally fumbled out the words "Will you go with me?" She at first looked like I had spoken Hungarian to her. When the words sunk in, she immediately said "YES!" and gave me a quick peck when the bus driver wasn't looking.

Great, I had shaken the stigma off. I was no longer a loser-boy-nobody. I made sure I saved Carol a seat beside me the next morning, since I got on the bus before she did. We held hands all the way to school. Repeat for the trip home. Things were looking up.

The next day, when Carol got on the bus, she sat with one of her girl friends. Strange, I thought. Nevertheless I was still feeling fine about our relationship.

That day, during lunch, she came over and sat beside me. She told me that she didn't think it was going to work out between us. She told me that she had fantasied for a long time about being my girlfriend but when it happened, it became anti climatic. She had chased me for so long, and now, having caught me, didn't know what to do with me. She wanted to know if we could just be friends (there's that hated phrase again).

Great. Just great. Now what?

Manly Tears Will Be Shed

I don't have the time to type it all out, or the ability to cut & paste the story, but here is a link to a story that I felt was very touching. BTW-You may want to keep a tissue handy.

Flashback Friday # 196

I Really Hate That Phrase

Hello. I'm glad to have you back for another stroll down memory lane. Sometimes the memories are good. This isn't one of them.

After saying goodbye to Kelly, I found myself in a dilemma. Everyone who was everyone had a significant other. I needed to find a new one. I set my hat towards a girl who was the younger sister of my brother's best friend. I went over to her house with my brother several times and even went ice skating with her on a gravel road (we had a monster ice storm and the ice was so thick that you really could skate on the gravel.).

Shirley was pretty, moderately popular and a member of our school's drill team (Drill teams have nothing to do with electric power tools they use pom-poms). I figured that as familiar as we were with each other, It might be worth a shot. Now all I had to do is to work up the gumption to ask her.

Working up the gumption took over a week. When I finally did, I slipped her a note. I waited the answer with great anticipation. Later in the day, when she saw me again, she slipped a note to me. It said in essence, I'm flattered, but I rather just be friends.

Just be friends. I really hate that phrase. Well there are many other fish in the sea, Perhaps I needed better bait.