And I don't know how you do it, making love out of nothing at all

It was the song from the 80s that I play sometimes and always think of someone who didn't turn out to be my soulmate, but who has been in my thoughts at least once a day, every day, ever since.  Not in such a way that it ruins my life, more in a wow, that was a fun memory kind of way.  Or yeah, Jeff used to do that, I wonder if he still does.  Things like, the Seahawks were his team, or he had a Herschel Walker "You lied like a dawg" t-shirt, or that he would never admit it to his friends but he liked Air Supply.

He and most of his friends were brainy and somewhat immature, in an innocent and sweet way.  They weren't out tearing up the neighborhood; they were renting movies, hanging out at houses with pool tables and Ataris, ordering pizza, playing football and/or basketball in the backyard, and collecting comic books.  If they were 17 now, they'd be playing video games like my son.  It was sort of like a high school version of "The Big Bang Theory."  There were a few of us girls who had classes with this crowd.  I saw a few of us there today.  If girls who hang out with gay men are "f@g hags" (and I apologize for being offensive, I would never refer to a person that way myself, but I have friends who referred to themselves that way) what are girls who hang out with nerds called?  They weren't really nerds, at least, I thought they all had good qualities.  Brains and wit were far more entertaining than popularity and obsession with looking good.

So today I went to the funeral home to visit a childhood friend, a mutual friend of ours, a former classmate (a grade younger) and even a short-time boyfriend.  His mom died on the 17th.  I sat next to Jeff, another former classmate a grade younger, longtime friend, former neighbor, and sometimes boyfriend in the old days.  I went out with him 3 weeks before I married Randy.  Bill said Randy and I were people who needed that time of trial, that idea of, well, we've tried everything else, and this is what's right for us.  I guess that was true.  We've been together for a long time - and married for 23.5 years.

When you're happy in your relationship, and I am, and I'm pretty sure Randy is too, it's good to see your exes in happy relationships too.  I like Jeff's wife.  She is so sweet, and she tries to take care of Jeff's dad, and he needs that.  I almost wish I could set him up with Mom because they could both use the company.  But, he doesn't need to have to take care of anybody and she's not able to.  And Bill seems to be happy too.  His girlfriend is cute, and seems kind and sweet.

So yeah.  I'm happy for them all.  Really and truly.

Bits and pieces

Back in the day, I used to work at a factory in Clarksville. I actually worked in the office. I only worked there four months, but that was enough for a lifetime of experiences. We used to get a little pamphlet every week or so called "Bits and Pieces." I always found myself humming the old Dave Clark 5 tune. The funny thing was, I didn't really remember the song or who did it. I just remembered the tune of the chorus, & I thought, that has to be a song, but I don't remember where I heard it. Sesame Street, maybe??? Then, one day several years later, I was listening to an oldies station & I heard the song. Immediately I recalled the mystery from my short office career. I also remembered my mom's Dave Clark 5 LP, which I probably scratched up when I was a kid, listening to it so much.

I thought I'd just write about bits & pieces of what I did today, and maybe a little about what I wrote last night.

My brother, Garner, told me he was buying an old turntable this past weekend. I have one that I've used maybe twice. I'm glad I have it, though, because I have about 100 LPs that I just can't sell or give away.

I wrote a little about Huell Howser last night. I found this blog about one of his fans. I just recently learned that he was born in Gallatin. So were my niece and nephew. If I had a dollar for every time I've been to Gallatin...well, I'd probably have a couple hundred dollars. I can't believe someone would drive from ANYWHERE to go to Gallatin. Of course, this fan's name is Lonewacko, so judge for yourself. His first mistake was talking to someone under 30 about the man. Huell's been away from Channel 4 for nearly 30 years, & probably lived in Nashville while he worked there. Another thing Lonewacko didn't know is that the town is known in these parts as "Gracious and Growing Gallatin." It must've been on a commercial or something. And growing is one thing Gallatin has done well. The population's probably tripled since 1979. Where do these people come from? Maybe some might have flown out of Nashville, but there are a lot of people here in Tennessee from other places.

Today I spent a lot of time analyzing the family budget. I think things are improving, though slowly. That's all right. I used to switch the car tags every day, remember?

I did a lot of dishes today. The kids have been on a cruise with their grandmother (which is one reason why I didn't spend Derek's birthday writing about him - he was celebrating somewhere else), & we haven't used a lot of dishes. I folded some clothes too - again, I haven't washed as many, but the kids'll be back tomorrow & I'm sure there'll be plenty of laundry to do. Fortunately, Rachel's pretty good with laundry too.

I went to pick up my farm order & went out junkin' a little at the thrift stores, then I came home & I've been making DVD's for my grandmother. The show I'm recording tonight is "Cumberland Highlanders," which comes on RFD-TV. Eddie Pennington's on this one. They have a bluegrass festival every year about 2 hours from here, but last year I didn't get to go because of Rachel's colorguard days. I was so disappointed that everything hit at the same time. Well, maybe this year...

So now I'm going to the living room to make soap! Actually, I'm making laundry detergent tonight. That should be interesting. If it works out, I'll give you the recipe.

Later!