DAY 164: SORRY MOLLY

     So sorry Molly, we opted for high cotton.  I got last minute the tickets (in a suite) to the Cotton Bowl.  What would've you done?  The game was fun and I saw a guy dressed up like a true Arkansas Razorback, he had a fur pelt on his back and some wicked red and white face paint.  What a scary fan...oops I mean super fan.

DAY 163: THE MOLLY RINGWALDS

     That Molly Ringwald, not only did she get to kiss Andrew MCcarthy and the actor that played Jake Ryan and be best buddies with the character Duckie, she got an entire cover band named after her.  They're a British cover band to boot.  And I'm going to see that band tonight.  I wonder if they all wear red hair wigs.

DAY 162: IT'S CORTISONE SHOT TIME

     A month, two x-rays, three doctor visits (including the emergency room), and several pain pills later, I finally got a cortisone shot for my elbow.  The shot itself wasn't that bad, but the PAIN that came afterward was in a word painful.
     My doctor gave me the shot yesterday morning and I'm feeling a little better right now.  He said the steroid doesn't start kicking in until today.  In the meantime, I've been instructed to rest my elbow--no tennis, no golf, no weights, no a lot of things.  My doctor even said not to shake hands, open doors or jars with my right hand.  It's going to be an interesting few weeks...

DAY 161: WOULD'VE, SHOULD'VE, COULD'VE

      Happy (would have been) Birthday Mom!  Today would have been my mom's 65th birthday.  I wish I'd known my mother as an adult.  The last time I spoke to her I was 10 years old; I hadn't gotten my period yet; I'd never kissed a boy; I hadn't started middle school; I hadn't had my first job; etc.  It'd be nice to know her as an adult and talk to her about the things going on in my life now.

DAY 160: A PLACE OF YES

     For this new year, I'm reading A Place of Yes by Bethenny Frankel.  I like what she says in the introduction:  "I'm not the kind of person who goes along with the crowd, nods and smiles, or compromises to avoid conflict.  In fact, I try not to go along with the crowd." Damn straight sister, damn straight.  Life's too short.

DAY 159: A BUCK 50

     When I was younger and I saw ads on TV for car payments as low as $299, I'd hear that to mean the car cost $2.99.  I'd run and tell my parents I'd found them a great deal.  They'd smile and continue to read the New York Times or do whatever they happened to be doing.
     The young daughter character in the movie We Bought a Zoo did the same thing.  When calculating the bill for maintenance at their zoo an employee tells the Matt Damon father character it will cost "a buck fifty."  The daughter questions: "A dollar and fifty cents?  I have that in my piggy bank."  Awwww, to be young again.
     I also used to think that those Don't Drink and Drive signs meant Dad couldn't drink his can of A&W root beer while he drove our family station wagon...

DAY 158: WAKE UP AND SMELL THE TEXT MESSAGE

     Happy New Year!  What I've learned since midnight is that people, strike that, guys--if I may generalize--nowadays will only text you, they will not phone you.  I received quite a few Happy NYE texts from different guys.  I'm curious how long these texting relationships will last and if any of them will ever develop into real, full blown communicative relationships where we speak on the phone or dare I suggest, meet in person.  It's all to be seen.  I guess that's what the New Year is all about--the anticipation of what will or could happen.