Golfer Barbie, Cousin Dave, Cousin Maria, Me Husband and Ally 

bLiNd DaTe!

Well tonight is a big night....My friend --we'll call her Michelle -- is going on a blind date. Aren't blind dates the best thing and the worst thing at the same time? I'm married and older but not too old to remember such events. You really honestly have no idea what to expect. I am excited for her and hopes she has a wonderful time. What should she wear? She looks fabulous in pink. Oh and pink would be my favorite color. Wait! This is not about me! She has cute hair and is tall. She has 3 degrees and is smart. Oh and get this...she plays golf -- and is great at it. If there are any single guys out there looking -- this one is GOLFER BARBIE. If you would, please write to her via Ally's Blog site...She is so going to kill me, but hey maybe my blog site will set her up on a blind date!@#!@# Maybe I should title this one -- Golfer Barbie seeks Ken.

TGIF

Remember: when one door closes another will surely open....

PoPcOrN!!!!!!!!!

My father-in-law is nothing short of genius. This is not a revelation, but I only recently found out one of his most supurb acts of brainpower last month. You can make popcorn in the microwave. OKOKOK I know, this is not a revelation, however I never knew you could do it so easily.

Ingredients:
1 small brown paper bag
1/3 c plain popcorn
salt (to taste)
butter (to taste)

Pour 1/3 cup of popcorn in the small paper bag. Gently fold down the end of the bag two times, closing it. Place the bag on its side in the microwave. Using the "popcorn" feature on your microwave, pop your popcorn (approx 2.5 minutes). Gently take the bag out of the microwave. Salt and butter to taste. Enjoy!

Can you believe that? pfft! I had no idea. Its not made with oil or any of that icky microwave popcorn goo that is in those icky bags. Its just like hot air popped!

Oh I forgot the most important thing...a romantic comedy to watch your popcorn by... :) And if you don't like popcorn, I'm sorry to disappoint you with today's blog. You know....it reminds me.....

Remember: One cannot please all the people of the world everyday.

Goodnight World

I don't really have a lot to say tonight....so I'll say goodnight.....

In French: Bonne nuit
In Spanish:  Buenas noches
In Latin:  Salve
In Russian:  Spokoynoy nochi
In Welsh:  Nos da
In Yiddish:  a gute nacht
In Irish:  Óiche mhaith
In Dutch:  Goede nacht
In Czech:  Dobrou noc

The Mountainside Waltz

The long and winding road up the mountainside was calming.  She was so young and he drove so fast.   The wind racing through her hair distracted him beyond his wildest imagination.   She was so beautiful to him.     Her shoulder-length blonde hair blowing through the fierce wind memerized him.    The perfume she wore stung his nose and her skin just radiated in the moonlight.   They did not speak but the silence was a conversation.  Why don't you love me?  I do love you.  Why can't you see what we have?  You will destroy me.  Why did you stay?  I can't  leave you....

They reached the top of the mountain.  He got out and breathed a heavy sigh.   He was going to open her door but heard her door click open.    She walked around the car and stood behind him gentle placing her carefully manicured hand on his shoulder.    That single gesture paralyzed him.     He loved her so much.   Barely able to speak, he uttered "Come with me...please"  Leading her up the narrow path he paused and admired the view, the magnificent view.  The perfect setting for what was about to happen.  He reached for her hand...gazed into her eyes.  The music from the car was still singing out to them....Dance to me.....dance to me....Pulling her close, he danced with her.   It was sensual and poetic.   Gently, he pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered, "I will love you forever."

 
Remember:   Conserve energy.  Turn out the lights when you leave a room.

Feeling your age....it happens to us all.

HELLO!  Happy Monday! 

Beep Beep Beep (yes here it is again)....Monday.  I woke up - late.  That is such a bad habit.  I can hear my Dad telling me at 14..."Alyson, that is a habit you must break now."  OK Dad you were right-- for the love!!!!   Anyway, I rush to get the sleepies out of my eyes and look in the mirror - I just know this is going to be a bad hair day.  EEK was I right.  Something about the humidity and the South -- gotta love it.  OK, so I manage to get ready and then its the dreaded "finding something to wear task."  The key for Ally to finding something to wear is -- what do I not have to iron.  If I have to iron it, more than likely its out of the question....because for the reason above - I'm pushing the time factor on the commute to work.   Checkerboard skirt and white button down shirt.  OOO I remembered my watch today -- Yipee!  The only bad thing about my watch is IT TELLS ME HOW LATE I'M RUNNING.   OK out the door and I'm off.   (My car was sooooo clean -- my husband had washed it so it looked NEW).....The commute to work was typical....I drive faster than everyone and in doing so, I am ALWAYS behind someone slower than me.  To avoid self-incrimiation, I have slowed down and am trying to do better.  I get to the parking garage and find a spot.  I parked on....I parked on....um.....ya.  I parked the car and jumped out -- ran up the street two blocks and phew I'm at my desk.  Yipee its 8:10.  BLAH!

Ok in my defense...I am always late LEAVING work too.  I never leave on time.  I am walking out with a ton of stuff.  I have presentations the next 3 days and have my laptop bag, handouts, messenger bag and Land's End Tote.   I get to the garage and since I have all this stuff ride the elevator up to my floor.   Get off and my car isn't there.  I down one level (via stairs)  its not there.  I go up two levels its not there!  OK where is my car....I deduct finally that I actually took the stairs UP when I came in this morning and so therefore I need to go two levels down.  (I have a math degree --- I can do such deductions)  Finally -- three levels later I find it.  When I'm 40 -- I bet it takes me at least 5!  I really felt my age....It hurt.

Remember:  Write it on your hand where you park!

Call ask a Nurse

Ugh....MOMMY!

I feel like garbage today.   I have that whole sinus thing going.    I could feel worse....I know it....I did feel worse which reminds me of a story......

It was my junior year and I was taking some extremely difficult classes.  Well if we had perfect attendance we could forego our exams -- which especially for  my Trig class was a sweet deal.    The night before THE DAY, I had cried because I couldn't focus on my homework.  I was struggling and I begged my mom to tell me what was wrong with me.    At one point I said MOM CAll ASK A NURSE...and she said um I AM A NURSE!!!     My head was spinning I had the head cold like thing going  -- but it was different.  I felt like I was dying.    I just quit the homework thing and went to bed.     The next morning I was in the shower and dropped the shampoo bottle on my foot and OUCH!  I went into school and my nose started bleeding....then I passed out in my 1st period class...I was leaving early that day to go to the dr referral for a knee surgery referral so I could play tennis in the spring....hopefully he could prescribe something.....

I got to the dr and they ran bloodwork on me...blah blah blah...I was so exhausted.  Mom took me home and said you need to rest on the couch.  I was just about to fade off into dreamworld when the phone rang.  My doctor was on the phone.  Not the nurse, not the secretary but THE ACUTAL man himself.  He asked to speak to mom....then next thing I know she is telling me to get in the car and we're rushed to the hospital.  I found out later he told my mother that if she couldn't have me there in 15 minutes he was sending the ambulance.  

Hindsight is 20/20....If I knew then what I knew now, I would have been very scared.  My foot was blue.  My arm still bleeding from the bloodsucking needle.  My nose was still bleeding.   I had a serious medical condition....they thought it was leukemia.   One unforgettable pelvic exam, bone marrow test, and lots of blood drawings later....it was determined I had some freaky blood disorder and it was clearing itself up.    I had Mono and tonsilitis to top it off.    OH YA and my boyfriend -- dumped me -- how rude. 

Needless to say, I had to take my exams.  I was out of school for over 3 months.....
So see?  I don't really feel THAT BAD....all I have to do is remember that story.


Remember:  It can always be worse......so make it better.

Act Like I Said Something Funny

Single Girls UNITE!  Herein lies the key to finding a guy in a bar.   I guarantee if you use my method for picking up a guy -- it will work or your money back guaranteed.    First, you must realize that you must send money to actually get money back.  (Just email me for a Paypal Account)   Anyway...I know you are sitting there anxiously with the KEY to finding a man.  So I will leave you hanging no longer.  Just....act like I said something funny.   When you're dancing -- SMILE.  When you sip a beer (if you're OVER 21)  grin before you take a drink.  When you make eye contact -- giggle slightly.  Its an age old invention -- be happy and they will come....People are attracted to smiley happy people. 

The story behind this revelation....If you care....My friends (Stephanie, Chrissy etc) would go to a club to go dancing.  One night I looked over at them and they were just frowning.  It looked like we were having the most miserable time.  (Maybe the selection wasn't that great -- I can't remember)  Anyway, I looked at them and blurted out "HEY!  Act like I said something funny"  and they looked at me in that --she is fruity-- way and said "What did you say?"  and I repeated myself....well it caught on...They started laughing and ended up having the BEST time.  We laughed a lot that night and well..... the rest is history.

:)

Remember:  ACT LIKE I SAID SOMETHING FUNNY!!!!!

 

Moonlight Sonata

When I was in college, before the first day of class, they always had this HUGE poster sale.  I walked into this gigantic room and there were tons of posters.    I would just flip out.  I never wanted the 21 bottles of beer on the wall poster.  I went to freaky section.  The one with posters of Stonehenge and abstract objects.  You know I am in college - I am going places - I am in an institute of higher learning - I'm a DEEP THINKER!!!!!  One poster in particular I will never forget.   I had to have it.  It was an excerpt of Moonlight Sonata....takes me back....to another time........

I am 7 years old....My Mommy is a wonderful pianist and she sits down to play.  I look at her hands and wonder how she reaches all the keys.  Her music is so beautiful.  She plays Mozart, Chopin, Weber --- and then...Beethoven.   My sister and I crawl under our baby grand piano and listen to the sad melody.   I see my mommy's foot gently pressing and releasing the pedal...the music filling the room.     The mind that wrote those notes.  Those hands that first played them.  What were they feeling?   I begin to weep not knowing why.  This was my first appreciation of beauty and feeling and great emotion in music.     I look at my sister and she has her eyes closed.   She feels it too. 

Have YOU ever felt the music?  Not listened to it.  But felt it?  There are many songs since that day that have stirred such emotion.  Some with words, some without words, some with words I don't understand.  "The Music of the Night" (Phantom) , "Last Night of the World" (Miss Siagon), "You and I Both" (Jason Mraz),  "On My Own" (Les Mis),  "Why" (Annie Lenox) , "No Me Ames" (Marc Anthony), "Traveling Soldier" (Dixie Chicks),  "Trouble in the Fields" (Nancy Griffith)  Crush (Dave Matthews Band),  "Could it be any Harder"  (The Calling),  Fantasie (Mozart).....sorry I got carried away.   Each one of these along with many others, bring me to some emotion when I hear it.  I go to another place -- if I can -- in my mind.   Music is a train ride through the county, its a Sunday drive, its a dance by the seashore, its a beautiful poem -- If you could just FEEL IT. 

Back in my dorm room.....I have placed the poster above my bed....and at night...when it is quiet....I can shut my eyes and I'm  7 again...My mom is playing the notes....I'm under the piano and I feel it.

Remember:  Music is more than something you listen to....Music is so much more than that.

Brought to you by the letters A-Z

Are there words that people use that you think are pretty in writing?  Its funny, when I'm reading a book I will sometimes look at a word and think that is a nice word -- it looks really nice in print.  Its  a HOTTIE word -- ha just kidding.  Seriously, though there are words that I find beautiful. Some of my favorite words to see in print are.....

dream
lovely
adore
simply
leaves
snow

ooo i can't even think of my favorites.  I'm sleepy.  How is this -- I promise to pick up a book and tell you more pretty words. 

Remember:  Go to bed at a decent hour and all will be well.

Hiya

If you are happy...press 1.

If you are not happy....why are you not happy?

Goodnight.

Remember: YOU control what you feel...no one else can!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy To Me!

Today (July 13th) is my birthday. I have had a great day! It was one of a kind...my nieces and mother in law made me a homemade birthday cake. Why you may ask is this significant? Well, I haven't had a homemade birthday cake in over 20 years. There is proof out there that I did have one once...My mother made me a birthday cake with this AWESOME carousel topper every year...until she and my Dad divorced. I have photographs of it! It was red with the little horses going around it. My sister's was Snow White. Maybe our birthday cake toppers got blown up in the courtroom...I don't know. But I do know....from that point on, it was 2 cakes -- none of which were homemade until TONIGHT. It was the BEST. Birthdays are normally overrated, but this one -- hahaha Tops the Cake.

I love my family.

Remember: Appreciate the little things.

Ever Never Ever?

Do you ever....

just want to scream loudly in a quiet place?
tell someone mean what you really think?
want to wake up the neighbors?
think about what you would do if you could start over?
let yourself go?
think about the day you found out Santa Clause wasn't real?
want to just spend money you don't have?
think about what would happen if the person you love the most -- suddenly is gone?
remember what it was like to be a kid?
just want to break a window?
dream about high school?
feel like dancing? Lets GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a Fabulouso Day

Remember: Fly a kite, go dancing, dare to dream....don't be afraid to LIVE

The Ocean...from my mind.

Standing alone --- in the darkness....
It has just rained
The air is fresh and smells clean....
Like freshly showered skin.....
A light cool breeze caressing your face.........
Reminds you that things exist we cannot see....
The stars are peeking through the clouds
And the moonlight is struggling to shine onto the water.....
In the distance..you can hear young girls giggling
but if you listen past that
The roar of the waves crashing against the shore,
silence everything else....
rhythmic and true....
they come one at at time....
Revealing their white foam patterns....
Look beyond the water...beyond the reflection of your face....
Look to your soul and reveal -- what the world cannot.

Chocolate Milk - How well can you REALLY know a person?

My sister...very very very different from me met and dated her husband since they could say bad words in the back of the band bus. Basically they have known each other since puberty. LOVE YOU SEESTER! Anyway, I actually thought there was NOTHING my sister didn't know about her husband -- but it was the most simple thing she didn't know....They had been married for -- I don't know 4 years maybe....and one day, I was hanging out over at her house and her husband was fussing because he had left the house without any money that day. And she was like oh well why didn't you just go get money...and he said that isn't the point. I always stop and get chocolate milk every morning at the convenience store -- and I couldn't. My sister had been married to him for four years and didn't know he stopped every morning for milk? Can you BELIEVE THAT? How well do you know a person if you don't know they stop everyday to get milk? I mean -- they really know each other. I'm just floored by this concept. Oh well...goodnight :)

Remember: Find out the smallest detail...it could provide great insight.

I HATE WAL-MART -- A RANT by Ally

Ok....

I know Wal-Mart is a staple of American Society. But on this night I officially hate it. I was in line for an hour for deli meat. DELI MEAT. And then...THEN I was forced to go over to the cosmetic section -- because...um ya I have chipped nailpolish and was out of my Revlon Top Coat. **GASP** Well, everyone who was ANYONE was at the wal-mart and they all migrated to the nailpolish. Fighting through, somehow coming out with only one cracked rib...I ventured BACK over to the grocery section. I traveled through the traffic maze like the expert cart navigator that I am -- I get plenty of practice @ 5PM every afternoon with my lovely commute home. ANYWAY, I get through and finally am ready to check out...The LINE to check out -- holy toledo batman! There were 20 people in line. I am not kidding! I read every magazine....Cosmo, People, In Touch, Teen People...LOL OMG did you know that Mary Kate is in DRUG REHAB? What is this world coming to. I do so like how those girls have that 'smoky' eyeshadow look. I think I will try that tomorrow. :) Three hours....after entering one of our most blessed American Icons, I left the Wal-Mart. THREE HOURS...I left with nailpolish, deli meat...and a whole lot of smut facts. It is so great to be me.

Have a happy day

Remember: Be nice to the person who works at Wal-Mart....they -- are SAINTS.

Pickup Lines from a 3 year old....

Well....day 5 of vacation....I can't believe its almost over.  The smallest things at the beach remind me of vacations when I was a child.  I hope that my two nieces remember these beach trips when they are my age...Our memories are our life history books.   I have kept a diary most of my life.....and can recap all of the major events.    Anyway, to get to my point -- HA does any of this HAVE a point?  That is stretching....anyway...
 
One thing I remember about our summer vacations are all the other kids our age we met.  My sister and I were very outgoing and met a lot of friends.  We kept in touch with some of them -- I know my sister kissed one of them -- we fished....we ate ice cream...we rode bikes...we had the time of our lives and didn't have a care in the world...
 
I look over and now, my sister's children are playing in the pool.  And they are meeting friends.  And I wonder, where did the time go?  How it just flies by like a crisp breeze....The funniest thing happened tonight.  I was watching my 3 year old niece playing on the steps to the pool and the next thing I know she is talking to this little boy -- her opening pitch was "Hey do you like my bathingsuit?"    She was cute -- She was bold -- She was ORIGINAL.  YAY!    It was like looking through a window of time....and coming full circle all in one.  How I want those little ones to remember these days....But as adults, how can we convince them -- to LOVE this day...Love it -- remember it -- soak it up?  Its an urgency I feel for them with no way to explain it.   
 
Tomorrow is the final day of a fabulous vacation....I have soaked it up - I've lived it - I'll remember it.
 
Remember:  You blink and you're 20.  You turn around and you're 30...I imagine 40 will approach like a fast moving storm...Make it count.
 

For Nadene

Hiya Girlfriend...I know you won't be reading this for a while...but I wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and your sweet Logan. I pray that you both get well soon. You have been through so much in your life -- you are one of the strongest, most faithful women I know. You will get through this. Hugs to you Nadene....

love,
Ally

Remember: Pray for the people you love. It works.

Her side.....A continuation story

Driving down the road, she could feel her heart pounding. This is the first time in many weeks since she had seen him. He had asked her to come. She was scared but continued on her course, knowing the road behind her had vanished and this was the only way. She walked up to the door of his office and lightly knocked. No one answered. She knew he had to be in there. He had just called.

She paused. Reflecting on their last real conversation, he had said, he never wanted to see her again. It had torn through her like a knife piercing straight to her heart. How could he do that? What could be going through his mind? When he explained it, the words just sounded like gunshots. They had become so close and then for him to just push her away....

"You made it"

She couldn't speak. He came around the corner. Ironically, he had been watching for her from outside his office. She smiled.

"Of course"

It was business as usual and the meeting was adjourned. When it was time to go, she waited. She wanted him to finally say something. Anything. Retract the statement from their last meeting. He didn't. She wanted him more than ever to tell her the words her ears longed to hear. He didn't.

"Well, I need to make a phone call. I will see you later."

What could she say? Nothing....she left.

To be continued....

/off topic
Remember: You don't have much time on this earth, make the most of each moment.

Chipped nailpolish

I hate it. Its trashy unless your 12.

The end.

Remember: Keep your nails manicured