GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

It’s April Fool’s Day – Time for a Prank

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happy-fools-day-funky-concept-with-golden-text-on-grey-background_7JbwAGI realized yesterday that it has been a very long time since I played a good April Fool’s prank on someone.    I use to really get into the holiday when I was in my 20’s and 30’s and played a few really good pranks.    The two that still make me chuckle I will share with you now.

The first one was on one of my best girlfriends from high school.   We were still good friends in our 20’s and she had a weakness for good-looking men.  In fact, we all did.   At that time, I worked for the City of Houston-Parks and Recreation Department which was the fruit of my prank idea.   I called my girlfriend up and reminded her of an event we had recently attended together.   I told her that I had cross paths with a young man that was at that event and he was asking a lot of questions about her.    I told her how good looking he was giving him all of the attributes that I knew were attractive to her.   I told her his name was Walter Lyon and he gave me his office number to give to her.  I told her to call it and ask for Mr. Lyon which took lots of convincing to get her to do.    The number I gave her was to the Houston Zoo.   So, when she finally called on April Fool’s Day and asked for Mr. Lyon the attendant told her that he could not come to the phone because he was in his cage.   Needless to say she was furious with me but eventually got a good laugh out of it, too.

The second good prank was on my boyfriend and occurred in the pre-social media days.   I created some bogus letterhead from Playgirl Magazine and sent him a letter.   In the letter, I told him that pictures of him had been submitted for centerfold consideration and I was sorry to inform him that the submission had been rejected.   I knew he would be concerned because he was an attorney and college professor.  I waited to see how long it would be for him to tell me about it.   When he finally told me it was all I could do to give a shocked face and indignation about some other woman having nude pictures of him.  Of course, he denied the existence of nude pictures and worked hard to convince me he was telling the truth.   Finally, I had to tell him it was all a joke.   He was not happy with me for a few days and I had to promise to never do it again.   I think that is when I stopped being a prankster for April Fool’s Day

I still like a good prank but these days everyone is so tense I opt to avoid playing them.

 

QUESTION(S):

Do you like a good prank?

Tell us about a good prank you have played on someone.

Get a Grip – On CHANGE

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SuperChgWoman“Change.  The frightening frontier.  This is the personal journey of a baby boomer.   Her ongoing mission: To manage the life process by jumping on, riding with, and holding on to change – to seek out a healthier and peaceful lifestyle – to boldly transform a lifelong dream into a creative new life!”

I have a simple resolution for 2015 and the years ahead.    I need to get a grip.   I have foregone many healthful and helpful practices in my life for the sake of convenience.   I have made some choices for the sake of comfort because what I really wanted to do was a bit uncomfortable.   Now, I am paying the piper because even though I have a good life it is not the great life that I know I can reach.   Since I truly believe the idiom that the present day is the first day of the rest of your life, I have decided to implement the practices that will improve my health and lifestyle.  I have decided to be uncomfortable so that I can be propelled to the next level and to my destiny.

I know I am human.  I will have days that I will vacillate.  So I used my creative juices to make a method to help me with a kick in my butt on those days.    Meet my little friend, Greta Grypp, at the top of the post.   Her whole purpose is to be my change manager, my voice of reason, my cheerleader, and my shero when the road to permanent life changes becomes a little steep.   When I start to succumb to choices and behaviors that will veer me from the path of change, I will envision Greta with her booted foot raised and in position to kick my butt into compliance.

My first mission is to introduce my creative voice to more readers through my blogging life and through my budding novelist life.   This is the most difficult mission because every writer has an inherent fear of putting their words out into the universe.  Also, the publishing world is changing and there are some great but frightening choices for new novelists.   Greta will probably wear out a couple pairs of boots kicking me with this mission.

My second mission is to get healthier.   You know when you are younger you can get away with skipping out somewhat on a healthy routine but when you become “vintage” (as my blogger gal-pal Vintage Woman at http://www.amivintageyet.com calls it) you can’t do that anymore.    I have decided to make a simple start by doing three basic things (1) eat natural, gluten-free, and single-ingredient foods (2) move – walk, dance, bike, play, jump, whatever – my body for at least 30 minutes a day.  I call this my 3-6-5 Move movement (3) Drink 96 ounces of water per day.    For me, these three changes need to be implemented simultaneously for beneficial results.   Each month, I will make another change to enhance my healthier choices.

Now, I have my initial missions and my cheerleader but I need a virtual crew.   I have a virtual crew for my first mission (the writing life) but I need a virtual crew for the second mission.   It is always fun to have others to share the healthy lifestyle changes with as you gain confidence and knowledge from the interactions.   I plan to give a Greta Grypp report periodically on my progress with information on discoveries I make along the path of change.   Hopefully, some of you will consider joining me in the 3-6-5 Move movement and report back with comments on your progress, too.

Change is really all about choices.   Choices are the compass and the wheel of life.   They make life movement and they control the direction of that movement.   Because of that sometimes it takes all of your courage and will to make one.   However, the opportunity to make a choice is a gift and the change it engenders is the reward.

QUESTION(S)

Will you come join me in the 3-6-5 Movement?   If so, reply back with a comment on the post.

Best Things in Life #10 – Experiencing Snow

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My Patio SnowLiving down here on the Gulf Coast in Houston there aren’t many opportunities to experience snow.   In the course of my lifetime, I can count the number of times it has snowed here on 1 ½ hands.    The snow that fell to the ground did not last long and melted in a few hours so I guess you can’t really deem that as “experiencing” snow.   Yet, my entire hometown would shut down for the day because we Houstonians don’t know how to drive in those conditions.

My good friend that lives in Cleveland, Ohio would laugh at me when I told her it snowed in Houston.   She told me I didn’t really know what snow was like until I experienced it in a true snowbound city.    After hearing this taunt a couple of times, I decided to take her up on it and went to visit her in the month of February for a long weekend.    This was when I truly experienced snow for the first time.

It was beautiful to look at as she drove me to her home from the airport but when I stepped out of her car I felt like I was about to do the James Brown split.   Apparently, I had the wrong type of soles on my shoes for walking on an icy driveway.   It was so very cold and the snow started to fall really hard like one of the heavy rain days in Houston.   My girlfriend wanted to go out to introduce me to her relatives and have dinner.   I wanted to stay in her house because to me it was a blizzard outside.    She assured me it was not a blizzard but just a normal snowy day.

We drove down streets with snow heaped up like hills on the side.   I noticed it wasn’t so white all of the time and that snow could get a dirty brown color turning into slush.    At one point, we stopped by the grocery store and I saw these unusual contraptions in the store.   When I asked my girlfriend to identify it she gave me a big belly laugh.  She could not believe I did not recognize the contraption and had never seen one.   It was a snow/ice scraper for the car windshield.    I told her we did not need such a tool in Houston so how would I know about it.

I stayed a few days sliding across driveways and fearing for my well-being when we were out on the roads.    When we were in the airport for my return flight home, I was so happy to see the word Houston on the marquee because I knew I was heading to a warmer climate.  After that visit, my girlfriend and I made a pact.   She can come and visit me anytime from November to June and I would visit her anytime from June to October.

Another snow experience was a ski trip to Denver.   I only went once.   I spent the entire trip on my butt with my skis tangled up.   My friends had to help me untangle my skis several times.   Finally, I just sat on the sidelines drinking hot chocolate.   I did not even make the bunny hill.   However, I did enjoy snow tubing.   It was exhilarating!   I have never been so out of control as sliding down a hill of ice on an inner tire tube.

So, I know you are now wondering why is experiencing snow on my “Best Things in Life” list?    It is on my list because it is a beautiful natural gift from God and whatever happens in it is worth experiencing.

Snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

QUESTION(S)

Do you enjoy experiencing snow?   Why or Why Not?

The Best Things in Life #4 – Laughing at Yourself

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Yes, I have lived long enough to have many opportunities to laugh at myself.   If I had to choose the one thing that I keep doing that is a source of laughter (after the fact) it is falling down in unusual places.   I know if I had some video of some of those falls I could win several of those prizes on America’s Funniest Video.

My most spectacular fall was in the middle of Main Street in DisneyWorld’s Magic Kingdom on the evening of July 4th 2008 after the wondrous fireworks.    I tripped and fell off the curb.   In a matter of minutes, I was surrounded by Disney officials and medics, who were very alarmed.    I was so embarrassed I was speechless.   My sister, who is a nurse, kept asking me had I hit my head and my eleven year old nephew was dismayed because I had rolled over on the camera.  His main concern was about all of his Disney pictures.     It is still funny and I am laughing about it now as I write this post.

Here are a few more of my spectacular falls:

  • Fell in Jason’s Deli while grabbing a to-go lunch.   When I fell my forehead hit the tile floor and I literally kissed the floor as there was my red lipstick on it.   My co-workers took me to the emergency room because I had a huge knot on my forehead.  This was 2 days before a vacation to Jamaica.   I did continue with my vacation (with the doctor’s blessing) but I had 2 perfect black eyes.   I wore sunshades day and night to cover them while on vacation.
  • Fell at a black tie banquet at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC.    I was walking toward the waving hands of my companion across the ballroom but I forgot there were a couple of steps in front of me.   As I fell, I heard all of the persons around me exclaim in one big “OH!”   I was so embarrassed that I just stayed on the floor for a few minutes.   The head waiter rushed over to me asking if I was okay.   I didn’t answer because I felt cold air on the back of my upper thighs.  I was humiliated.   Then I realized I was in Washington, D.C. and I probably would never see some of these people again.   So, with all the audacity we Texans can muster, I got up, pulled my dress down, and walked across the ballroom to my table.
  • Years later, while visiting the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C. on an evening tour, I tripped and fell.   This time I sprained my ankle.   A week later, back at home, I tripped and fell in downtown Houston leaving the Houston Ballet performance.    This time I broke my 2 front teeth.
  • Fell out of a hammock on a beach in Aruba.   I think one of my friends captured this fall in a photo.
  • Fell down an ice-covered staircase on my way to church one Sunday.   I didn’t have any injuries on this fall.  I didn’t even tear my pantyhose!   However, my shoes flew off.   My neighbor came down to help me.  He searched for my shoes and put them back on my feet.  He asked me if I wanted to go back upstairs to my apartment.  I told him I thought it best to go on to church.   It was a bad ice-storm in Houston that day.   I saw on the TV news later that several persons fell and broke ankles, legs, etc.

This list can go on and on as my falls go back to when I was a child/teenager.   Even though I did sustain some injuries on some of them, it did not stop my quest for adventure and my ability to laugh at myself.

QUESTIONS:

Do you laugh at yourself?    If so, can you share some occasions where you have done so?