& that's the way life goes

Wham’s Last Christmas is on my internet radio right now. I have to say this song cracks me up every holiday season.

Back when I was 14 I did something I haven’t done since.  I was the wingman (woman).  I dated someone because it was convenient.  My friend Heather started dating Gumby and when they broke up (much to Heather’s dislike) he started dating Misplaced Momma.  His friend D was not attractive, I think he might have been funny which gave him points at first but that wore off quickly because he just became annoying.

Obviously since we were only 14 we didn’t see the boys that much so I think D and I dated for at least 3 months.  Ew. He wasn’t even a good kisser and I gave him plenty of chances.  He drooled I think.  Ugh.

Anyways,  D broke up with me right before Christmas.  I think I actually laughed.  I remember eating dinner when he called.  I’m pretty sure I did laugh, which is making me crack up right now.  I actually hated him a little bit I just went along with everything because it was easier for MM.

I guess I learned my lesson, I never dated anyone because it was convenient for someone else after that.

Anyways, That song reminds me of D and Gumby.  Gotta love the Christmas season!

Speaking of Christmas songs, I’m pretty sure my favorite is Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas is you.  You know before she was a whore.  (hey now, I don’t mind Obsessed and Heartbreaker, but c’mon the lady ghetto’ed out.  I much prefer the Always Be My Baby Mariah Carey)  It doesn’t matter what mood I’m in that song always makes me want to dance and sing along.  It puts me in the Christmas mood.  I know right, out of all the Christmas songs that’s my go to song?

The other one that is a MUST HAVE at Christmas is I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.  My mom and I used to make Chrismas cutouts to that song.  We’d sing and dance silly.  My Papa loved hippos so I think that’s another reason I love this song.  When I was decorating our tree last weekend it came on, I like to think my Mom was there helping

What are you favorite Christmas/holiday songs?

I’m participating in Gwen Ball’s Best of 09!

Today’s question:

Best Restaurant Moment

Andrew’s on the Corner in Detroit, watching the Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals.

We did shots from the hockey stick and it’s one of the first times in a long time A Panda came out with us!

LP, A Panda, moi, C

So I think I told you guys that C accidentally threw out a box of my photo albums when we moved. He did it purely by accident and still feels awful about it. The only thing that kept him alive was that Misplaced Momma has about 85% of my doubles. When I went to visit her a couple weeks ago I brought them home.

This is a HUGE scanning project but at least the pictures will be digital now, right?!

I posted some pictures up on facebook because it’s fun and hey they are on my computer anyways. JC is on my facebook and he has commented how I haven’t changed much in 10 years.

What do you think?

The picture on the right was taken June 1999 for my 17th birthday. The picture on the right is from August 2009. I’m still classy like that.

My hair still does it’s crazy curly thing. The picture on the right was Summer 1998 and the one the left was also August 2009.

How much have you changed in the last 10 years? Let’s see it!

A walk down memory lane…

I’m not a baseball fan, I never have been.  But every year when the world series starts I have fuzzy nostalgia.  This year was no different and it was little bit more substantial because yet again, the Yankees were in the finals.

I had known Landon since I was 12.  I always liked him, he was charismatic and I’m not sure how any could not like him.  He was a smooth talker without sounding like one.  It’s no surprise that I never let go of the crush I had on him.  He was magnetic.  Through the years we hung out as friends, giggled on the phone and then didn’t talk for months at a time

1999 ©rialeilani Sorry for the crappy pic it's the only one I have of us together

Then one day we’d run into each other at someone’s house and it would start up again. I remember hanging out at his friend’s apartment one year and getting drunk and heavily making out on the floor. I didn’t get home until after 5am that morning. I was in my senior year and I still can’t believe my mom didn’t question that one. He took me to see the re-release of the Exorcist at the movie theater. Holy crap I don’t think I slept for a month after watching that movie it was hella scary. It still gives me the goosebumps to think about it. After the movie he asked me to hang out with him on sweetest day but I had plans to go haunted housing with my friends that I didn’t want to break (points for me! I’m shocked I didn’t go!).

Obviously I love reminiscing…back to baseball…

So in my freshman year of college we started hanging out more…doing homework. Yes homework, not code for something else, and I’m not even sure how this started. But I would go over to his house with my government book and he would do his homework while I did mine with the world series (Yankees vs Mets) playing in the background. He made me laugh and we had a weird connection. I think he liked me too (hello he had me over to do homework) but there was a lot of history between Landon, his best friend (J) and I. Making out always seemed acceptable, because hello, it was only kissing.

I was a tease ok? And I say it without shame and damnit I’m proud of it. I didn’t just give it away.  I made him wait years.  When we were 21 he took a break from his girlfriend and I was newly single after the breakup with my douchebag boyfriend.  I have no idea how we had come back into contact with one another.  Probably through J (who I had also known since I was 12 and was always close to. And no, despite what all J’s friends think, I never slept with him thankyouverymuch) who I talked to on a regular basis.

Anyhow, Misplaced Momma and I met up with Landon and J at the bar.  We were having too much fun so we headed back to Landon’s house.  His mom mistakenly thought I was his girlfriend (they were on a break!!) when she had to open the door to let us in because Landon forgot his key.  He earned points for telling her it was me.  Well, we’ll just say he earned more than just points that night.  We hung out once or twice more and then he got back together with the girlfriend.

(I have a thing with girlfriends, they never like me.  I think she didn’t because when they first started dating a couple years before  all of us were at a bowling alley where Landon got drunk and followed me out to my car and she was trailing behind him.  I think she was being kind of bitchy and he kept telling her he’d rather go home with me.  Yeah…But I was a saint and told him he was being an ass and to knock it off   see she shouldn’t have not liked me)

About a year and a half later he died in a motorcycle accident.   His funeral was hours long because there were so many people that wanted to share stories of him.  He was magnetic.  You couldn’t help but like him.

I still have dreams about Landon.  Nothing inappropriate, mostly we just talk.  It’s weird how 5 years later I still miss him and I didn’t see him that often.  Some people leave deeper imprints on our hearts.

Rest in Peace Landon

I’m going to apologize for asking this question before I ask it.

I’m sorry.

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What is the point of facebook?

Wait, wait. Before you get all “it’s to connect with people” on me, let me explain my conflicting feelings.

I only send friend requests to people that I know and people that I knew and had a friendship with and we’ve lost touch.  In no way do I want to get involved in the I have 300 friends and am SO cool game.  So I send requests to people in high school I sat with at lunch or remember chatting with in class.  And let me tell you for those people facebook is great. And I friend people that I’m friends with now or hung out with in college.

I’ve seen on my suggested friends people that I remember being assholes or bitches and I have no desire to even know what they are doing.  But what about people in between?

For instance, I joined an alumni for my elementary school just because it seemed like fun at the time.  Going through the members I found LB.  LB lived 4 houses down from my grandma and rumor has it I beat him up before I was old enough to attend kindergarten.  When I switched from private to public school he ended up in my 6th grade class.  In retrospect we had that really cute little-boy-and-girl-have-a-crush-on-each-other relationship.  We walked home from school together, drew on each others’ notes, drove each other crazy, hit one another and called each other names.  Our classmates teased us and we denied “going out”.  On one occasion I remember being in class and all the kids around us were being jerks to LB.  I remember sticking up for him and when they turned on me he stuck up for me.   You have to love 6th grade.  There are other micellaneous stories like how I brought him his homework when he was out of school sick and how I would call and hang up on him.  You know.

And then he did it, he broke my little girl heart at the end of the year when he asked Michelle R out.  (ha she said no!)

We moved onto junior high and then high school.  We were acquaintances then since we didn’t hang out in the same crowds.  Junior year his locker ended up next to mine.  He’d always give me a smile and we’d chit chat occasionally but nothing special.   At prom we had our picture taken together, it’s a cute.

So fast forward to present time, I debated for awhile if I should send him a friend request or not.  Because really? What the hell does it matter?   This is the problem I have with facebook.  I don’t befriend anyone and everyone.  I have to have some type of connection with them or a reason to want to be friends.  LB and I had a connection from years ago but it’s still hard for me to hit send.

It’s not because I’m afraid of what the other person will  think of me and I’m not opposed to sharing my facebook-self with others, so what is it?

I think it’s because I’m lacking a reason.

Does anyone else have this problem?  Or am I just being neurotic and over thinking it?