March Madness Revisited

It's been a while since the last awards ceremony; however, that is not to say that there hasn't been incidents and/or individuals who should be dubiously honored! In fact, with all that has been transpiring of late, there is a 'bag full' of goodies to distribute! And without further ado. . .

LILACS: To those honorable men who, regardles of rain, sleet, hair or snow, guard those unknown fallen servicemen at Arlington. Even though almost all government offices were closed during the recent snow storms in the Washington, DC area, these wonderful individuals continued to guard the graves of our Nation's unknown with honor and pride.

LEMONS: To those in the House of Representatives who recently voted in favor a health reform bill that promises nothing less than higher taxes, penalties, and socialist medicine. Did you not see your constituents protesting with vigor against this bill? Don't be surprised when they use their 'vote' to oust you out of office in the upcoming elections!

LILACS: To Roger and his staff who are turning my 1948 Chevy pickup into a true show car, and to my husband who is paying for it all!

LEMONS: To the service folks at British Airlines. Shame on you! You are one, if not the highest, paid airlines in the world. Greed is a terrible trait; not to say how many passengers, because of your actions, are experiencing lss than satisfactory service.

LILACS: To my husband, who although he was a recent 'victim' of such service and has not yet completely recovered from jet lag, has taken the time to design and build a floral rack for one of my many projects. The man is amazing!

LEMONS: To those individuals who cannot give instructions. "About" and "near" are unacceptable, as are insensitive remarks and attitudes. I don't care if you are relatives. You guys are a bunch of flakes!

LILACS: To our dog groomer, Laura, who although she works alone and is SUPER busy, always manages to make our yorkies look their best. (And that isn't easy 'cause these little ones have BIG attitudes!)

LEMONS: To women in countries outside of the U.S. who, through email and online dating services, take advantage of men to get a 'free' pass and/or meal to get into this country, then milk these men for all they are worth. You know who you are and, trust me, nothing is free . . . and Karma is eventually a real bitch!

LILACS: To some of my second and third cousins who have been working with me on our family tree. Because of their hard work, we've been able to trace one side of my family six generations back to the late 1600's! How exciting is that!

LEMONS: To those organizations who promise you 'thrills and chills' - - - well, in this case 'some exciting surprises' and come through with less than expected. D23 event organizers, please try a little harder (or at least don't charge such high fees for so little!)

LILACS: To my daughter, who went with me to the event and left early because there wasn't as much as we thought there would be. I did get a few rare photos, though . . . like Main Street all lit up with no people! Too cool!!!

"My Mama Told Me There'd be Days Like This!"

And today's winners are:

Lilacs: To Mary-T, once again, for coming through with flying colors when she's needed the most! Thank, God (and yes, God is a woman!), for the talent Mary-T possess and for all the beautiful arrangemets she's helped with this week! So proud of ALL your achievements, Mary-T!

Lemons: To all this miserable rain, I mean coming down in sheets for the last week. Flooding everywhere. . . I believe I saw Noah's ark passing quietly by . . . I mean really!

Lilacs: To one of the few pluses that comes with all this miserable wet. . . beautiful spring flowers. Daffodils, tulips, and freesia about in my small, but humble garden, popping their brilliant heads of yellow, orange, red, and bright purple among the gardenias, bringing the most wonderful scents to ease the mind!

Lemons: To the two middle-aged women who crossed in the middle of the street (NOT in the crosswalk) near the Dell Monte Cafe in the midst of lunch hour traffic, and sporatically stopping to admire the view while motorists attempted to miss their sorry asses! ("That's right; there's nothing we like more than having you show your stupidity and moving at a snails pace at the same time!")

Lilacs: To the gentleman who, even though was next in line for a table at the restaurant, gave up his table to our group until his expected companions showed up for lunch. Wow! There still are a few left in the world!

Lemons: To the tragedy that caused one of my favorite restaurants burn to the ground at 4:00 this morning! (Cabo San Luis . . . you will be missed and we hope you return real soon!)

Lilacs: To friends whom you haven't seen perhaps months, yet every time you are with them manage to fill your life with fun and laughter and support you no matter what!!!

Lemons: To all of these earthquakes! Taiwan at 6.4 today; what's next?!?

Lilacs: To professors who, even though have been totally explicit in their instructions, still find the fortitude to work with seemingly brain and/or drug dead students who insist they know it all! You, my find professorial friends, have the patience of Job!

(And, who, will be the next lucky recipients? Stay tuned for more. . . it could be you!)

Lemons and Lilacs (from WAY back when)

One of the interesting things about me that many people do not know is that once upon a time (long, long ago in a far away land of Cowtown, U.S.A.), I once considered writing as a career. This interest was fueled by a wonderful high school instructor, whom I will refer to as "Mr. E." who had a rather perverse adversion, as I recall, to gum chewing (but I digress.)

Mr. E. was my Freshman English instructor who encouraged a rather shy and awkward country girl to express herself in both voice and pen. When I had exhausted every avenue of writing in his class, Mr. E. took me over to Miss H.'s journalism class and, in mid-year, made sure that I was not only part of her class, but on the school's newspaper staff as well. (Ah, ha, you say, this was probably made possible because Mr. E. and Miss H. had 'a thing going on.' Not so because both Mr. E. and Miss H. were gay.)

Since it was so late in the first semester, I was given a rather small (and I mean SMALL) column to keep me (as I suspect) both busy and out of trouble. The column was called Lemons and Lilacs and the idea was to 'present' lemons to those unfavorable issues (i.e.; Lemons to all the homework we've been given during Christmas vacation) and lilacs to the good 'stuff' (i.e.; to Pete C for making the winning touchdown during the last few seconds of the football game at Homecoming last week.) Well, you get the idea.

My cousin, Laurel, will swear up and down that the column was stolen from her high school newspaper and it probably was. But, Miss H was well over 6', smoked like a chimney, smelled like black coffee and tuna fish, and swore like a sailor. So, when Miss H told you what to call the column, it was probably a good idea to just follow along. To this day, the combined smell of cigarette smoke, coffee and tuna fish is enough to cause the fear of a higher power, but again, I digress.)

Which brings me full circle to this blog. A FEW more years of age have brought me to a point in my life (retirement, baby!) where I probably need something to keep me busy and out of trouble. And, while I find that age definitely does afford one the ability to pretty much say and do as one pleases (well, to a point), that it also seems a safe bet that I can express what I what is currently pleasing (or bugging the hell out of me) without too much adversion. If others find a little pleasure, and perhaps a chuckle or two, reading this blog - - - then great. And if not. . . oh, well! So, here it is, the very first presentation of Lemons and Lilacs and may the winners rejoice!

Lemons: To all of those idiots out there who, while ill with the flu or whatever, feel the need to refuse to cover, confine and KEEP THE HECK OUT OF MY WAY until they are better! Thanks to all of you, I now have bronchitis!

Lilacs: To my daughter, Mary-Theresa, who while battling both her Krone's ('Krums' to you and Whitney, Annie) and a severe sinus infection of her own, has managed to keep me fed, warm and cosy (with lots of warm, Downey-smelling blankies), and nurtured while I continue to hack up a lung!

Lemons: To my brain-dead neighbors across the street who, while possessing adequate parking on their side of the street, manage to park smack dab in front of my home in San Luis Obispo in the middle parking spaces, taking up three (count them - - - three) parking spots. If you've ever lived here, you know how limited the parking can be. May your lemonaide be extra sour this week!

Lilacs: To the wonderful folks at Skyline Flowers (expecially Hector) who made sure that we had only the very best of the the florals we requested. Even though the arrangements are going to be mock-ups of arrangements for a friend's wedding (yes, the flowers are our gift to her), the people at Skyline made sure the flowers were fresh and beautiful!

Lemons: To brides-to-be who can't make up their minds!

Lilacs: To my son who made senior status at Northridge and is well on a count-down to graduation! Way to go, son!!!

Lemons: To doctors with terrible bedside manners (enough said)!

Lilacs: To the kind and considerate nurses who have to put up with said doctors and still find it within themselves to make sure that their patients are taken care of as comfortable as possible.

Lemons: To those San Luis Obispo drivers (and you know who you are) who drive like lost tourists just begging for an accident! How long have you lived here!?!

Lilacs: To my son-in-law, Andy, who not only puts up with the mother-in-law jokes, but makes sure that my stay is both pleasant and fun when I come 'a visitin'. You are certainly a son in whom we great take pride. (And, we kinda like you, too!)

So, there it is. The first of many presentations (and opinions) yet to come. The 'gifting' was not only fitting, it was rewarding as well!!!

[As for the career in journalism, I probably would have starved. :) ]