all was alright again

we got there just in time to see the last 1100 Springs song Thursday...
very few people were into them... so odd that one of the best country bands out there (IMO) have their best following/shows not in the suburbs (where we were) but way down in deep ellum dallas? 
Huge crowd for Stoney, and yes still surprising from" way back when" seeing him with 20 people in the crowd - speaking of...they were a definitely different crowd - not a lot of younger people - a whole lotta cougar/cross fit/tan gals and/or mommy looking types. Guess that's what happens in the suburbs.
I was wearing an old school JBS cap and he commented on it from the stage.
Super nice to have a $12 uber ride to/from this new venue...

Saturday - charlie's bar and went to dinner with the M's down in bishop arts - we went on to see charley crockett. Loved it. Good times. Fun times.
Wanted to go back to NOLA. Good for the soul. And all was alright again.

That gal - Nikki Hill - was good too -following her.


Finished:
The Governess Was Wicked - Julia Kelly - meh.
Beauty and the Mustache - Penny Reid - the sister of the six brothers. I liked what she did with this one. I'd kinda forgotten about her. I'll get the others. 
Shameless - Cherrie Lynn - short story...umm you over hear him and that's it?...it's just a little icky. 
Royally Raised - Emma Chase - short - i liked the look into the older them
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo - Amy Schumer -  so i finished this one. yep I think if we took compatibility tests she and I would be highly matched. Since I've never had a one-night stand I'm glad she shared hers. That's the only good one I think I've ever heard. And of course she loves New Orleans...of course she does...(besides that weird doll obsession?) I'm just such a fan.  
Also, oddly the most interesting is just the basic stuff about growing up rich and poor in that part of the world. I know nothing about "living on top of people" or people that just live off their parents like how she described.

Surrounded by every food imaginable ....and I'm eating a Wendy's salad - (i had 3 donuts, 2 kolaches and pizza yesterday. oy...but hey we were in hangover recovery...)
I thought I'd be sad - salad makes me sad...but  I like how they cut the lettuce pieces small - trying to shove a piece of over-sized lettuce into your mouth just ruins everything.
ooo - just saw religious leaders are joining the lawsuit against SB4- right on!
 was a no-brainer to me...what took so long really?...
Beltre hit 3k
...it's the little things :)

catch you when the next sunrise comes back around.

watched people get arrested at the state capital live on FB today.
there is so much going on in the state special session and in the country (in general) and most of it is embarrassing/disheartening (enter other pessimistic words here). 
All I can do is shake my head at this point and continue on.

Had a long "catch-up" talk with D about how things are going from her perspective down in South Dallas -  She said people in her area have pretty much just stopped doing much of anything. Saving what they can, not buying, not spending. They've laid off half the people at her work. She knows people that have had things happen to them but don't trust the police to do anything to help so they don't call. She mentioned how laughable it is to be accused of taking advantage of the "system" wth food stamps when she's never even thought about it and works 7 days a week to support herself and her son.
We both agreed that the awful things are happening faster then we thought and that up  (north of DT) nobody seems to have been affected yet. We guesstimated within a year the "inconveniences" to them will start to finally be noticed.
Maybe we're wrong?...but I've been right so far....And overall i'm beat down today...
The best quote I read today: "I don't know how to get you to care about what's going on. "

Heading to see 1100springs and Stoney tomorrow - def could do with some music therapy

Finished
Breath of Magic - Teresa Medeiros - actually no I lasted 2 chapters? a whole lot of non-story. not my style. just no. 
King's Cage (Red Queen) - Victoria Aveyard - thought it was the end.  didn't realize this was a middle (filler book) grr...
The Theory of Attraction - Delphine Dryden - nerd neighbor, she helps him. surprise dom, well it was different. finished it. Won't search her out. 
The Dark Lord - Le Veque -  medieval. another i didn't finish. forced myself to to 30% and couldn't hang on anymore. 

Double Dare - R.L. Mathewson - fav. trope hate to love. liked this series enough to follow but this one was her worst IMO. it jumped around,  finished but really lost interest several times.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo - Amy Schumer - just started this one, amusing. That part where she can talk to anyone but needs to go hide in the bathroom (me! ha!) and/or the Irish good-bye.....yeah I think we could be friends in real life

so we stoney (as prep) Look at me Fly

what happened

so I love my mother in law - she's funny, loyal, honest, loving etc... 

we were at a restaurant and she and I got to talking about The Handmaid's Tale.
She's just finished reading it and she yells very loudly
"I read it in one day. It was disgusting, it's like the Muslims"
annnnd.... I slowly close my eyes and shake my head. 

I've given up trying to understand - like what happened to make them think/believe some things like that?
We got to the point a couple months ago where she'd made another comment that blew my mind, so I said "knowing the wide variety of books you read, and how that forces you to see things in different perspectives - how can you still feel these ways and think these things about people who don't look, think and talk exactly like you?" She got up from the table and walked away.

We're a little more tentative on "hot" subjects since then...

But that she can read a book like The Handmaid's Tale and be furious is something I guess?

She had no idea women dressed as Handmaid's were in the capital or why - I suggested she look it up and moved on to another topic...
Speaking of...Texas is in special session right now - super important decisions regarding women are being made...my state senator just tweeted that "public participation is good for democracy" but then posted "#20for20" in the same sentence, basically meaning (the way I'm reading it) that "it doesn't matter and I don't give a shit what you're saying, I've already made up my mind. This will pass."
ugh i get so frustrated!!!!!

Moving on..There was a movie in the 90's called "If These Walls Could Talk" - Cher and Jada Pinkett and Sissy Spacek and Demi Moore -  what happened to it? It should be brought back.

I have like 6 TBR books waiting. It's driving me crazy. I don't feel like doing anything this weekend, especially with this heat....we'll see.

a story (from a gal on the sideline)

the charity event at the frisco ballpark was this weekend, jamie pretty much single-handedly busted his ass to organize it (I'm constantly baffled at the disorganization of the organization) but hey...they raised $1600+ for Children's hospital/Camp Moss. It's something to be proud of.

It was freaking hot outside there for a bit, but these babies and their families come up in their light blue shirts and didn't complain one bit.
In fact, the parents kept saying "thank you, thank you" getting emotional at seeing their child happy.
Everything they have, they put back into the healthcare of their child.
So it's one thing to give money -  but it's amazing to witness (and have just a little bitty part of) people enjoying their time together.

Finished
The Millionaire Makeover - Naima Simone - it's just....she just falls right back like that? Still, I finished it...that says something....
Riveted: - Jay Crownover - same kind of girl as the one above - so (too?) nice....but just because it isn't what I would do, doesn't mean it doesn't fit the story...i'd read more of hers, just not eager to do so.
Prisoner of My Desire - Johanna Lindsey - actually not finished yet but ...so yeah i forgot about her books and the reality of the terrible history times. Set in that time I don't guess it's far fetched but lord...halfway through and it's a little overkill for this being a romance genre. Really though I can't help to think that Kresley Cole read this book and then wrote her Demon King book (and that book's a favorite soo)....

oy - just vaguely overheard a co-worker that I've known for 10 years re-telling a joke from one of her friends (who's boyfriend is black) with the word "n*****" in it. And she said it.

I don't consider myself a touchy person but  from my point of view,  you say it, even in the context of a story (and especially if you're not Black) you just lowered my perception of you - you make yourself look uneducated and ignorant. I told her I didn't hear the story but now I don't want to hear the story -
I think she took the hint, and we moved on *smh*
Maybe it's just me getting older but I've kinda had it up to "here" with not calling out things and just going with what's they might perceive as "nothing important". I mean...I don't think I'm being confrontational (that never solves anything anyway) but seriously....

not knowing

we did a random day trip adventure on Saturday - packed a cooler, the M's picked us up @ 10a, and we headed north.
Jamie and I had no idea where we were going - cause why not -  it's part of the fun.

So up we went to Clark's in Tioga, to Arbuckle Wilderness park in Oklahoma, down to (lose my ass again) at Winstar (seriously....they owe me money) and then breweries in Pilot Point.

and I just have to vent a little - my dear, sweet friend M is turning into a full fledged stick in the mud middle-aged adult. And I have no idea how to tell her to stop. She didn't used to be that way?!
It's supposed to be a relaxing/fun time but a lot of the time she was worried, or harping on her husband about something...oy.
I advised her that she needed a drink....but since she refused.  And she's so nice and sweet about it I can't even be my default "strait up bitch real" to her about being a buzzkill. I gently asked her why she's become such a worry wart - she responded sadly  "I don't know....I guess it's because I'm 40 now?..." and that was the end of that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whadayagonnado...
so I proceeded to take my own advice and got a little tipsy. :) Besides that hiccup...the day was fun!

side note: that "wilderness park" ....i'll never understand the need to cage animals, especially exotic animals, for people's amusement. Want to know what a white tiger looks/acts like? Youtube it. I guarantee it's not normal for a newborn white tiger cub to be pacing in an enclosure like it was....ugh. On the flip side the donkeys, emu, goats, ducks and horses looked happy and were certainly well fed. 

Wrote an email regarding all upcoming TX special session items to my rep.
Failed on the "non-snarky" effort with a few, like this one:
-Preventing cities from regulating what property owners do with trees on private land.-

I said:
"Really? we're paying an extra $1million+ for this to be on the same platform as pregnant Texas women dying and school teachers pay? This is a waste of money and time!!!"
(...couldn't help it) *sigh*

Finished:
The Chosen - Ward - good yes. Didn't love it. I guess she "kept it real" with the arguments but I'm not sure anyone could come back like how quinn/layla did.  It was too quick hot/cold for me. Xcor's story really took a backseat. Not sure where she's going with the re-do on the shadows story? And yeah I get the drama with V, I didn't love their match ....but (again) this is the topic is off-limits for me for redeeming. tricky tricky.....
Something Wonderful - Judith McNaught - (the fb group reco!) and  i really like what she did with this one! jaded duke falls for the innocent. I believed them. I liked her transition. I feel like I've read her before? I guess it's before I started writing it down. I'll continue here. 


And so we Eli Young band - 

then nappy time.

I had 5 days off -  it feels like I've been gone a year...
and since it's slow...

- fireworks and thunderstorms made my dog (and therefore me) a basketcase  last night....i swear I heard a firework at 5am this morning.....grrr

We went over to Wylie to check out some bluegrass music - didn't stay long - much better in Farmer's Branch in October. 

had the M's over for BBQ and Ranger game - a full belly, a couple of beers and the guys passed out - I woke them up in time to catch the last inning. *smh*
whereas before it might've been a drink and drown all day and pass out at 4am.
Now it's a play golf, eat lunch, have a few beers and then nappy time.

Volunteered to help register people to vote in Addison  - it was miserably hot - still I think they got a few people in? Better than nothing! There's not really any organized thing...you just go up to people and ask if they've registered.
I don't think a lot of people know that when they move counties (and don't update their DL/voter registration) they can't vote in their new county.
I should probably get deputized so I could've helped more....
I stood and chatted with the Planned Parenthood folk for a bit - nice, I asked if anyone had ever been mean to them and they said "sometimes, but you choose your cause and stand with it".

I'm still looking to see what I want to volunteer for - I want to help but it's like joining a sorority - i don't want to be "locked in", I just kinda want to help when I can.....I really wish these people/overlapping groups would just band together and submit one newsletter together - so when a person can tear away for an hour or two they can reference it easily and go. 

- I saw Wonder Woman - yep as good as everyone is saying it is. I never got into her growing up - I always thought She-Ra was cooler. 
- Day of the Dutchess - Sarah MacLean - so i'd kinda forgotten the back story but oy yeah good on her on tackling the subject and actually redeeming him. Not everything is cut and dry but woo yeah in this case for me it is. Still, good story...even though I kinda wanted a little more of their "back then" story.
- The Friend Zone - Kristen Callihan - hmm............. ack! i've already forgotten!...lemme go see (again this is why I needed to write things down...) - oh ok yes - this one was just ok. Not believable and the girl lead was just kinda "i'm the cool girl,  here whenever you want" kinda thing that was a turnoff. 
- Playing it Cool - Amy Andrews - rugby (yes!) and the unconventional "curvy" girl with an unconventional how they meet, get together story. Not bad. 
- Confessions of a Dangerous Lord - Elisa Braden -  she thinks he only wants to be her friend, he almost loses her in trying to keep her safe, an evil villain - I put this one down a couple times. I think I'm more and more veering from the conventional "evil villain" drama plot line
- re-read Desire Unchained - just 'cause - 

My mini-gal played this for me today - good one