She is the Funniest, Looniest Woman in Her World

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Lynette

 

“Being a woman is hard work.  Not without joy and even ecstasy, but still relentless, unending work…the woman who survives intact and happy must be at once tender and tough…it is imperative that a woman keep her sense of humor intact and at the ready.  She must see, even if only in secret, that she is the funniest, looniest woman in her world, which she should also see as being the most absurd world of all times.  It has been said that laughter is therapeutic and amiability lengthens the lifespan.”

–Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now

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It Seems a Man Can Just About Bear Anything

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Lynette

“The mild red road goes on beneath the slanting and peaceful afternoon, mounting a hill.  “Well, I can bear a hill,” he thinks.  “I can bear a hill, a man can.”  It is peaceful and still. “It seems a man can just about bear anything.   He can even bear what he never done.  He can even bear the thinking  how some things is just more than he can bear.  He can even bear it that if he could just give down and cry,  he wouldn’t do it.  He can even bear it to not look back, even when he knows that looking back or not looking back won’t do him any good.”

William Faulkner,  Light In August

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Word of the Year….more than ever

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Lynette

 

 

 

When I came up with my word of the year in January I had no idea one of the things I would be releasing this year would be my marriage of 12 years.  Things had not been good in the marriage for some time…but even as unhappy as I was,  I wasn’t willing to entirely give up hope.  It’s hard to admit defeat and walk away, especially when my commitment to the marriage had been absolute.  I stayed, when many women would have walked away years ago.

This marriage has felt like a desert…where I wandered, alone, thirsty and seeking shelter.  It’s lonely, being the only one in a relationship working at it.  My brother recently told me he saw my marriage as me swimming upstream valiantly, with weights tied to my ankles.  My mistake was marrying a man who had good intentions and too much baggage to carry through with any of them.  He just didn’t have it in him to be a good husband.  The final straw for me was when I had major surgery 2 months ago and he went off and played in a pool tournament out of town.  That’s right…I came home to an empty house, after major surgery.  This is not someone I could be married to any longer.  Time to release.

The tragedy is that had things been a little different…we could have had a wonderful marriage.  There’s a really good man there inside him…it’s the one I fell in love with 13 years ago.  If he had been able to work through his issues from childhood, we would have had a chance.  I mourn the loss of that marriage that could have been.  When things were good…they were very very good.  But the bad far outweighed the good…. and in the end it destroyed any chance we had. 

Releasing the marriage means that the door will be open in the future, when I am ready, to meet a nice man who wants the same things from life that I do.  Who appreciates the little things, and understands the importance LOVE plays in our lives.  He will probably have some baggage, as do I.  But he will have worked hard to make it play a small role in his life…not take it over.  He will be kind…and show an enthusiasm for life and all it offers. 

My marriage is over.  I have released it.  I will mourn…and move forward.

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The Charms of Staying in Nicholas’s Room

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Lynette

I just got back from spending the weekend in Colorado Springs with my brother Paul and his family.  My 7-year-old nephew Nicholas let me sleep in his room and he moved across the hall to sleep in his older brother’s room during my visit.  He was very excited to share his room and offered to let me play with any of his toys.

  I had a roommate….Fudge, a toad.

I had a very nice glow-in-the-dark dinosaur for a night-light.

 

And best of all, I got to see the world thru the eyes of a delightful seven-year-old boy for a few days!

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Trixie and Lulu return Home with some amazing stats

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Lynette

We returned home and unloaded the U-Haul Saturday afternoon…look at our finds!

37 plastic bins and boxes filled with fabulous vintage smalls and 20+ pieces of furniture

1300 miles on Miss Daisy the minivan..and 2000 miles on Jeb the U-Haul

We achieved complete burn-out on hotel-freebie waffles.

We went thru  severe weather in several states, including tornado debris fields, lightning storms, hailstorms, flooding that went up to the edge of the road, and a snow storm in Wyoming.  We had 92 degree weather and 35 degree weather.

We suffered thru a nasty potty at a flea market in Sweetwater Tennessee and a scary shower stall in a motel in Oklahoma City.

We had no cellphone service in all of Wyoming.

 Introducing Jeanne to the wonder that is Waffle House and her obsession with Waffle House thereafter.  Times we ate breakfast at Waffle House–5. 

Other fun stats:

*number of times I ate Meat Loaf and Mac n’cheese—3

*number of people admonishing us to “be careful out there”—229

*number of bugs on the windshield—5932

*number of Diet Cokes consumed—100+

*number of times we were junk drunk—18

*number of urges to flip other drivers off—2

*number of speeding tickets—0 ( a miracle!)

*number of friendly people we met—300+

*number of times Bridget the GPS steered us wrong—8

*number of times OMG was uttered either in dismay or amazement—162

*number of high fives after a really good pick—42

*number of good tips by helpful people that led us to amazing picks—4

*number of times we quoted American Pickers–57

10 states…..13 days….3300 miles total…..

Opportunity to spend my birthday doing my 2 favorite things…travelling and treasure hunting——PRICELESS!

 

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Sign Sign Everywhere a sign

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Lynette

I am a big fan of signs.  The funnier and quirker the better.  I especially like signs that are a good representation of a very specific place.  Here are some of my favorite signs from our Glitter Pick road trip.  Some are self-explanatory and some were a bit shocking to us.  You will see why.

 

And last, but certainly not least…..

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Awestruck while standing in a tornado debris field in Trenton Alabama

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Lynette

When I was a child The Wizard of Oz came on tv once a year and every year I would thrill to the adventures of Dorothy and all her friends, while being terrified of the tornado and the flying monkeys.  I had nightmares for weeks afterwards.  Either the flying monkeys would get me, or the tornado would.  Tornadoes ended up being one of my big childhood fears…along with the hand under the bed.

Last Friday I stood in the debris field left by a tornado one week earlier.  It had touched down briefly on a close mountain, killing 2 people and then landed again in Trenton, sweeping along 3 or 4 blocks, killing 2 more.  To stand in that debris field was something I will never forget.  You see the images on tv and it’s horrifying.  To actually be there and see the devastation…it is something else completely.  I had goosebumps and chills and tears in my eyes.  My feelings were so complicated it has taken me days to sort them out.  Now I know that my most overwhelming feeling was incredible sorrow that people had to suffer through this incredible force of nature.  To see a childhood fear brought to life was horrifying as well.  We just don’t want to believe that things this horrible can really happen in real life.  We all have fears, some realistic, and some not.  My ankle will probably never be grabbed by a hand under my bed.  Tornadoes are another matter entirely.  How do you escape a tornado?  They are going to touch down wherever they choose.  It is the randomness of them that adds to their scariness.

  Both Jeanne and I have struggled to express the incredible impact viewing this debris field had on us.

Everyone we have chatted with has a story to tell.  Some have neighbors who died.  Some lost trees or roofs, and considered themselves lucky.  Some lost power for several days.  Several had tornadoes touch down within half a mile of their homes.   There were many complaints about the news coverage.  They lost several people in their community and their town was never mentioned.  A town was completely flattened 2 miles from where we were staying…and it never made it to the news.

We saw trees toppled over and roofs partially gone in many places, but until we reached the actual path of the tornado, we had no idea just how bad it really was.   We had to pull over and take it all in.  On the side of one destroyed building was spray-painted a simple message.  “Dont look…help.  Thank you.”  And in the end, that’s all we can do.  Help those who lost their homes and mourn those who lost their lives.  And pray that they never have to suffer this way again.

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The mecca of all glitter picks…in Tuscaloosa Alabama

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Lynette

This small roadside sign leads to mecca…the best vintage picking in the south.  I discovered it last year while on vacation with my mom and niece and vowed to return.  With a bigger car.  And a way to get lots of breakables home.  Lots and lots.

It sits on a country road in a nondescript building, up on a hill, behind a home.  The magic arrives once you walk inside and view the shelves and row after row of beautiful pottery, china, glassware and more.  Your eyes bug out when you pick up pieces and see the incredibly cheap prices.  You start breathing hard.  You start grabbing and putting item upon item on the counter. 

It was the first time for Jeanne.  I had tried to describe it to her.  It’s hard to describe.  And it was so far south…away from all the other highway 11 picking we were doing.  I wasn’t sure exactly where it was…just looking for the sign I remembered.  We drove and drove and drove.  Finally, there was the sign and the gravel road.  Three minutes after we got inside Jeanne came up to me and said three little words.  Oh. My. God.  I smiled and said…have fun.

There was much luck in the works.  The shop sits right outside Tuscaloosa, where the worst tornadoes hit.  They lost a 115-year-old pecan tree that sat next to the shop.  When it toppled, it just caught one small corner.  The glassware inside wasn’t harmed.  When we arrived the shop was closed but we flagged down the grandson of the owner…who went and got his mom to come and open the shop for us.  She was glad to be pulled away from some grouting she was doing so it worked out well for all of us.  I told her I was there to spend some serious money.  I would make it worth her while.  And I did.  It was more fun than a girl should get to have.

Jeanne and I will be talking about this pick  for years.  The tree, the shop, the finds, the nice people.  We were junk drunk and having the time of our life

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Meet Miss Lillie Mae

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Lynette

The very best food is always where the locals eat, and today we were lucky enough to have a conversation with several volunteers at the Chattanooga Junior League Thrift shop.  We talked about the recent tornadoes and how it had affected each of them.  One unlucky guy had been without power for 8 days and was seriously tired of “going all little house on the prairie and such.”  We talked about our glitter pick road trip and they said it was a must to go eat lunch at Lillie Mae’s.

The decor at Lillie Mae’s is plain and simple, with white walls and painted white booths.  Lots of families and older gentlemen in button-down shirts and string ties.  You don’t come to Lillie Mae’s for the decor…you come for the delicious southern menu.  The potato salad was some of the best I have ever had…Jeanne described it as tasting just like a deviled egg.  We both had fried cornbread, made with white cornmeal and it had an interesting taste…not to either of our liking since we both like sweet yellow cornbread so much.  But we are glad we tried it. The rest of our meal was delicious!

In the waiting area there are several pictures of Lillie Mae and she looks like quite the character.  Certainly not a vapid southern belle!  I was intrigued by her photos and wanted to know more about her.

Lillie Mae’s is not a place we would have ever stopped at on our own…the building is very nondescript and I bet the locals like it just fine that way.  I feel very fortunate that we had the chance to eat there.

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Meat and 3 sides…food adventuring in Tennessee

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Lynette

In preparation for our trip to the south I purchased a book called Tennessee Curiosities by Kristin Luna….because travelling for me is all about avoiding the obvious tourist traps and exploring the odd little places unique to wherever we are.  Kristin advised us to eat at Chandler’s Deli if we ever found ourselves in Knoxville Tennessee.  She believes it to be the best soul food in all the land.  We found that hearty endorsement irresistable..so off we went. 

 Chandler’s is in a former Taco Bell building…small, pink and unpretentious.  You order from a large menu…many types of meat and even more sides.  It is served cafeteria style and my large plate of food and a soft drink cost me ten bucks, with tax.  It’s an incredible deal.  The meat special today was meatloaf, served with gravy or ketchup, and I also ordered mashed potatoes, broccoli in cheese sauce, mac n’cheese and corn bread.  It was way too much food and I was only able to eat about half my plate…but I couldn’t resist trying all those yummy southern sides!

As we were exiting…we noticed the sign on the front door.  Special today: Fried Pickles and Peppers.

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