Day Ten.... Let's talk about girls

My friends and I turned 50 this year.   Well, some of us did.  I have a wide variety of friends that vary from really old to really young, so let me restate that.   I had a bangload of friends turn 50 this year.  For the last few years, my classmate gals have gotten together at fellow classmate, Fonda Nixon's house, in Edmond, because well....it's just a party wanting to happen kinda house.  And Fonda is the best hostess in the world.

SEE???

 Really.  Last year I repaid her kindess by doing this to her mailbox as I backed out of her driveway.....

 So this year, her husband Danny was ready for me .....

I LOVE hanging out with girlfriends.  We talk about babies, menopause, procedures, boobs, boys, kids, friends, church, food, menopause, each other, reunions, music, memories, menopause, college, houses, gardens, nails, pedicures, hair color, husbands abs, exercising, lack of exercising, retirement, work, travel, menopause, swimming pools, cookware, outdoor grills, marriage, divorce, parents, siblings, and menopause.   Usually simultaneously.  At top volume.   It was heaven.

That's a really tiny picture of me in Fonda's pool, because I like to have it tiny.  Makes me appear smaller than I really am. 

Shelley Gilbert, Fonda and Mary Jane Hughes are who I am going to speak on first.  :)  This ties into my Comment experiment, because 4 of them commented.   I'm taking four out of the mix and adding a couple of more.   I can do that.  It's my blog.

Here is Fonda in 10th or 11th grade.  She is pretty dang cute, huh? Hasn't changed a whole bunch. She was (and still is) the nicest thing.  Even if Brenda Bybee did choose to fight her in the hall back in high school.  Which, yes, I brought up at the hen party.  You know me.  I walk on the wild side. She is married to Danny and has 3 sons, and has been married for a long long time.   I intensely enjoy my friends' happy marriages.  It really does give me hope.  

This is Mary Jane Wasson Hughes.  She can cook some of the most amazing things with her eyes closed and hands tied behind her back.  It's not even fair.  I've known her since 2nd grade.  We go WAY WAY back.  Mary Jane is a "Long Time" staple in my walk of life.  She is married to Ronnie, and has a look alike daughter, and 2 sons.  MJ is high on my list of favorite people.  She was a constant support and encouragement all of Laynie's days and I can't even began to tell her how much that meant to me.  ~MUAH~

This is Shelley Blackwell Gilbert.  She has been married to Greg for so long she is almost in the hall of fame for longest married.  They got married 20 minutes after they graduated and had 2 sons 2 hours later, and are still happy as clams after all this time.  I love that and always enjoy spending me some Shelley time.  Her comic timing is flawless.  She can crack me up without even trying.  Really missed her calling.   



This is Shelley and Lisa Lipe Gillaspy.  Lisa has a perfect figure and gorgeous face and couldn't find a swimsuit to wear, because she is worried about how she looks.  She obviously didn't a) have a mirror at her house to see she is nuts, or b) check out the guest list.  She would have figured out pretty quick, that NONE of us care.  We are FIFTY and FABULOUS, and strutting our stuff in our swimsuits.  We let her stay, anyway.  She's pretty entertaining.  Besides, she broke out her iphone pics of her husbands rockin' abs, and we all had a moment.  It was beautiful. 

Here she is in about 10th or 11th grade.  Isn't she a

cutie patootie??  Cheerleader, guitar player, piano player, singer.  The chick has it all.  She's been married to Dan for 30+ years, and they have 3 kids that are equally as beautiful as her.  I'm really happy Lisa came.  She lived off in Mississippi for years and we didn't have her around to laugh with, so I am glad she is back, and brought her phone with Dan's abs on it.  We ALL appreciated that.  Really. 

We had a couple of youngsters amongst us, one of them being, Class of 80, Kathy Claborn Santino, and she provided us with MUCH information and humor.  I'm inviting her to every party from now on, because she really knows EVERYTHING about everybody, and that is just something very necessary when you are at a hen party.  :)

Take a look at what I found of her...

She and Cooper Henson in the 7th grade, winning the talent show (YES they beat me) with their dance. She is a divorced, (in my club) mom of two daughters.  Her oldest daughter and my Kip were buds growing up....

So, I've known her a day or two, also.

This is Suzanne Stevens Maltos and we've known each other since 7th grade, girl scouts days.  Suzanne

 jumped into pictures with her purple coat on, while friends are tickling other friends in the background.

and could do back handsprings with no hands.  It was simply amazing.

She's another long time married club member, she's been married to Louis for 30 something years too.  She has 3 kids, 2 sons and a daughter  (we both were pg at 37, OMG) and still have youngsters running freely through the home.  She also has a grandson that rocks her world and she's one hot granny, though she was quick to point out that she is still 49.  (obnoxious braggart)  She also needs to sell her beautiful home is Shawnee, so, if anyone is looking for a terrific home, look her up (that's my shameless plug). 

By the time Melissa Bowlan Baker came to the party, I had pretty much put up my camera (kind of) so I don't have a particular picture of her standing smiling with someone at the party.  She did that though, I promise.  She stood around smiling with people and I should have taken a picture.  Dad gum it.
Melissa is one of my "Prayer" warriors.  When I would ask for prayer, and 'Lisa said she'd do it, I knew she'd have my back, solid.   I just adore this chick.  She is one of my favoritest peeps.

Here is a pretty beautiful picture of a lovely lady, so I can say I had a really great pic of her on here.  :)

Brenda Bybee Seaborn worked with me at Swensen's Ice Cream Factory back in the day.  It was great. It also made me gain like 20 pounds.  She was my junior prom date (along with our mutual friend Melba Pulliam)

Look at us in our 70's dresses.  Times, they have a changed? huh?  I think I got my dress for $15 at the Cowan's discount rack.  I went all out for my hot date with the girls.  But, seriously, that was the funnest night ever. 

Cute little class of 80 Lynette Dickerson French came, and I'm so glad she did.  She was the "Youngster" at the party, yet had the most grandchildren (8).  Now in her defense, she has stepchildren almost as old as her, so those grandkids didn't spring from her loins, but her cute little 10 year old son, Caleb, did.  

Lynette gardens, homeschools, lives in the country, she is a regular Laura Ingalls Wilder.  But far more entertaining.   So glad she came out and shared the evening with the "Fab 50 gals". 

You probably recognize this bird with Fonda from my earlier posts.... my oldest bud and bird friend .....

I know she is probably ready for me to be done having old pictures of her to show on my blog, but you never know, I may still have more to bust out.  Cathy Stephens, xoxo. You should totally rock those curls again. 

Interesting fact about these girls ...  

I sang and or played the piano at most of their weddings.   The majority of them have been married 30 plus years....to the same man.  Half of us have 3 kids, and 4 of us have kids still not teenagers.  (egads)  And, most importantly, we are all pretty much going through menopause.  Holy sweatybetty, batman. 

Nothing like a bunch of fabulous 50's to figure it all out.  And I'm happy to report that Brenda and Fonda didn't throw down in the middle of the party.  

Oh the joy of maturity.  Bahahahahahahahaha. 

Day Nine ...... Let's talk about boys

I have to tell you.  This species I don't understand.  They like to be outside.  They like to use guns and kill animals.  They ride motorcycles and wear chaps.  Or they drive cars that look like kleenex boxes and take crap from their friends for doing it.  They can tell a joke and not crack a smile, and you wonder if they were kidding.  (ok, that's kind of me, too).

I like boys.  Boys are fun.  Just because I haven't been successfully married to one doesn't mean that I don't just dig the crap out of them.  Some of my very best friends are boys.  They look at life so differently than my girl friends.  I can just be stressing like a crazy woman over something and I will relate that problem to a guy and he'll go  "What? that is no big deal because ...."  and all the sudden, poof, it's no big deal.  Guys just don't worry about stuff.  They just go turn on a football game and worry about that.  It's just that easy, girls. 

I burst out laughing in my car when I read this comment.  It was about 35 comments in, and there had been some entertaining ones, but none that made me LOL.  (yes, I used it)

"Self exams work on breasts and testicles but not on colons". 

Yes, I have to admit, I blew pop out my nose when I read that one.  I have one thing to comment back..

followed with

"Although I have known a few that tried.  I deduce this by the location of their head"

And this comment was provided to me by  none other than
 BROOKS MALONE

 

Brooks and I were friends in HS.  He hung with a bunch of boys that I absolutely adored.  They were fun, they were crazy and I appreciated that about each and every one of them.


Brooks is a singing genius.  He kept this quiet in high school.  I'm still a bit ticked about it.

I will never forget when my niece started talking about her "Coach Malone" and how I knew him.  I was like, "What are you talking about, I don't know a Coach Malone", and she said, "No, Aunt Laura, you went to school with him!"   So I thought on it, and I said "BROOKS?", to which she replied, "I don't know his first name, it's Coach"... and sure enough, Brooks Malone.  I don't know who was more horrified, my niece, at the thought of her aunt being the same age as her coach, or me, realizing that this crazy man was in charge of my niece's softball team.    She loved him.   She should.  He's a good one.   Brooks, along with another classmate, emceed our Senior Follies...really, without a script.  THey just "Went for it"... and it was classic.   My dad would tell you that he never laughed so hard as he did at our Senior Follies.  And my parents went to MANY school functions, and my dad, years later, still remembered Brooks and Dub strutting around on stage with a jock strap on their heads.  Ah, the memories.

Brooks has two things he is crazy about  (besides hunting and fishing) and they are ... His wife Terri, and his son, Tucker.  (Too bad Brooks can't afford to buy his kid a shirt with sleeves).  I dig his wife, she will have stars in her crown, living with funnyman Brooks for all these years.  I love that they are still in love. 

Gives me Hope. 

NEXT, PLEASE.....

Now here is cute, with a CAPITAL C.  He is really going to hunt me down for showing this picture, but we were in 7th grade, and that was our first year of friendship.  Dang, 38 years is a long time to be buds..

GREG SUTTLE

Greg should have been voted "Best Hair by a Senior".  Because he really had the prettiest hair in the class.



It seems we've always been good friends.  He moved far off, right out of college, but he was the kind of friend, when he rolled into town, you'd see him.  He'd show up for lunch, or give you a shout on the telly, just to say hey.  Also, if you look up the definition of Metrosexual in the dictionary, you will find his picture.  He taught me about thread counts on sheets, the best skin cleanser for my face, a great deodorizer for my refrigerator.  He knows the best wine for what dish, the easiest way to get a stain out of a shirt, and how to get your puffy eyes back to good in 3 hours or less.   He is that kind of guy.   He's also, the first one on your roof if you have a problem, and the one to call if you are having grill issues.  He is also someone that will research Mosaic Variegated Anueploidy Syndrome for hours on the computer with you, and try to help you find the answers, and send you Itty Bitty doll clothes for your grandbaby when she's born, to celebrate the joy, and heartache with you.  He's someone I can call when I'm stuck on the side of the highway, wondering what in the world happened to my tire, and he knows immediately how to fix the problem.  He can talk you off a ledge when someone you trusted and had your future life penned on, drops you on your face.  He can make you feel worthy and whole, and trust that someone, some day, will love you for exactly who you are.  Can you tell I treasure my friend?  I could do an entire blog about this knucklehead friend of mine, but I'll get mushy and carry on  (Oh wait, I already did).   But, you know, the best friend comment I made?   Bingo.

Oh, Greg Suttle (said in best Korean voice)  "I love you long time". 

SOOOO, to bring the comedy back into the serious (Which is what he does best, I might add)  Greg's comment....................

"I tried an experiment (making fun of my "comment experiment").  I went out and licked the flag pole in front of my office.  On the good side, it did NOT stick to the pole.  On the bad side, I will not be able to taste food for the next three weeks and I talk like "Thithgh" now. "

Oh, the boys in our lives.  Aren't they fun?  I love my friends.  Do you see why??

Guy friends, I highly recommend them.