Week 5 - For the CHILD in all of us

The nice thing about this personal challenge to find 52 different things to do in Midland/Odessa in 2010 is that I didn't give myself very many parameters (aside from "no restaurants" and "no repeating events"). Since I never specified that they had to be "adult" events, this week I decided to take a trip to The Museum of the Southwest's CHILDREN MUSEUM! And just to feel justified, I took my sister and 2 nieces along. =)

My first impression was a great one because on Sunday afternoon's the Children's Museum is free of charge. But even at $3.00 a person on weekdays, it would have been worth the money. We started our tour in the grocery store. This room was a little nostalgic for me in a way. Not because I went there as a child, but because I have very fond memories of playing "grocery store" with my Mima when I was a little girl. She used to pull all of her canned goods out of the cabinets and set them up on "aisles". Then she would give me a purse with some money and I would shop for groceries. Mima of course, would act as cashier when I was ready to check out. Well, no offense to Mima, but her store was like a 7-11 compared to this grocery playland.

After Maia & Josie had finished their shopping, we headed to the Veterinary clinic. This is where the laughter began. I honestly couldn't tell you what Marleah and I found so funny, but we laughed all the way from the Vet to the Burger King upstairs. I think it was just fun seeing the joy on the girl's faces and acting a little like kids again ourselves. Unfortunately, our fun was cut short because it was closing time. (In fact, my one complaint of this event would be that they actually closed a little early, but then Marleah figured if we get in for free, we probably shouldn't complain...and I agreed.)

Overall, regardless if you have children or are just a big kid yourself, this is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon...especially if the funds are a little low.

Amy's Opinion on The Children's Museum: No child (actual or at heart) should be left behind!

Amy's Advice: Don't forget your camera like we did because there's guaranteed to be some precious moments!

Week 4 - Everyone loves a Mini-Retreat!

For the 4th week event, I decided to count the Ladies Mini-Retreat at my church, Kelview Heights Baptist. The Mini-Retreat featured numerous workshops, breakfast, lunch, shopping (one of my all-time favorite things) and a keynote speaker. It went from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from what I could tell had a wonderful turnout. I attended workshops ranging in topic from reaching your weight loss/fitness goals to letting go of the painful pieces of your past. I also was privileged to co-teach a workshop with my sister (I use the term "teach" loosely) called "Be Wise, Accessorize!" Sounds appropriate, right? I can't be sure that we offered a lot of useful information that the ladies didn't already know, but I can be sure that I had fun in the process. Accessorizing is one of those topics that I can speak on for hours! The event was wrapped up by the keynote speaker who did a wonderful job of challenging us to make 2010 not only a great year, but a godly year. All in all, it was a great event and a great Saturday. We all need a little gal-pal time and a little time refocusing on the important issues in our lives.

Amy's Final Opinion: Well, obviously it's biased, but I'd give it two thumbs up!

Amy's advice (to herself): Start saving now for next year's event so you can buy that $239.00 necklace you were just dying to have!

I Need You To Love Me

Incredible lyrics by Barlow Girl!
(Yes, I know the song is not "new" but the words never meant as much to me as they do now.)

Why? Why are you still here with me?
Didn’t you see what I’ve done?
In my shame I want to run,
And hide myself.
Yeah, but it’s here I see the truth,
I don’t deserve you.

But I need you to love me,
And I, I won’t keep my heart from you this time.
And I’ll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need you to love me

I, I have wasted so much time
Pushing you away from me.
I just never saw how you
Could cherish me.
Cause you’re a God who has all things,
And still you want me.

And I need you to love me,
And I, I won’t keep my heart from you this time.
And I’ll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
Yeah, ye-ea-eah

Your love makes me forget what I have been.
Your love makes me see who I really am.
Your love makes me forget what I have been, oh-oh.

And I need you to love me, yeah
I need you to love me, ye-ea-eah!
And I’ll stop this pretending that I can,
Somehow deserve what I already have
Somehow deserve what I already have
I need you to love me

Sunny With a Chance of Sequins

For those who don't know me, I love GLITZ & GLAM! I was thinking the other day, that if I could live in a children's book, it would be called Sunny With a Chance of Sequins. (Or maybe Rainy With a Chance of Rhinestones???) Either way, I would LOVE it! I've always considered myself like a bird in that respect. Shiny things just catch my eye. I wonder if that's why I've always been attracted to bald men....their shiny heads! (HAHAHA...I just thought of that!) I know for certain that it is why my mom has (lovingly) referred to me as "drag-queen-esque" in the past. The sad thing is, I can't really argue that point.

No point to this post, other than to ramble on about sparkly stuff!

Week 3 - From the Rodeo to the Opera

I know what you're thinking..."From the rodeo to the opera is quite a leap and since when do we have an opera house in Midland/Odessa?"

We don't. What we DO have is a movie theatre that periodically shows live performances from The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. (http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_current.aspx)

On Saturday, I accompanied my sister and her husband to a showing of Bizet's Carmen. If I were a more eloquent writer, then perhaps I could accurately convey how I felt about Carmen. Since I'm not, I won't try other than to say, AMAZING. In one word, that's what the opera was...AMAZING.

There's a line on the movie Pretty Woman in which Richard Gere's character says, "People's reactions to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic; they either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don't, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul. "

I will always love the opera.

I can't believe, especially as a Theatre Major and Teacher, that I've waited this long to see one. But I can promise you that I won't wait that long to see the next one. I also know that the next one I see will hopefully be in person. (I guess that means I better start saving for a trip to NYC!)

There is definitely more I could say about the opera, but I don't feel the need to, so I will end with this...

Amy's final opinion on The Met: Live in HD: Let me repeat, AMAZING!

Amy's Advice: Get in line behind all the old people and maybe they'll give you the Senior discount too. (It worked for me!)

Week 2 - This ain't my first RODEO

Last night, Rani, Kristen (my step-sister from Cali) and I attended the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo held at the Ector County Coliseum. As the title suggests, this was not my first time at a rodeo, but it was my first time in a long time. I've always really enjoyed the bull-riding event and what's not to love about a bunch of Cowboys in hats and tight jeans?!

Although those two things remained true, the rest of the evening was not as....eventful...as I was thinking it would be. Granted, part of that could be because I'm an old lady these days and at 8:00 on a Friday night I'm already thinking about bed. I don't mean to say that I didn't have fun because I did, but on a scale from Boring to The Best fun ever, I would say this rated around "enjoyable" not "a blast". We saw events from calf roping, team roping and barrel racing to the bull riding, bronco riding, and the one that made me laugh the most...the calf scramble where a bunch of kids have to try to "catch" a calf and bring it into a circle in the middle of the arena.

Amy's final opinion on Odessa's Rodeo Scene: At $11 for the "cheap seats" it's better with a big group or if you know someone in the Rodeo. (If you just want to see someone ride a bull, rent the movie 8 Seconds.)

Amy's advice: If, like me, you like a good-lookin' cowboy who isn't afraid to ride a bull, spend the extra money on front row seats and one just might end up in your lap!!!!!

Week 1 - And BINGO was his name-o!

For my first "event" of the year, I decided to take a couple of friends with me to check out the local bingo barn. (That's really what it's called!)

Let me start by saying, my expectations were all sorts of wrong. I envisioned Bingo Night as a crowded but friendly room full of blue-haired ladies all patiently waiting to hear the next number called and trying their best to get five in a row on the Bingo card. I guess I was thinking of the Hollywood version??

Here's the way it really works...and it ain't pretty. (Funny, but not pretty!)

The room was far from crowded. The guests were far from Blue-haired ladies...or patient. The "bingo board" was anything but a simple card, and five in a row? HA! If only it were that easy.

Upon entering, we promptly purchased our paper bingo "sheets" which are basically 9 bingo boards in one. We were then informed that if we didn't have a "dauber" (which I assumed was a cross between a "doo-hickey" and a "thing-a-ma-bob") that we could purchase them at the next table over. The blue-haired lady at that next table (okay, so there were a FEW of them) asked what color dauber we wanted; all the while I'm trying to figure out what the beep a dauber is! I got yellow though - my favorite color - then we proceeded to find a place to sit.

Once seated, the real fun began. The "caller" (if that's even the right term) began talking on the microphone at the front of the room...something about horse-races, pool-somethin'-or-another...who knows?! I guess it was clear that the three of us were confused because some lady walking by said, "He hasn't started Bingo yet. He'll tell ya when he's gonna."

Uhm. Okay. So we played with our daubers until then.

Finally, Bingo starts and it's like some sort of alien bingo. I thought five in a row was standard for the game, but apparently there are all manners of configurations you can have. I finally figure out which squares I'm trying to get and the game is off and running. Trying to find B4 on NINE different cards is not as easy as it sounds. (My friends can attest to this, as I was not the only slow one). You know how in college it's always easy to spot the freshmen because they're wandering around like lost foreigners? Well we were the equivalent of freshmen bingo-goers and it was very obvious. One guy walked by our table and said, "Man, I've never seen such serious bingo players." That sent us into a fit of laughter and probably caused us to miss a few numbers. I can only imagine how goofy we must have looked with our heads down as we seriously and quietly scoured our bingo sheets for the winning numbers. The funniest part is that while WE were frantically searching our sheets, the veterans in the crowd were impatiently tapping their daubers. Apparently that's bingo-code for "hurry up caller"!

Well, speaking of winning numbers, we did not win. Not only did we not win, we didn't even come close. After a winner is declared, the caller will give you the "crying numbers" which we found out were the next two numbers that would have been called. You know you're doing poorly when even the crying numbers wouldn't have put you even remotely close to winning. BUT...although we didn't know what we were doing and even though we didn't win, we DID have a blast!

So...

Amy's final opinion on Midland's Bingo Scene: Fun with friends and pretty darn cheap ($6.25 for one session, and that's if you don't already own a dauber.)

Amy's advice (or in this case, what to look our for): Find the non-smoking room unless you enjoy sitting in and smelling like an ashtray.

2010 New Years Resolutions

I am not a fan of New Years Resolutions. I used to be, but after years of always falling short of my lofty goals, I decided I didn't like them anymore and resolved never to make them again. Clearly, I am now falling short of THAT goal.

This year, I am going to make some resolutions; however, they will not be your average, lose weight, read my Bible more, quit smoking kind of resolutions. (Just to clarify, I'm not saying reading my Bible more isn't important nor am I saying that I smoke.) Instead, 2010's goals will be fun, silly, quirky.....and in some cases, downright pointless.

1. This year I will aim to treat yellow lights as a signal to slow down instead of speed up.
2. I will stop using the words "video tape" unless I am actually talking about a VHS tape.
3. I will stop reading people's Facebook/Myspace/Twitter posts with the expectation that it will somehow interest or entertain me.
4. I will not, repeat NOT, renew my membership to match.com. (That one is sort of a serious resolution.)
5. I will NOT get my hopes up that the Aggies will finally have a winning football season.
6. I will NOT indulge anyone...not even those obnoxious Red Raiders... in a conversation regarding how A&M is still a better school even if their football team isn't.
7. I will stop texting when I drive. (Definitely a serious one.)
8. I will finally acknowledge that I don't cook because I don't want to, not because I'm bad at it.
9. I will TRY to stop bad-mouthing Odessa (Including referring to it as "Ho-dessa").

and last but not least (drumroll, please)...
10. I will stop saying "yes" to everyone and everything out of obligation, a guilty conscience or my inane need to please people and instead will start saying "yes" to everyone and everything because of my love of tradition. =)

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!