Cheering them On

Last night, Matt and I were hanging out, relaxing, and watching some TV. These days when we watch anything on television it’s 90% either non-commercial or old shows available to stream on Netflix. That’s because we’re both so tired of the he-said, she-said media circus that TV has become these days.

I just can’t do politics. The whole scene is so last season. Kind of like that cliché. I’m over it because I hate being sad, depressed, questioning humanity. So instead, we like to live in ignorantly blissful worlds of fiction entertainment.

Our current obsession show of choice is Friends.

Friends has been one of my favorite shows since the season it debuted in 1994. When it came out I was close to the age of the characters and found myself experiencing similar stuff in life. Love, career, living on my own, and finding my own friend family. It was smart and witty and I found myself cheering for all of the characters regardless of how silly or irritating they could be at times.

It was one of the only shows I faithfully stayed home to watch on the night and time it aired every week.

Going back and watching the entire series on binge-level of episodes in a row has been fun. Last night we started on season 5.

(SIDE NOTE: If you haven’t seen the show then a lot of what follows will be spoilers. But it has been 12 years since the show went off the air so I’m taking the chance that those who wanted to see it have done so by now.

Come to think of it, you should probably stop reading here if you never saw Friends, The Office, Moonlighting, or Dawson’s Creek and wanted to do so without spoilers.)

Anyway, as we watched the first 4 seasons of Friends, I constantly remarked how the show’s creators had Monica & Chandler’s characters in a couple-holding-pattern the whole time. So, when they got together in season 5, it wasn’t entirely a surprise.

When the characters admit for the first time they’re in a relationship (not sure which “The One…” that happened in) Matt said:

“They were always my favorite TV couple.”

I thought about that a lot since he said it. Probably a lot longer than I should have but that’s just me. I have to agree with him, those two characters were maybe the perfect TV couple.

Once they decided to get together they stayed together. They laughed with and at each other but still put each other and their relationship at the top of their priority list. They fought and it wasn’t a perfect relationship but it worked on so many levels. Because it was funny and sad, real and fantasy, relatable and like nothing we’d ever experienced before. The writers who crafted those two characters were brilliant.

So of course that got me thinking about the other TV couples I’ve cheered for over the years. I thought, and thought, and thought. But coming up with them proved more difficult than I would have expected. And it left me with a short list.

Of course there was Ross and Rachel. Meh. They were certainly the central “dramatic relationship” on Friends but most of the time I liked them better when they were torturing each other instead of together. It was funnier.

Moving away from Friends my next favorite would have to be Jim & Pam on The Office. The writers made the characters and their struggles realistic but still gave them a happily ever after which I always appreciate. They were cute together and sarcastic smart-asses. Which I also always appreciate.

And of course there were David and Maddie from Moonlighting. Only trouble with them, after they got together the writing struggled to make it the same punchy banter they had before and the show took a dive.

Though I didn’t watch when it aired, Matt and I wrapped up a Dawson’s Creek binge last year. All I have to say about that – Team Pacey! If he and Joey didn’t end up together I would have been shocked and utterly disappointed. I was neither of those things at the end of the series. I was crying, but not disappointed.

Thus completes the list. Which wouldn’t surprise me except it feels like it should be longer. The problem with television is they need us to tune in week after week. Because of that, lots of shows create a “two tortured people who can never be happy” dynamic just to keep the tension going.

Personally, I think that stinks.

When my sister and I got our very first TV in our bedroom I used to stay up late night and watch Get Smart in syndication. And I’ve been a TV junkie ever since. But this list wasn’t about shows I loved over the years (a list too long even for this blog I think), it’s about couples I cheered on until the end.

Which, apparently, amounts to a total of 5. Well, 4-1/2 if I only count half of Ross and Rachel.

Regardless, it really has been fun going back to watch, in order, all 10 seasons of Friends. If nothing else it’s a nice escape from the daily news.

• • • • • • • • • • •
In addition to this drivel I also write books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Learn more on my author page.

Finally, I can Breathe Again

Last weekend I had the total pleasure of sharing in the surprise birthday celebration that I planned for Matt and 23 of his relatives and friends.

Before I go any further talking about this particular soiree, it will help to understand the title of this post if I back up to about 3 months ago when this party first started taking shape. As a manner of comparison, for my 40^th birthday all I asked was to be let in on the day and time I had to be wherever I was being taken. Matt obliged me that information but I knew nothing else.

He never asked for the same.

And I knew what I wanted to do for him as the words…

“I don’t know what to do for your birthday, you have to help me, tell me what you want.”

…came out of my mouth back in early 2016. Because this year he’d be turning 40. This year was a huge milestone birthday. And I knew just how he was feeling about hitting that magic number.

In one word, freaked.

I remember when I was getting closer to the big four-oh. In the months leading up to my birthday I swear to you I was convinced I would just up and croak before I ever got there. Now I know everyone says ‘forty is the new twenty’ or whatever other platitude they like hearing themselves say out loud, but to me it was hard to imagine myself getting older.

Yes, despite the graying eyelashes, sagging boobs, slowing metabolism, I somehow managed to delude myself that I was still in my twenties or something. So when Matt admitted that he was kind of losing it over the upcoming day, I was just glad the party planning was already set in stone.

Because nothing makes a person feel younger than getting together in a room, filled with people they love, to laugh, cheer, eat, drink, and do all that ‘be merry’ stuff that makes life the best thing ever.

I chose to surprise him with renting a suite at Chase Field, on opening weekend, then filling it with 12 of his good friends, and get his dad and step-mom in from California, and get family in from Tucson, and get his mom in from Mississippi, and somehow manage to convince his sister and her 3 boys to make the trek out here from Boston.

And by some miracle of chance, all 23 of us (plus the handful of people at his office who also knew what was going on) managed to keep the layered secret since I first asked people to express their level of interest in buying their ticket to the game, and celebrating Matt, back on January 5.

Can I just for one second take a minute to acknowledge just how difficult it is to keep that much awesomeness inside your body? Especially considering:

• I’ve never kept secrets from Matt in the 17ish years we’ve known each other.
• He’s usually the first person I see at the end of the work day and I like recounting my day with him.
• I work at home, alone, so I like to yammer on for a while after he gets home.
• I just don’t lie. Ever. To anyone. Not anymore. I mean, when I was a kid, sure, but as an adult that seems pointless.

Boy was I ever wrong! The good news is I only had to tell one lie during all of this scheming and plotting. Amazing to say the least.

So are you ready to relive the whole experience along with me? Here’s how the timeline went…

January: Who’s in?

January: Holy crap, everyone is in?

January: Start thinking about where to house people.

February: Collect money from everyone – PayPal, shove cash in my pocket at a happy hour, stop by after work and drop cash just moments before Matt gets home (there was a lot of that kind of stuff).

February: Pay the first half of the suite rental fee / repeatedly hunt down the ticket rep.

February: Start the process of our home’s refi (meaning we shouldn’t put new, expensive purchases on our credit card and obviously the extra added challenge I really needed during party central planning stages).

February: Start formulating how I/we would get Matt to the ballpark. Deposit the last of the money from outside sources. Pay a huge chunk of the credit card bill & pray it won’t be an issue for the refi.

March: Email Matt’s boss/our loan officer to fill her in on the situation (AKA: don’t ask Matt about huge charges on the card, ask me!)

March: Final payment to suite rental. A small lull in party stuff ensues.

March: Close on the refi and (because Matt doesn’t know we will have people sleeping here), start doing construction again all around the house. Silently curse at my ladder every time I walk by it.

March: See about 100 new gray hairs starting to sprout while I try to maintain my composure because despite all the running to pick up/drop off, plan, email, etc. back and forth on party business, I still have to work every day, clean the house, do the life stuff I always do like there’s nothing else going on. Develop twitch over left eye.

March: Watch as my frayed nerve endings start jumping out of my body and realize there’s nothing I can do about it. Sweep dead nerve endings under area rug to be dealt with in April.

April: Finally! But wait, my in-laws, I hear, have plans and can’t house family. I start texting and making calls. Nobody responds in the ten seconds I expect them to respond in. Sheesh, how rude!

April: Oh shit, where will my SIL stay if my in-laws aren’t free? Agita takes hold.

April: Calls back and forth with my MIL – we can split the cost for a hotel stay. Begin researching hotels with a shuttle from the airport and/or are walking distance to Chase or our house.

April: There are zero hotels available in greater Phoenix. This is high season. You can stay in Scottsdale for $400 a night, but only 4 of you, not 5.

April: FIL & StepMIL save the day, the plans they had are altered, all 4 of the Boston fam can stay at the RV, plus I don’t have to lie about where I’m going at 10PM on a Thursday night because they have a vehicle big enough to pick up SIL and the kids at the airport.

April: I manage to exhale just a bit while I start doing the happy dance.

April: I tell Matt my mom is also coming up for the weekend and have to lie when he questions why – the one lie!

April: Coordinate with my sister and mom to be the drivers to the ballpark and arrive for early set up.

April: Consider hugging my friends and not letting go when they agree to put up my MIL for the night before the party as well as agree to be the carpool loading station for the bulk of the group.

April 6: Create an actual flowchart for the timeline of Friday’s events because I’m afraid of forgetting some small detail that will throw off the entire thing and cause my already thinning skull to implode.

April 4-7: Finish the small construction projects that need done for safety when family is in town, work, dry run to the ballpark so I don’t get lost, ensure Boston family is in safe and sound. Drop tickets for friends who won’t be able to meet up with the carpool caravan. Drool on myself and pass out on the sofa at 9PM just about every night.

8:20AM Friday April 8: Matt leaves the house late for work, like really late, for the first time maybe in his life. The moment the garage door closes I fly through a shower because I need to get to Sky Harbor to pick up my MIL, which happens with no drama but lots of traffic. We get breakfast then head to the mall to waste some time and catch up (this was really nice, I don’t always get time with my MIL because she lives pretty far away). My mom arrives at our house to drop some stuff. MIL and I head over to meet mom (praying Matt doesn’t come home for lunch or something). Mom and MIL take off for the afternoon. I haul ass up to the Musical Instrument Museum to drop tickets and a parking pass to FIL, StepMIL, SIL & nephews. I haul ass back home so I can clean before the rest of the Tucson family arrives for our “normal weekend” routine.

4:18PM April 8: I sit down on the couch with a snack, finish it, and go to get up to put my plate in the sink when I realize my legs will literally not move. Sit staring at the wall for about ten minutes while my brain does a hard reboot. Cannot compute. System failure. Switching to back up brain for next 24 hours. Running at 11% capacity.

5:00 – 5:15 April 8: Pray my mom remembers how to get to friend’s house to drop MIL, get text from Matt – he’ll be out 15 minutes early! Text friend to make sure my mom is on the way back.

5:22 April 8: Stare out front window praying the mom mobile rounds the corner before Matt. She does! We get bags inside approximately 4 minutes before Matt rolls into the driveway. Wendy & BIL roll in about 6:00. Drinks and a fun evening ensue.

Until Saturday mid-afternoon our weekend contained nothing out of the ordinary – Matt made a couple runs to Harbor Freight to do a project that morning, the family got showered and ready, and when Matt booted the compressor they all took off to go meet the crew of peeps at our friend’s place.

Then it was just the two of us.

And I knew he was going to want to lie down for an afternoon nap so I had to tell him something.

“Do you love me?”

“Of course.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Okay, then you have 15 minutes to finish this project before you have to be in the shower.”

“I knew it! I knew something must be happening this weekend!”

And at 3:06PM on April 9 we were on our way to Chase Field. I took a weird route to throw him off. But it’s impossible to hide a ballpark. He started getting really excited. He knew there would be at least 3 people at the game because they left our house early.

I text Wendy to tell her we arrived.

We head to suite level and he about loses it because he never sat in a suite at a ballgame before. I text Wendy that we’re a few minutes out.

We arrive at Suite 5 and I tap then he enters the room…

Countless phones are up recording his reaction as 22 amazing people yell SURPRISE!!!!!

And let me tell you something right now. All the stress, panic, exposed nerve endings of the last couple months? TOTALLY worth it at the sight of his face when he scanned the crowd and discovered just who was there to celebrate him!

As the day wore on (into the wee hours of the morning with the after party back at our place of course) small bits and pieces of the planning and scheming were revealed but mostly it was a time where Matt could be with so many people he loves. People he doesn’t get to see all that often.

My work was done. He was pretty much over the moon. And as far as I’m concerned, that sounds so much more fun than being over the hill.

• • • • • • • • • • •
In addition to this drivel I also write books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Learn more on my author page.

Another Year Over...

When I created our cards this year my main focus was to share a little bit of everything we did throughout the year. I didn't want Christmas card specific, more of an overview instead of just holiday. And man, did we ever have a busy 2013!

Some other people made it onto the card - we were in two weddings (1 each, Matt and me), had family and friends in town multiple times, traveled, started some home renovation and even waited so long for a table at a restaurant the baby occupying it started to grow a beard. Or something like that.

2013 started out great, we celebrated the New Year with some friends and had a nice quiet night with food, fun and a champagne toast. In February my aunt came to visit and we found ourselves at a Coyotes game in our short sleeves. Gotta love Phoenix!

Spring brought more fun stuff. In March we went to a spring training game where I got to see Terry Francona coaching the Indians and Matt got to enjoy his favorite sport in a cool ballpark. April was jam packed (a trip to Cali for Matt's birthday, touring Jobing.com Arena, The Run for Boston initiative, the Bruins made the playoffs...) but the biggest event was D&D flying across the country to get married at The Grand Canyon. It was amazing, a perfect spot for a wedding. A perfect wedding for a perfect couple! In May Matt's mom came out to visit and the three of us plus my mom went up to Sedona to explore and take pictures.

June was a milestone for me - I got to celebrate my 40th birthday! What a surprise it was for me too. After seeing a movie and hanging out all day with my mom & Wendy we came back to the house to find a back yard full of friends from Phoenix and Tucson and then I heard a voice...my first roomie, Keith, was somewhere in my house. His voice was coming through a speaker. And then he announced there was a surprise guest. My aunt Sue walked out my backdoor. I lost it. It was too much! So much love, so many people showed up to share my special day I couldn't have asked for a better fortieth birthday if I tried. Matt pulled it off...complete with graffiti and all.

July was pretty slim, we mostly just hung out in the pool all month, but Wendy came up a bunch of weekends while dealing with an out of order air conditioner. We all got to spend the weekend of her birthday together as well. And enter bearded baby.

The end of summer brought the beginning of us tearing apart the house - tile up, fireplace and wall down. That was about all we did in August. It's still going but getting closer to done.

In September we saw the Tucson Botanical Gardens and we did the Walk to End Alzheimer's. Plus we spent a good chunk of time in California. For our anniversary in September we went to see Dave Matthews Band in Chula Vista. Never a bad time at a Dave show - I danced my ass off all night long.

In October we headed out to another wedding when my sister's close friends got hitched right on the beach in Laguna at sunset. Ah-mazing! October also saw me increase my client list and start making a real income which was awesome. And we had all our drain plumbing replaced, which wasn't as awesome but certainly makes it more functional around here now.

Matt rounded out the year of weddings in November when he stood as a groomsman for one of his oldest friends. We were on a plane and back on the east coast in Washington D.C. for that one. Met so many amazing people, made some new friends and even got to spend some time with family while we were in the Maryland neck of the woods.  Matt & Wendy's boyfriend both went ice skating for the first time and Wendy & I both got on skates for the first time in the better part of a decade. That was fun! Having Thanksgiving with my mom, Matt, my in-laws and my Step-MIL's daughter and family was so much fun and a great way to end November.

December so far has been a great month for bringing closure to another calendar year. Between home improvement store shopping and installation of flooring and a brand new guest bath we've seen tons of Christmas lights, taken a trip to Tucson and I've helped my mom prep and paint her house.

By the time January 1, 2014 rolls in we'll have also been to another hockey game and toasted with a rendition of the Boston Pops on TV.

I had a great year, so much fun, family, friends, food, travel and adventure its hard to believe it all squeezed onto a tiny 4" x 8" Christmas card. But the back really says it all about 2013:

I can't wait to see what 2014 brings! Have a safe, festive and Happy New Year everyone!

• • • • • • • • • • •
Content Marketing Strategist and Blogger for hire, Jenn has over 12 years of freelancing experience. Let her write your next webpage, blog post, article or newsletter. Get in touch with her today info [at] copywritethat [dot] com

Days Weeks Months, and the Years Go By

It’s difficult to know where to even start. I’ve been absent for days, weeks, (it feels like months) and so much has happened that it almost feels like too much time has transpired to report back on it. But I’m going to do my best because in the last few weeks life has thrown out a rollercoaster ride of emotions and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to go along for the ride.

There have been some good times, some bummer times and some amazing moments that could never be fully captured in words no matter how good a writer I am. Sometimes you really just ‘had to be there’.

And if you were here for any of them I need to say a HUGE thank you!

June marked an entirely new chapter in my life and sharing it with (you know who you are) you was AH-mazing!

Let’s start with the ugly & work our way to the awesome shall we?

Abrupt Ending

By now anyone who’s even a moderate sports fan (or friends with me) knows that the Bruins lost in their quest for the Cup against the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a tough fought series and I think the B’s really held their own despite losing four games to two. And they lost on home ice. Which of course stings a little bit.

But as exciting as it was to watch my hometown team play some of their best hockey all the way up to game 6 (and as nice as it would’ve been to watch them lift the Cup) I have to admit that I’m secretly glad hockey is over for this season.

The temperatures were getting a little warm and with the shortened season I think this is the latest into the summer I’ve ever seen the boys in black and gold play. I mean, the season starts again in about two months. Plus watching upwards of four games a week was getting a little tough to manage. But I love hockey and especially hard-hitting hockey like the playoffs. But being in Phoenix means 115+ temps and now I just want to be in my pool for a couple months.

Speaking of hockey, some of the off-season changes have me reeling a little bit:

• Andy Ference, my second favorite player on the Bruins and my number one favorite environmental activist is being let go in favor of cheaper defensemen because of the lowered cap. This sucks in so many ways I can’t even begin to say how much it sucks. A Bruin and Boston community activist for seven years, Andy’s commitment to his team and teammates will be sorely missed next season.
• Nathan Horton didn’t entertain any offers from the Bruins before electing to go with his Free Agency status. Which basically just sucks because if ever there was a line that had chemistry it was the Lucic-Krejci-Horton line. We’ll see what this Friday brings during the free agency deadline.
• Pretty much every single core player with the exception of only a few will need surgery for something or other this off season. Bergeron played the last game with multiple issues (hole in lung, broken rib) and others like Horton, Seidenberg, Chara, all have injuries that probably had them playing at less than their optimal selves. I commend them for a job well done under the circumstances!

In hockey years I’d be about 172

In human years I just turned the big 4-0. Yup, I’ve actually entered the period of life where it’s all uphill from here. Yeah I know most people say downhill but that always felt wrong to me. I mean downhill is easier, you can toss her in neutral and just coast. Uphill seems like much more of a battle.

But I digress…

I made a promise to one of my very dear friends, Keith, that I’d write all about the party. Regardless of the fact that I’ve sat down to do just that a few days in a row now, I can’t seem to find any words to do that day any justice. I really think you just had to be here.

Perhaps when I’m looking back in a few years and thinking of the top five parties of my entire life I’ll have the distance from it to write it all out, but not right now. For now I’m going to leave you all with a word cloud that pretty much sums up the overall celebration that started with a big secret Matt concocted months ago, culminates with my crazy party on Saturday June 22, and ends the following weekend when my vacation ended and I finally was able to recover from the enormity of it all.

I love you all!

It’s Official…

I’m finally a paid Writer! I started pursuing my freelance career a few months ago with full force and since then I’ve had five articles published on Yahoo! Voices, three of which I’ve made money from and just last week I was offered a writing position as a blogger for a company that reports on socially responsible companies. Not sure when that starts but I can’t wait!

In the meantime I’m going to finish up my classes and books on how-to write various forms of content and just keep applying for writing gigs as well as submitting articles. My goal is to be self-sustaining from my writing in the next year and I can clearly see that path starting to materialize now.

Cha-ching

At the end of June we refinanced our home into a fifteen year mortgage, something we’ve both been looking forward to doing since we first got the place last year. With the increase in values in Phoenix (it’s a great time to own property here, things are climbing again, steadily but not out of control) we were able to cash-out refi and roll our car payment in plus take a little cash to make some improvements to the efficiency and functionality (plus the beautification) of our home.

In the next couple months we’re planning to replace all of our single-pane aluminum windows with Low-E double (or triple) pane, replace all the exterior doors to prevent gaps where ac sneaks out, spray additional insulation into the attic, replace the pressure valve for our house water, open up the wall from living room to kitchen for an open concept plan and remove the fireplace that takes over the living room, rip out the very poorly installed tile/carpet and put hardwood bamboo throughout, and complete a few other minor things that no one would notice but will make a huge overall impact on efficiency/uniformity (vent covers, doorknobs, etc.).

For the first time in our adult lives we made a good choice when it came to a housing purchase. But it wouldn’t matter if values tanked again tomorrow. We’re not going anywhere and now that we can start personalizing our place I’m even more excited to stay.

Overall June was a pretty kick-ass month around here full of old and new friends and family I wouldn’t have expected to see in my house anytime soon. It really seems like the last three weeks have been a constant party and cause to smile, laugh, and have fun.

And I don’t see any signs of that stopping anytime soon.

• • • • • • • • • • •
Published in multiple print and online sources, Author, Blogger and Freelance Writer Jenn Flynn-Shon has been writing for publication since 2001. Follow her antics on twitter @jennshon

Good Television?

Today's topic:

A picture of the cast from your favorite show

I proudly admit that I am a product of my generation. Because of that I’m not going to sit here and try to say that the old classics are some of my favorite shows because, frankly, they simply don’t resonate with me. To the moon, you got some ‘splainin’ to do, or beam me up are not what make me tune in every week.

Oh, and anyone who knows me by now knows there’s (as my Wicked Step Mother would say) ‘a better chance of seeing God as we speak’ than me only posting one picture. Enjoy!

I really can’t begin to express my sadness over learning that Perfect Couples is getting kicked to the curb in favor of a new show with some washed up actor who hasn’t been on TV in 20 years. I’m bitter, and begging another network to pick this show up because it really deserves at least three seasons (I’m looking at you USA!). If someone gave it a chance they’d see the perfectly captured dynamic between these six characters. I think the network execs were just afraid because they identified with the “wrong” couple. Matt and I? Dave and Julia, all the way.

Okay, if we’re being 100% honest here I started watching the new Hawaii Five-0 for a couple reasons. First, the original aired in syndication super late night when I was a teenager and it got me through a lot of bouts of insomnia so I wanted to see if this new version measured up. Second, a favorite actor from another show on this list (Daniel Dae Kim) is in it. Finally…seriously, how hot is Alex O’Laughlin? I mean come on! Now I tune in for the witty humor and to place bets if McGarrett will be in cargo khakis with a navy blue tee shirt or a gray tee shirt.

I was twelve when Moonlighting first aired in 1985, probably didn’t get half the jokes, but seriously couldn’t stop laughing at Bruce Willis. A crime show that was also a comedy. They just don’t write ‘em like that these days, it’s all about psychological mind twists and realistic gore not sunglasses and the limbo in the office. A modern day take on (take your pick) “Taming of the Shrew” or “Beauty and the Beast” it sure was fun. Until the second they killed the sexual tension.

How could I not include Sex and the City? They were a little older than I was when it first aired but it couldn’t have resonated more seeing as though I was a single, hard working, slightly crazy, city girl also trying to find love through many (read: way too many) bad dates, relationships, fix ups, etc. If we’re taking the ‘who are you most like’ quiz I’m coming up as Miranda every time.

There was no theme music. There was only a very loose plot at best. There were about 20 actors no one had ever heard of before. There was a beach in Hawaii and a plane crash. And there was Lost. This show definitely was a love it or hate it type of animal. I know a lot of people who couldn’t get past the smoke monster, and that’s understandable it was a quirky plot line. Theology, Godliness, Heaven and Hell and simple, old fashioned true love made this show great. Well that and an encyclopedia’s worth of unanswered questions.

Remember the one with the Yeti? How about the one with the lesbian wedding? Maybe the one when Ross and Rachel took a break was your favorite? No matter which is “The One”, Friends was the one at number one for me. I was living in one of my first apartments (of course mine wasn’t half as nice as theirs but I’m also old enough to distinguish fantasy from reality ya know?) and going through the trials of love, friendship, family, work and life in my early twenties. It was perfectly cast, perfectly written and perfectly captured my generation’s struggle with adapting in a modern world. They grappled with everything from death and disease to marriage, babies, being broke, getting a dream job, making a fool of yourself, making a life for yourself, love, and so much more over the ten seasons it would take an entire blog to list it all. But no matter what they always did it through humor, and the six of them always faced it together. They were more than Friends, they were family.

Some honorable mentions that were close to making this list but I had to bump include Burn Notice, 24 (the first 3 seasons), Biggest Loser, Melrose Place and ER (the first 6 seasons).

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Catch up on anything you missed  30 Photos, 30 Days
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Measuring a Summer’s Day

Tangerine, my favorite Led Zeppelin song of all time, comes to mind at this very moment because it just so happens I’m eating a fruit of the same name. At this time of year they’re everywhere in mesh shaped nylon baggies so no matter what store I find myself in, if I’m perusing the produce department, a bag of these juicy little balls of happiness are definitely coming home with me.

Some folks could probably have named this post Oh My Darlin’ but to me tangerines just make the world a little juicier than a Clementine. Maybe it’s because of Page’s stunningly simple lyrics full of complex visuals (if you know the song this should make perfect sense), or the delivery of those words through Plant’s haunting reflective tone, or maybe its that Jones & Bonham come in at the exact right moment to bring stability to the growing legs of the well timed guitar solo. Maybe the reason I love it is because it isn’t perfect but it’s out there to be loved anyway.

Or maybe I love the song so much because it reminds me of a nostalgic love so strong it could never be forgotten, and the person it holds in the palm of its hand was that very thing to me.

Innocent and stupid and new, ready to grab the world by the scruff of the collar and drag it along behind us as we blazed a trail. But at some point I realized he wasn’t with me anymore so I looked back to try to find him but he had mysteriously disappeared. Then I spent so long watching behind me for where he had gone that I missed the fact that life fell out of my hands and passed me ages ago.

If only things could stay so simple as Bonham’s back beat. But they rarely do, if ever. So at this time of year I find myself reflecting voraciously, as if it was an activity I’d never done before and may never get to do again.

It always starts out with the year that has just flown by in the blink of an eye and all the things I remember about it, and then it spirals into a trip down the cobble stones of memory lane.

Of course this year was struck with tragedies of massive proportions that would be hard to ignore, like earthquakes and oil spills. But it was also filled with amazing things of beauty like a close friend having a healthy baby girl or seeing a double rainbow in upstate New York.

In the past year:
♥ a good friend moved back to the area
♥ I completed the edits on my first novel and started shopping it
♥ continued to play drums every week
♥ went to countless shows (including finally seeing Bushwalla live on his own, Seth Glier, DMB, BNL and Jason [of course])
♥ one of my favorite actors died (Haim)
♥ saw my sister on her coast
♥ spent time with friends and family (on the other coast and mine)
♥ finished helping to clean out my grandparent’s place
♥ watched the final season of a long favorite television show (Lost)
♥ took on a few paint jobs
♥ walked to support Alzheimer's research
♥ spent tons of time laughing & joking with Matt (in the car and at home)
♥ went fishing (and actually caught some!) with old friends
♥ witnessed the kids in my life get even smarter as they became another year older
♥ saw a couple Sox games live at Fenway & a few Bruins games live at the Garden
♥ dealt with a flood in our basement
♥ experienced a summer full of hot sunshine (bliss!)
♥ started an extreme exercise program (P90x - bring it!)
♥ joined a Book Club
♥ signed a lease for a second year in the same place (call Ripley’s!)
♥ drank with the local townies at the Jersey shore
♥ sold a few things at a craft fair
♥ wrote most of my second novel
♥ kicked Matt’s butt repeatedly in Scrabble
♥ and so many other awesome things I couldn’t begin to list more

Well I could but would any of you read a day by day accounting of my lame-ass life? Probably not.

As I spent the last year getting healthy in mind, body and soul it started becoming more clear that my life is longing for another grab it by the balls and have at it adventure. I know there’s still a couple weeks left this year so I don’t completely rule it out for happening in 2010 but it just feels like 2011 is calling to me from the future. That next year is where the great escapade will be found.

Become a published novelist? Celebrate ten years married? Get my body back in shape? Quit smoking? Something else? The world is open, and so am I, to the possibilities that exist. Bring on the adventure 2011, even if that adventure is wrapped in a moving truck traveling 3500 miles across this great country to the Valley of the Sun!

Someday I will no doubt look back on that journey and think about me and Matt taking it together.

“Does [s]he still remember times like these?...And I do.”

Truth Be Told, It Is Time to Transition

It is time to stop doing all of the old and tired things I used to do and move my energy into new things so I can create the life I want to lead. This is the thesis statement, the item I need to prove. Most writers take the entire length of the article to do so but I can prove it within the first paragraph. Why do I say this? Because if the old stuff was working toward me living the life I want I’d pretty much have it by now, don’t you think? And I don’t. Guess its time to move on.

(As a side note…Do me & my thesis amuse you? Those of you who don’t understand the reference should go and buy this album right now.)

And now back to my regularly scheduled rambling on…

Three of my friends -- my drum instructor, mom’s best friend and Trayce -- all got in touch with me in various ways over the past week with links to self publishing houses. All different ones, some local, some authors who’ve done it, some who are attached to big name houses. I’m thinking that maybe it’s a sign.

I’ve been asked if I ever considered self publishing before (and the answer is yes) so it’s not like this light bulb over my head where I thought ‘A-ha the golden ticket to Wonkaville!’ or anything like that. The suggestions to try it were just more scattered, not coming at me in one big rush before, so I had pushed it under the rug. But the pile of dirt under there looks like a mountain now so I strongly need to consider giving it weight. Of course other stuff needs to happen before I even consider doing anything with Ripple the Twine.

First, if I start looking into self publishing, every single thing I’ve ever read suggests that writers still get an agent. So I’ll be starting up that process again. Query, query, query until my little bitty fingers become nubs on the keys…and then I can probably still bang out a few more. But that’s in December (better known to us WriMos as NaNoEdMo).

Second, my very good friends Dianna and Ginger recently suggested that perhaps I should be writing short stories for magazines. It’s a great idea and will keep my creative muscles flexing even when I’m not working on something lengthy like a book. I have an account with HUB Pages and it will be a good start to post stuff there until I can acquire a few magazine subscriptions to various publications where my work might fit in.

(“What am I gonna do with 40 subscriptions to Vibe?” -- You know you were thinking it!)

Something that needs to go, sad as it may be, is any and all distractions that keep me from my goal of being a full time writer. Yes, this quite likely includes my company. I won’t close the doors of Chucka Stone Designs decorative paint treatments, I just won’t be out there pimping it. But what will be closing is my Etsy shop.

I plan to hang onto it through the end of the year but it really isn’t benefiting anyone so its just a time suckage that I don’t need anymore. No one shops there and the rent is getting a little high. Of course with the closing of the shop also comes the withdrawal from the team I’m a member of, EcoEtsy. This will be tough because there are so many awesome people in this bunch but I can still keep up with most of them in Greenpreneurs on Facebook so it won’t be a total loss.

That also means I’ll be giving up writing for their blog. And this is the reason I’ll be sticking it out until the end of the year, I’m committed to writing all the Monday News & Views posts for December because my co-editors were kind enough to give me November off for NaNo (♥LOVE♥).

Things that I will still keep up with are this blog of course and Facebook, sometimes twitter although I can’t always access it, and in writing here I will definitely still read all of my favorite bloggers.

But…and this is a big but…other than all of you awesome people that I read all the time (and you know who you are by now I hope) any new blog reading I take on is going to pretty strictly have to do with writing -- getting published, self publishing, published writer’s inner thoughts, etc. I have to start immersing myself into the life and culture or else I will only flail about even more.

And this brings me to my final, and probably the biggest, transition I plan to initiate. Within the next eight months Matt and I are moving to Arizona. His line of work is huge in the Phoenix area, prices for housing are much cheaper, my sister and friend and his dad and step mom are close by plus there’s the weather…oh the weather!

It isn’t even about the temperatures so much as the constant sunshine. Okay, it’s a lot to do with the temperatures too. I’m really just weary of it here. There is nothing for me here other than my family members that I still see and those people are mobile (and so are we) enough that we can go back and forth to spend time together as often as we can. Not to mention by keeping social networking sites I’m instantly connected.

No, its not the same as being in the same room, I get that, but the room we have here hardly fits half of them inside it anyway and its costing us an arm and a leg to pay for (and getting rid of those pesky appendages is about the only way we could fit more people in here).

I’m just seriously coming to the realization that Matt and I do not fit here anymore, in the physical or spiritual sense, we’ve moved into a different phase of life than everyone we know. Truth be told, I really have nothing in common with my friends anymore except a very rich past. Not having kids puts us in a completely different place than most of them but I stand by my choice not to bring more babies into this world. That’s me. But without that to schedule play dates around or whatever its just more and more difficult to see the parents of those wonderful kids because they get involved in the activities their children take on as they get older.

And yea for them, its encouraging to see that some people still take an active role in raising their children, its just that I do not fit into that world. Being an Auntie only takes you so far and then its best to give up being a hanger-on. Ya know?

Anyway, I’m just babbling as usual but suffice to say the next year will be producing a whole lot of interesting changes in my life and I’m fully ready to embrace all of them. I’ll be sure to share the links to my short stories when they’re up over at HUB pages.

Thanks for sticking it out with me, leaving comments and showing your love and support all this time everyone. I hope that I’ve been even half as supportive for all of you!

Why Do We Celebrate Things That Haven’t Happened Yet?

I’m all for parties. Attending one can be a fun and relaxing time where everyone comes together to laugh and smile, sometimes exchange gifts, eat, drink and do all the be merry crap that makes it a celebration. The thing I can not wrap my head around is having a party to celebrate something that hasn’t happened yet.

Specifically, I’m talking about a baby shower.

One of my closest friends is having one today and although I have my personal beliefs and whatnot, I do plan to go. But…and this is a huge but…I will go only because I love her to death and we have been friends for twenty some odd years. Otherwise, inviting me to one of these things is probably a useless waste of a stamp.

I have been to a grand total of three baby showers that I can readily recall -- my sister in law’s (with the twins, not her youngest), my best friend’s, and the same friend who is having one today (14-ish years ago with her first born). I have been invited to more than that but there is something inside my brain that can not wrap around the concept.

Call it superstition or whatever but it just seems wrong to celebrate something that isn’t even physically there.

It is the all too scary, I can’t even really say it out loud, “what if” factor.

Never would I wish a child to be, mother, father, (whoever) harm but the baby isn’t actually here yet so how can I go out and buy loads of stuff for it? Not to mention, Doctors have been known to be wrong. What if they say it’s a girl but, oops…suddenly a little bundle of baby boy is wearing a pink dress home from the hospital? Sure there are worse tragedies than that, and that is the very reason I have a tough time with the concept.

I’m all for the biggest ever crowd of friends and family showing up at the hospital the day the child is actually born with a slew of stuff -- diapers, car seats, playpens, clothes, etc. -- but why do we pile into a room a month or two before there is a real being and ogle over a bunch of stuff that we end up handing off to a worn out, tired, pregnant woman who then just has to find a place in her home to organize it all?

So when I do go to these things I never, ever, buy baby things. Instead I focus on mom to be who, at 8 months pregnant, could probably really use a break. Especially when she’s already got a couple kids at home who need her attention and effort. Since I haven’t gone to the shower yet & I don’t know if my friend reads my blog I won’t reveal what her gift is but suffice to say there is no way she could use it for baby stuff.

In about 20 days she will likely be giving birth, then and only then, I will spoil this baby rotten, but until then, all the spoiling rotten goes right toward my friend.

Photo ababyshower.com

But I Got a Great Meal Out of It

Most of you know that I was a huge fan of the television show Lost. For six seasons I stuck through the weird twists and turns and I even tried to accept the (apparent) dissonance of last night’s finale, but something about it being over like that makes me more than a little sad. There will be no more answers to questions; the melody is unfinished and the lines do not rhyme. But, ah, that is classic Lost and I suppose I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now before I lose everyone with paragraphs of babbling about a series finale that many of you were not addicted to like me, I should probably explain what that show has to do with the title. Earlier this month my friend Ginger started up this new gig over at ‘Would You Like Fries With That?’ called The Dish. Each month she will post a recipe created in her very own kitchen and challenge readers to come up with their own version. So for last night’s finale that is just what I did.

Food was a huge part of the show as a whole -- how they hunted for it, picked it, where they happened to find a bunch of it, who’s food it was -- and two items in particular were frequently mentioned: boar and mango. Since they were deserted on a tropical island, it was fitting. My mom came over to watch the finale with us last night so we definitely planned to have some mango, but the boar? Well I picked up Boar...’s Head deli slices of course!

I knew I wanted to do something funky with the mango and suddenly it hit me -- The Dish! I knew that mango would be a perfect ingredient for Asian Inspired Noodles and I started pulling stuff out of the cabinet to create on the fly. When it was complete it had a Polynesian flair and I am calling it:

Sweet & Salty Fruity Noodles
1 package ramen noodles
½ a ripe mango
a good sprinkling of coconut
fresh cilantro
a sprinkling of dry basil
cubed meat (or other preference, we used pork)
water chestnuts*
bamboo shoots*
soy sauce (low sodium)
agave nectar
sesame seeds

(Sorry to say there are no measurements because I just kind of tossed it all together or in the bowl until it looked right and tasted good.)

*I forgot to get these but plan to do so next go round!

Cook ramen as directed, omit seasoning packet. Drain & run under cold water for a minute or so.
Chop, bake, dice, slice, open everything else. We kept all things in separate containers so each of us could add to our own liking.
In a shaker pour about 3 oz soy sauce, 1 oz agave then shake, shake, shake your booty until its blended well. Taste for yumminess (should be an even balance of salty/sweet).
Chill (preferably in the yard with a good book).
Mix it all together in your own bowl, pour a drizzle of sauce over and eat immediately.

Thanks for the challenge Ginger, if it wasn’t for you I never would have conceived of this yummy meal; it was a perfect compliment to our night of getting Lost one final time.

And in other news…

When my mom got here last night she came in carrying my manuscript. All of my “test subjects” have now read the book, given me their ten cents (and multiple pages of notes) on what could be further revised, edited, and what works well. Since I’m done painting for the time being, the next couple weeks are all about final edits, kick ass query letters and crossing of fingers that this baby gets picked up before I start writing the next one in November.

Wish me luck with the book and get over to The Dish for more Asian Inspired Noodle Bowls!

It’s not You, it’s Me. Wait, never mind, yes it is You

“I’ve got eight things in the air and the phone’s ringing off the hook…”
Crack the Mirror ~ Melissa Ferrick

So we went off and traveled the country, saw family and friends, went to sporting events and all that other happy crap I told everyone we were planning to do a fracking month ago when I last updated my blog (!!!!!!) which got me thinking… Clearly at least one of those eight things has got to go.

I began evaluating all the stuff I do, or want to do and realized that up until a year or so ago I was getting along just fine without two daily interferences -- paying my bills and Facebook.

Although they have come to make a home in a corner of my living room, unfortunately a person is only allowed to file bankruptcy once in a six year period so the bills are here to stay. It isn’t an ideal situation but I’ll just toss a shoji screen up in that corner to hide their piles of laundry or something and go on with my day as if they don’t live here. We can co-exist just fine as long as we only have to see each other once a month.

Facebook on the other hand…

That evil bastard not only moved into the house, he took over three quarters of the bed, my sofa, ate all the food in the refrigerator and left his dirty laundry in the middle of the floor. I’ve known for a long time that our relationship is slightly dysfunctional but I thought I had enough effort to give for the both of us.

I was wrong.

The time that Facebook sucks out of my life is time I can never get back again and really I could find such better use of that time. For example, I could visit my old friend Random Lunacy who I have seriously neglected over the past few months in order to spend time with the new boyfriend. I’m so very sorry RL, why I ever gave up on you I have no idea, I guess I felt as if there might be something better out on the horizon but it turns out I was wrong. I hope you can find it in your virtual heart to forgive me.

It also wouldn’t hurt to spread a little joy to a few of my other lovers, like my drum kit (yes a real live one finally purchased), treadmill, or sewing machine. Heck even my paint brushes are feeling slightly left out in the cold and they’ve seen the light of day in the past couple weeks.

What I’m really trying to say, Facebook, is that I have no problem having lunch occasionally, or maybe a morning cup of coffee, but I just can’t hang around and play Scrabble with you at all hours of the night anymore and share links with you for stories that you never even read. I’m taking a break from you and focusing on the things that matter again. I’ll miss you a little bit I’m sure but we’ll find a way to make it work.

Friends?

The Past Crashes

In the 1980’s there were just some actors and actresses you couldn’t avoid hearing about -- Ringwald, Broderick, Nelson, Sheedy, Estevez (OK, the whole “Brat Pack" really), Sheen (no, not Martin), Cameron, Astin, Phoenix, Depp, Milano, Wheaton, Fox, and of course the unmatched duo known simply as “The Coreys”.

Two of the actors in the list above are dead now. Both from overdoses. Both far too young.

It isn’t as if we didn’t all know that Corey Haim had serious substance abuse problems but I guess for those of us who glorified him as a “top notch actor” back in the 80’s the hope was that he’d smarten up and kick the habit in order to make a fabulous comeback to the big screen along with so many of the others who are reliving their old glory days for a new generation of kids (our kids!) to fall in love with.

It isn’t a total stretch after all. Don’t believe me? Hey, Mickey Rourke did it, so did New Kids on the Block. Enough said.

All hopes for a Corey super comeback were definitely lost yesterday when the world lost Corey Haim to an overdose. A tragic story for such a young guy.

It’s been twenty six years since Corey Haim first starred in a motion picture called Firstborn but no one knows him for this smaller role. His break out role of course was the 1986 movie Lucas where he starred as the title character.

He was amazing in this performance, truly captured the audience with his sweet charm as the vulnerable science geek who doesn’t get the girl but comes out on top anyway. It’s fair enough to tell you that every time I watch this movie I cry at the end.

He was just 14 years old when that movie came out. He had his whole life ahead of him on screen and off. Then somewhere along the way he just lost it and decided to go down the path of so many young stars, right into a life of big money and even bigger drug problems. I texted my sister to tell her and we both agreed it was like a little piece of our teenage years went right along with him.

So yesterday I started rifling through my old boxes of random stuff to try and locate an item I had a feeling was still hanging around. I found it this morning.


I made a joke to someone on Facebook that I could probably list it on eBay today and pay my rent next month. Now that I think of it, that statement is the epitome of “the comedy, is that it’s serious”. Besides, I’d never part with it after all the hard work I put into making it (no to mention money to buy all those teeny bopper mags back in the day).

Considering I’ve been on this nostalgia streak for weeks now it was odd timing.

There were a few other choice items stuffed into this box. Other scrapbooks and a whole bunch of stuff that can not be mentioned due to the following clause handwritten at the bottom of this birthday message from a very good friend:


Luckily I’m good with Photoshop so I have kept the grand secret of who gave this to me and who they ♥’d at the time. Not only do I find it appropriate to have kept it all these years but it’s perfect to have found it in this box of stuff that should probably be burned. No, wait, definitely should be burned. It’s ok if you miss the funeral Friend, I’ll know what you’re doing. No matter how old we are at the time.

So I also came across a super cool shot of me & my sister.


Our hair defies gravity. I won’t even tell you what her friend calls her glasses, its so evil. Kind of wish I still had that shirt though, dinosaurs are really cool.

Also re-discovered a stunning photo of my dad.


Every time I look at it I laugh uncontrollably.

Then there were some photos of my first serious boyfriend and some of the two of us together. He and I recently reconnected. (Yes of course on Facebook, where else does anyone stalk each other these days?) We got together for lunch and had the most awesome conversation for about three hours a few weeks back. We filled each other in on what has happened in the past 12 years since we’ve seen each other and in reality the last 18 since we spent any real time together.

Those pictures I keep just for me, but today on Facebook the following was posted and it made me laugh so it seemed appropriate to share it. All names have been changed to protect, well, no one really. If you know me you know him. If you don’t, well, it’s still funny so deal with it.

His status: Give a man a match, and he’ll be warm for a minute, but set him on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
My comment: Thought process after reading this -- Hysterical laughter, "man you have got serious issues", hysterical laughter, 'huh, looks like I do too'

People pass.
Old friends come, go, stick, fade.
Family relations shift.
People get married, have babies.
Years pass.
Things change.
Life continues on.

Yeah Sorry I Got Nothin’

Tonight I wuss out.
Brain a blur of weekend fun.
Haiku must suffice.

OK, I can at least post a mini recap, I owe everyone at least that much.

Today was our last day in the role of cat sitters. All morning we cleaned the house and did laundry before giving a ‘see ya later’ rub on the noggin to Zoe.

We saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the theater with our friends this afternoon; the first movie I have seen in a theater in about a year. I am a big X-Men fan -- read the comic books, even watched the cartoon -- and was not disappointed with this flick, although when I am a bit more lucid (like tomorrow) I plan to give my review of the entire theater experience.

After that we all had yummy food, fantastic conversation and huge margaritas at Border Café.

Then we headed back to their place to yak and watch Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist care of Netflix. (Definitely a cute movie, will own that one eventually)

I look forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

Ah yes, and that will finish me off.

And now we are home,
Already in pajamas
Goodnight my sweet friends!

No, It Is Not a Nova

My first car was a Buick Apollo with puke green paint, white pleather interior and a fancy white vinyl roof. The thing was a gas guzzler extraordinaire with a 350, V8, 4 barrel carb that had a top speed of about 140, white wall tires and it had no radio, not even an AM, but man could that car fly. It was simply referred to as ‘The Apollo’ by me and most of my relations, but my grandmother nicknamed it the Green Hornet (in reference to the popular 1960’s television character) and a friend called it the Pickle since it looked just like a kosher dill when it cruised our suburban streets.

The car had belonged to my Great Aunt Agnes who had owned the coupe since its release in 1974. When I took ownership of the vehicle in the early 1990’s it had no more than 29,000 miles on it and all of its original parts. Agnes literally drove the thing to church and back on Sundays and occasionally the supermarket; neither of which was more than two miles round trip. Aside from her short bursts, the car sat tucked away in the garage just begging to be pushed to its limits or at the very least be taken on a highway once in its life.

My dad and uncle came over to give her a proper tune up, oil change and tire inflation one cold late winter morning after she had been sitting dormant for a handful of years. As I slid behind the wheel (which had a worn out, tan, cloth cover over it that shed under my hands and was removed within the first week to reveal the beautiful, skinny wheel beneath) I felt proud to own something so enormous.

The front seat was the old bench style where three people could sit comfortably, unless I was driving then sorry to all my tall friends but I had to pull that thing all the way up to accommodate my tiny little legs. Whoever sat in the middle was the one to play DJ with the boom box tape deck; I held stock in D batteries back then. The ceiling was falling down and the only thing holding the pea green cloth up was the light in the middle, or someone’s head. My favorite feature was that the gear shift was on the steering column. My least favorite feature was that it was rear wheel drive and in the winter AAA frequently got called to tow me out of my own driveway when it skidded into the ditch on the side.

The car was a necessity to get myself to and from school when it was no longer viable to carpool due to conflicting schedules but that car became a second home for me because I did everything in it that a good delinquent late teen would do -- learned how to parallel park in the city like a pro, shoplifted for food and clothes, bailed friends out of jail, raced a friend’s cousin who owned a Mustang and won, had sex in the backseat at the Charlestown Navy Yard (long before it was Yuppie land), chased down someone who hit me but took off, frequently ate dinner at Taco Bell, learned how to replace just about everything under the hood of an old American made car as each part broke, burst or simply fell off. But she rarely let me down as just about every time she broke down it was right in front of my house.

I used to carry a case of oil and two or three jugs of water or radiator fluid around in the trunk of the car almost universally. I would pull out of parking places and it became a game to see how big the puddle was; identifying which substance it was garnered extra points. The one time something major happened I was working about five miles from my house at the mall and I went to leave the parking space only to discover I could not move in reverse. Typical of older American made cars, I quickly learned that the first gear to slip when a transmission is dying happens to be reverse. As a struggling young adult in my first apartment I did not have a lot of cash on hand to have that fixed so I used to pull through parking spaces as an alternate solution; that was until the day drive also died and she got towed from the mall parking lot right to my ex’s grandfather’s garage where I think they rebuilt the existing tranny with a screwdriver and some duct tape, but that baby held until I got rid of the car so it never occurred to me to care about what they did.

When I went to be a live in nanny it was time to let my old friend go. First of all I am sure the mom would not have wanted an Exxon Valdez situation in the driveway. Also, the car was hideous and they lived in a multi-million dollar home so appearance accounted for a lot. Finally, even though I had a couple weather related accidents and the hit and run with barely a scratch on the car let alone myself, I am sure she feared for the safety of her children just sitting in that boat, never mind actually driving anywhere. My ex at the time took over running The Apollo into the ground and, so I would not feel like too much of a traitor to my old baby, I allowed the family to buy me a shiny silver, slightly used, couple year old Buick LeSabre. I felt better knowing I was staying within the family, even though the top speed on that little box was no more than 100.