Michael Memory I

First of all, if you read the post yesterday, click it again and read my footnote.
Kids will keep you honest!

Anyway, the year is 1984 and I was listening to the six o'clock news.  Renee Poussaint (a DC news anchor) was reading the evening's headlines and top of the list was that tickets for the Jacksons Victory Tour were going on sale the next morning.  Up until that point, news of the concert didn't phase me, but for some reason, I felt a big pull to try to get tickets.  I called my girl ZEN  to see if she wanted to camp out in front of RFK Stadium in DC to get tickets.  She couldn't make it, but that didn't stop me.  I grabbed a lawn chair and hopped in the car.  I was anxious the entire ride down thinking that I would be in a long line that had already formed.

I was totally alone at RFK Stadium!  As the evening wore on, people started coming with food, blankets, and music.  We all looked out for each other for bathroom breaks and the like, but we all knew the coveted prize was going to me!  First in line-front row seats!  And to make it even sweeter, each person was limited to 10 tickets apiece and I only needed 4.  I sold my right to buy for $100, so I made $600 that night.  When the box office opened up the next morning, the television cameras were there and filmed me buying the very first tickets for the Jackson Victory Tour.  I recorded the news later in the day, and I still have the tape somewhere (granted it's on a Beta tape).  Look it up youngin's if you don't know what a Betamax is, or should I say-was. 

 

Details from the concert tomorrow!

Flawless Friday

Happy Birthday to my dearest friend, ZEN.  I'm doing this in a big way because I have forgotten her birthday damn near every year since we've known each other (26 years) and I always promise to do something to help me remember, and here it is-a blog entry.  Isn't she gorgeous?  (She just screamed by the way).

She is a fiercely loyal "front" (sorority speak), a wonderful wife, mother, sister, etc...  ZEN has a wicked sense of humor (key to staying young and young at heart), and she takes enormously good care of those she loves.

She's been around through thick and thin, marriage/divorce, and marriage again, babies, trials, tribulations, and triumphs.  ZEN is so much fun to be around-her laughter is contagious and she's just plain cool.  This southern belle is ever the lady (i'm the catty one).  We've grown up together and I can say she is one of the best friends a girl could ask for and i'm honored she's my friend and i'm her "back". 

I haven't told anyone about this blog except her. I figured if someone found my ramblings, then cool. ZEN "got it", she knew why I needed to do this, and she's been nothing but encouraging and supportive.  Little did she know she ran the risk of being put on blast like this.

Why do I call her ZEN? She is a certified yoga instructor and I mean-she's been all through India and sh*t doing her Namaste thing, gone into the hills to meditate and such, but when she came down...she got her certification, and she's the best there is!  People swear by her.  BTW-the yoga thing is her ACT II and i'm proud she found it.  I can put you in touch if you're looking for the best.  

And finally......she still rocks a bikini and looks damn good doing it!!!

If you see her today-wish her a Happy Birthday and tell her she is loved.

Thanks to MGM for the pics.
TMH-I love you too-but I remember your bday every year!
irret
25-A-84

Fabulous Over A Certain Age

I have been anonymously reading this blog since it's inception last year. Mind you-i'm not fifty yet, but I have decided to start REALLY reconciling my head with my body/face. They say God gives what you need-right when you need it. Here's what he sent me:

1. The "Payback" Flash: An "ex" family member had raging hot-flashes. I mean the kind where you're fanning like the ladies in church coupled with the loud whooping noises. My fabulously arrogant thirty something self said to my husband in annoyance one day that she should stop making all that noise. If nothing else, she's going to remind her husband how old she is. There's alot of noise coming from my bedroom at night these days, but you get three guesses the majority cause. The Lord remembered my cattiness, thus, the "Payback Flash".
2. Sade: Thank you Lord for reminding me that the older you get, the better you get, nor does your talent disappear.
3. The most wonderful supportive friend in the world, who we'll call ZEN. She encouraged me to just keep up with this blogging thing until I figure out exactly what I want to do and what that looks like. She also recommended the 21-Day Oprah cleanse, but adding structured mediation and exercises seems like a chore right now. She's actually in the first stages of talking to me about Integral Hatha Yoga. She recently received her certification in this yoga style. The yoga instruction is really her Act II coming from corporate America. She really followed through with her passion and now has CLIENTS!!!! Bravo to my girl ZEN. Another bonus besides doing what she loves? She's able to maintain her ideal weight, which ironically is my ideal weight, but I never got there.
   
4. Recent blogposts from Faboverfifty. The past week, I've been reading a very honest and informative account of a fifty something woman named Geri who undergoes what she calls "surgery light". I won't recap it here, but what I will tell you that it must take TREMENDOUS courage to go in front of the world vulnerable with your flaws (real or perceived). I finally came out the closet a few days ago to give her a "Bravo". Check out her journey. PS-Put the doctor's number in your Blackberry (i'm just sayin-you never know).
   

Once again-thank you Lord-for reminding me I don't have to fight middle age and all her "gifts", there is motivation, inspiration, and great plastic surgeons out there to help me through.