People Change

I've been in one place long enough to see the evolution of those around me. That's significant, because we led such a nomadic lifestyle when I was growing up.
Of course I have to thank Facebook for this wonderful magic.
I wouldn't know a thing about these people from the past if it weren't for Facebook.

First, I must say, Brandy and RJ have not changed. Not. One. Bit.

I changed. Out of necessity. Old Shawna would have never survived in this world.
Back then people merely made fun of my clothing. Today they'd probably throw stones.

I've seen on Facebook the postings of people who didn't exist back in the 80's and 90's. But they DID exist. They've just changed so much, they've turned into a completely different person!
An atheist drug abuser is now a dedicated and religious mother. "Blessings," is one of her most typical signatures. In fact, she sent me so many religious emails I didn't tell her when my email address changed.

A rowdy, carefree teen with a drinking problem is now a responsible mom with a very busy and successful business. I can't even see a shadow of her former self in her messages she sends.

And on the flip side, and more personal side, a responsible, conservative teen has turned into one of those gals who hooks up with the "bad boys" who not only have a drug issue but they've got LEGAL issues! She's not in Arizona anymore, because she moved out of state to join her new boyfriend who's getting out of prison there.

Remember the movie Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion? If it's ever on your cable channel, watch it. The story is so true. The popular girls ended up as bitter and unattractive gossip queens, and the unpopular kids turned out to be successful, happy, and secure.
OOOh, before I forget--here's a slightly related story. Back in 2000, Steve was getting ready to head to his class's 80th high school reunion (or something like that) He got permission from his boss to fly one of the helicopters there, and got permission from the school to land the helicopter right outside of the reunion.
Yep, he was going to Sandy Frink it. Sandy Frink was a character on the Romy and Michelle movie who landed outside the reunion in his helicopter.
A week before the reunion Steve and his boss crashed a helicopter up in the mountains of Nevada. (I'll have to tell that story sometime)
So, no class reunion. In fact Steve didn't get to even go home for many many months. I'll bet his plants died.
I knew him then, but I wasn't one of his biggest fans.

Back to my point.....

I have a really good memory. The things that I've forgotten are things that have been purged from my brain on purpose, in order to reduce the number of sad days on my calendar.
After attending nine different schools by the age of 12, I'd racked up a lot of memories of school mates and friends and foes at all the different schools.
I remember most of these people as if they were still my next door neighbor.
I remember very well my best buddy from Fort Calhoun Elementary School, Matt Townsley.
After finding him on Facebook, he barely remembers me.
I remember my best buddy from Cash Elementary School, in Cash, Arkansas. He would never remember me. But I remember Jason Hawke.

I remember all the guys I had crushes on. Yes, you, Chad, Rob, Leon, Scott, and David. None of them would remember me. Mostly because I would hide and gaze lovingly upon them as my heart ached. I was the weird girl with pink courderoy pants and ugly brown shoes. They were the stud muffins.

But there was one stud muffin who sort of toyed with me. He had a very strange name.
In 9th grade he was the cat's meow. He was unobtainable. Out of reach. And yet for some reason he went out on a couple of dates with me. And he kept in touch for a little while after I moved from Nebraska to Arizona.

Just got a friend request from him on Facebook. Wow. He's changed. Not quite the ladies' man anymore. Oh, and here's a shocker; he's single. Yikes.

Steve's Got a Problem

The new espresso machine takes approximately 30 seconds to produce a shot.

That's not quick enough for him.

Back From The Grave

Last summer, my nice camera was stolen from me in Mexico. A couple of months after that, Steve bought a high dollar Kodak because it was pure torture being without a camera. He lost it within three months. Are you seeing a pattern here? We have trouble with cameras.

When Steve realized he couldn't find the Kodak, we tore apart the airport hangar because he SWORE that he'd been using it on a project out there. He said, "I know it's in the hangar. I was taking pictures of something I was working on, I got interrupted, and now I can't find the camera." So I spent a lot of time tearing apart the hangar. This seems like it would be easy to do. Yeah, until you take a look at the hangar. There are 20 motorcycles. Not exaggerating. There are at least 12 cars and trucks. There are several aircraft. There is 20 years of parts, electronics, doo dads, and gizmos stacked up on shelves everywhere.

This morning Steve was looking through some little bags as he is anticipating a trip out of town this weekend.
And this is what he found:



And it was NOT in the hangar.

Life's Little Instructions

Never miss a good sunset.


And be sure to send pictures via text to your friends when there's a good sunset:



Oh of course take plenty of photos so when you don't have a good sunset, you can refer back to your photos like I do...



And be thankful when you do have a good sunset.



Try to share your sunset with a loved one, or your nearest Kitty Meow Meow...

Permit? We Don't Need No Stinking Permit!

As long as we have our warming fire in a properly made fire pit, raised up off the ground, we can sit out in the back yard and enjoy a beautiful fire any time we want.

After a lovely dinner with Steve's brother the Ayetolla of Rock N Rolla, we put some cedar logs in the fire pit and stared at the flames for a while.



We talked about the weather. The gig that Jack's band had played the night before. His roommate who's moving out from Oklahoma to come stay with him. We laughed about how Steve and Jack's dad calls everyone a "No good S.O.B." Then Steve started talking about the people he remembered from high school, and how most of them were "No good S.O.B's." It's apparently genetic.



The wind really started whipping around, which is common for this time of year.

I discovered my new camera has a timer on it....so.....

Look! I exist!

Another Sunset Flight

Steve has been itching to take out the little Cessna. But the heat and the wind have been preventing that. Since it's a little plane, it gets bounced around by the heat. It gets pushed around by the wind.

We had a nice evening on Saturday, so we went out for a while:



We landed down river at an RV park. They have a dirt strip nearby.



Then we swooped around in the mountains, marveling at the greenery from our recent rains.



It was nice to be landing, because I really needed to eat. We went to Waldo's but for some reason everyone else in town was at Waldo's for dinner! So we tried Picazzo's over at the mall. Yummmm!!!



Brandi was our hostess. She hooked us up with the breath mints and tooth picks.

Vote for Wonder Woman

This is Sergi, who is running for City Council along side me.




He is sitting in a dunk tank at a fundraiser.

All the Council Candidates were invited to spend some time in the dunk tank. Of course I was in there as well, right before Sergi.

And here is Sergi, moments later as he is being dunked in the very COLD water...



I know how cold that water was, because Sergi paid for 20 softballs when I was perched up there!

At one point I ran over for a photo with Sergi, but the water from his dunking had gotten on my camera lens:



Yes, I was Wonder Woman. But this is my spare suit. The good one was still at home in the closet. It's for special occasions.