Category: Random Thoughts

The junk that pops into my brain

Oscar Madness

~ JodiLea

This weekend, I have guests here for the Oscar Festivities. I am not ready. HA! Pardon the understatement. I suppose I assumed the official night would be later in March. I was shocked to find out they are this weekend. The Big Event was always the week of my daughter’s B-day – the 25th. How dare they move it up without my consent. Arggh!

Typically, I have a big “To-Do” planned. I’m talking about sending fancy invitations through the post office, stamps and all. It is a formal affair at a mountain resort, where guests are pampered and granted (nearly) every wish they make. The hostess (me) is busy with food, fashion, and spa appointments. Guests have a dress code: “What would you wear to the Oscars if you were there in person?”

I am often asked, “Why do you make your guests dress up?”
The simple answer is to promote the Oscar “feeling.” The truth is that we have more fun dissing the fashions of the attending audience if we are superiorly dressed. The Red Carpet is how our reverence for the Oscars began. My daughter and I had gone through a super lousy patch that year, and she was at home for a visit when the Oscar pre-show began. I don’t remember the year, nominations, or winners. We do remember the so-called elite fashion we saw walking along that carpet. Not only were the outfits exceptionally hideous, but no one seemed to notice but us. Our laughter was so intense we often could not catch our breath. We thought we would suffocate when the following outfit was even worse. It was either the best joke played by the women, or they, indeed, were superior actors.

The Spa is a madhouse on Sunday morning. Even the non-rich and famous want to look their best for the Red Carpet. Yes, a Red Carpet is along the way to the viewing room, where interviews and photoshoots happen. At the 2022 Oscars, we filmed a video of our Red Carpet that ended up hysterically BAD. It was posted anyway because we wanted my hubby to discover it while cruising on YouTube the next day. He did not discover it, but quite a few others found it and gave it a thumbs up. Go figure!

Alas, this year the Spa is empty. By unanimous vote, this year, we are not glaming up. We will be laughing and commenting, wearing our comfy clothes without make-up. We will still vote on the nominations list and play Oscar Bingo.
There will be special snax, of course.

TTFN

I Could Stand Being Here

~ JodiLea

I should have been a princess. Who else could stay here except royalty or the filthy rich?

You could jacuzzi and watch the sunrise while you waited for room service to deliver your latte with two shots of expresso because the warm tropical air makes you sleepy. You could nap at home. You want to soak up all this experience.

After a quick swim in the ocean, you rinse off and cuddle up in the luxurious robe you find in the closet. You finish the latte while going through the notes you made regarding your novel. This should be the final draft after tearing it down and rebuilding things 4 times, doing a lot more research, and outlining the thing repeatedly. Seven drafts should be plenty. Any other story she would have tossed by now, but not this one. It was her life’s work.

The way things usually go for her, it will be published, and movie rights will be sold soon after. Of course, there will be no book signing tours or readings. You see, it will be published posthumously.

Ha.

Prepare For the Worst – Part II

~ JodiLea

All week, I have been doing just that. I secured my garden stuff on our deck, tucked in my avocado trees, and put my snow shovel by the front door. Stocked up on pantry and freezer items earlier this week. As long as the power stays on, I have 2 quilts to finish. If (when) the power goes out, I have knitting needles and crochet hooks.

Since last weekend, I have been bombarded with our county warning system alerts about a severe blizzard hitting our county and surrounding areas. These have come over our landlines, our cellphones, and emails. White-out conditions, hurricane-force winds, snow coming at 2″-4″ per hour, accumulating 27″ in one day. From Friday until Sunday, this will be going on.

Heavy snow is one thing, but the strong winds are the scariest thing in the forest. The sound of forceful wind beating the trees causes the imagination to go wild with visions of tornadoes and cows flying through the air.

Last night, we had strong wind gusts and rain. The temps have dropped dramatically into the snow zone. We may wake up to a winter wonderland. Or not. Either way, we are not supposed to be in the white-out, so we are not going anywhere except our chairs by the wood-burning stove.

Our sweet Bernese Mountain Dog, Ziva, is 9 years old now and NOT a fan of weather of any kind that has a sound. She loves to watch and play in the snow, which normally is quiet unless it arrives with a blizzard. Even when I give her anti-anxiety meds, she paces (trots) from room to room, outside and in. No one is going to sleep well this weekend.

The rain is thickening and slowing down as it turns into snow. I can see this while I watch out the window in my office. I say a little prayer, asking that the trees surrounding my house have deep, strong roots.

I wish you a less exciting weekend wherever you live.

TTFN