Sacred

As most of you know, I got sucked into Facebook. I "befriended" lots of people. Most of them are from high school but a few are my new found bloggy friends.

I've enjoyed seeing what everyone from high school as grown into. And by that, I mean either their careers or their family life. And for some, their political parties. Those make me laugh the most.

However, I've really reconnected with two people that I considered to be my closest friends while living in Florida.

One of them is Jenny, who knew me in high school. We probably met in middle school, but didn't become friends til our Freshman year in high school. However, once we became friends, it was hard, fast and furious. Our friendship, I mean. We clicked and bonded and giggled and dreamed for 3 years.

We grew apart our senior year. She was heavily involved in Drama and by that time, I didn't give a crap anymore about school. I still had my activities, but by then, I was just going through the motions. There was no fight, no falling out. Just a gradual decline of the friendship. Very organic.

We briefly connected a few years ago but other than a couple of Christmas cards, nothing happened.

When I got on Facebook, we found each other again. And I swear, it's like no time has passed. We've both grown. In different directions, but we've both grown. I am enjoying getting to know her as an adult.

The other person that I've reconnected with and which has pleased me to no end is my friend Mimi. I've posted about her before. She's a trip.

Mimi and I met when I worked at Disney. I started working there when I was 17 and the day I turned 18, we were out in the clubs. Dancing our fool asses off and living it up like only an 18 and 19 year old can. We hit every club that we heard about. We danced and laughed and lived.

We became tight real fast. She was the first friend that I actually said "I love you" to. Before her, I knew that I loved my friends, but never said it. Because, well, we were in high school. She was the sister I always wanted and never had. I told her things I had never told anyone before. We had experiences that I had never had before. I took my first road trip with her.

We moved in together and life happened. We disconnected and moved our separate ways. Years later, through the magic that is the Internet, we found each other again. It was great but we only half heartedly stayed in touch. I was busy with an infant and still new to the whole Internet thing. She was busy going through life stuff and trying to raise 2 boys. We lost touch but amicably.

With FB in the picture, we found each other again. And it's different this time. This time, we have time for each other. We are not just doing the same old BS on Facebook. You know, the "how have you been" and "oh, such a sweet family" stuff. We are talking like we used to. Making each other laugh. Making plans to meet up this spring and maybe do a trip together in the late summer. We're really making an effort to re-connect.

I'm feeling all these warm fuzzies and my heart is happy.

I know you're probably wondering where all this is going, aren't you?

During all these conversations I've been having with these two friends, I have discovered how they viewed me during that time that we were younger.

When you're in high school, you really don't care what your friends think of you. You're friends. You don't need to know what they think of you. If you didn't like each other, you wouldn't be friends.

So, I never had any clue what their perceptions of me were back then.

A few comments here and there during some conversations have brought to light what they thought of me back then.

And it makes me want to weep.

For joy. And I love them for it. For seeing in me who I really am. For seeing in me the person I always wanted to be.

They saw confidence. They saw a free-spirit. And even back then, they saw someone who really didn't care what others thought of me. They saw that spark.

I was never a traditionally pretty girl. When you saw me, you didn't think "Wow, what a stunner". But, there was something always there. Some little spark.

I never saw this of course. I'm going by what others told me.

The other thing I've discovered is that I knew who I was all along. Even through high school and those early adult years.

I had this guy friend in high school. His name was Chris. He is a Native American.

He made me this lovely Indian medicine bag. He told me to put sacred items of mine inside. They would help to keep me calm and centered.




So, I did. When I was 16 or 17, these are the items that I put inside.

I had forgotten about this little bag, but when I was reliving some memories last night, I remembered it. I pulled it out and opened it up.

Inside were the following items:

The ring you see on the left is a ring that an ex-boyfriend gave to me. He was the only guy in high school that I dated for more than 2 weeks. We actually dated for 2 months. We met while on the track team and I fell head over heels for the guy. He was on a club soccer team and they went to England. While in England, he bought me some presents. These were actually the first AND last gifts I got from a boyfriend. He got me a teddy bear, but he also got me this lovely ring that has an Irish saying on it. Don't ask me again what it says. It's in Gaelic. I wore it until we broke up. After Chris made me this medicine bag, I had healed from the break up enough to recognize that I would appreciate this when I got older. So, in the bag it went.

The next item is a Canadian penny. I can not, for the life of me, remember why this is significant. But, at one time in my life, it was.

The next item is an alexandrite and gold ring from my childhood. It was my first piece of real jewelry and was given to my by my mother.

The next item is an alexandrite and gold earring. The mate is missing. They were one of the first pairs of real gemstone and gold earrings I got when I got my ears pierced. Again, they were a present from my mom.

The next item is a shell. No clue on the back story to that one. But, it must have meant something at one time.

The last item is what brings this bag and the reconnection to my old friends together.

It's a folded up piece of paper. When I opened it up, this is what I found:

At age 16, I knew enough to believe in myself. To write it down.

To make it sacred.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Mama Dawg...The Drug Mule

Did I ever tell you about my time as a drug mule?

No?

Hmmmmm….how I missed tell you guys about that, I’ll never know.

Anyway, it was back in 1995.

Yep, the year I graduated high school.

As I’ve mentioned here before, I used to work for Disney World.

I started in February of 1995 during my senior year of high school.

I met a fabulous girl there. I called her Mimi. Her real name is not Mimi and because I love her so, I will not reveal her real name here.


(that's me and Mimi)

Nevertheless, Mimi is Puerto Rican.

It’s important you know that…seriously…it has some bearing on the story.

Anyhoo, sometime during that summer, Mimi and I decided to visit my aunt, uncle and step-cousin in New Orleans. It was normally a 10 hour road trip but this being our first road trip and all, it took a lot longer than that…naturally.

No, we didn’t get lost.

We stopped to go shopping in an Antique Mall somewhere in BFE Florida or George or somewhere near those states.

Could have been Alaska for all I know. (Hi! Sarah…nice caribou!)

Before we left, we had decided to swing through Jackson, MS to visit my dad and step-mom.

Since we were in the neighborhood and all, you know.

At that time, I was driving my Teal Mobile. We had the car full of crap. You know, necessary things. Bathing suits, clothes, hair stuff, shoes, snacks, drinks, etc…..

I made the incredibly smart decision to drive the WHOLE WAY.

Mimi offered, but I declined.

Cause I’m a good friend that way.

After driving FOREVER, we finally get on 49 in Mississippi.

Anybody that knows Mississippi knows that this is known as COP CORRIDOR.

It’s dark and I all of a sudden see these swirly lights in my rearview mirror and I pull over like a good law-abiding citizen.

This big huge good ol’ boy swaggers out of his tiny clown car sized cruiser (that’s how big he was) and mosies on over to my window.

After staring at his rather immense crotch (which was approximately 10 inches from my nose) for about 5 whole minutes, he finally leaned down and asked me for my papers. After he reviewed them for what seemed like hours, he asked me some incredibly stupid questions like “So, you’re name is (insert my real name here)? You’re from Florida, huh?” All this after looking at my DRIVERS LICENSE from the state of Florida.

I’m all “WTF” (inside my head, of course). I answer his questions and watch as he walks all around my car peering inside.

Mimi is in the passenger seat and had been sleeping but was woken up by the commotion.

The cop finally asks me to step outside and makes me walk to the back of my car while he asked me the same stupid questions AGAIN!

He finally asks me if I had been drinking and when I answered negative, he leaned in close to me. I can only guess it was to try to sniff out any alcohol fumes from my breath.

He told me he pulled me over for weaving on the road. When I explained to him that I was tired from my long trip, he finally, sweet lord in heaven, finally let me go with a warning.

An hour or so later, we’re right on the outskirts of the city my dad lives in off of 1-20 when I get pulled over again.

This time, no swirly lights. Just a siren and a white non-descript truck.

This was before we got all those warning e-mails about fake cops pulling women over, so again, like a good citizen, I pulled over.

This time, the obviously undercover cop gets me out of the car first thing and asks to see my license.

He, at least, was a smart one. He just looked at me, looked at the license, looked at me again and asked me if I knew why he pulled me over.

I said, “Well, the last cop pulled me over for weaving”.

He didn’t find that funny.

He did say that that why he pulled me over.

He then asked me where I was going and I told him. I explained we were only 20 minutes or so from my dad’s place and that I was really, really tired.

He then asked me if I had someone in the car. When I gave him her name, he got all bright eyed and started walking around the exterior of my vehicle.

This whole time, I’m finding all this incredibly weird and I can’t figure out the strange behavior.

He finally comes back around after talking to Mimi in the car and lets me off with a warning.

We continue on til we get to my dad’s house.

After we get there and we relax for a bit, I explained the cops weird behavior to my step-mom and dad.

They started laughing and told me that I was a suspected drug mole.

When I asked what that meant, they said that even though they pulled me over for weaving, they probably already had me in their sights due to the following:

I was driving a sports car
I had Florida plates
I was a young female

When they pulled me over and saw that I had a Puerto Rican in the front with me, that furthered their suspicions.

It turns out, the routes I was driving was apparently the drug corridor haven for drug mules going from Texas to Florida or vice versa.

Who knew?

Just so you can get an idea of how much I love Mimi, here’s a picture of us from a trip to Six Flags.



She Rocks!!!

Later,

Disney World!!!!

I love Disney World. Ask anybody that knows me and they’ll tell you I’m a freak for all things Disney. It’s not so much the characters and the movies as it is the Company itself.

I used to live in Florida from when I was a pre-teen til I was an adult. I LOVED living in Florida. I loved everything about living in Florida. The weather, the beaches, Disney World, the weather, the beaches, Disney World, the weather, the beaches, Disney World…you get my drift.

Anyway, my mom and dad were separated at that time. The divorce wasn’t final. We were living in another state and mom got notification that she was getting a promotion and a transfer. A transfer to FLORIDA!!!!!! I was 11 at the time. Since mom was going through a divorce, she thought it over and decided to take the promotion and transfer. She thought it would be a fresh start to a new life for the two of us. It was a hard move for me (despite Disney World being in our backyard) because I was leaving the only place I ever knew and I had some problems (mostly being made fun of for my accent and loneliness and alienation) but after a couple of years, it was fine and I really got into living there.

When we first moved there, we bought the FL residence passes. At that time, it was a pass that allowed you to go only certain months of the year. Like January through March, July through September, etc….Those weren’t the months, but you get the picture. We went nearly every weekend we could for the first year or two but then the desire died down. We were down to going just when guests stayed with us (the only reason they came to see us was because of Disney World…..I’m teasing, but I wouldn’t blame them one bit).

When I was a senior in high school, I decided on a whim to go lookin’ for a job. Not any job would do, though. I wanted to work at Disney. Several people in my high school worked there and they paid well (better than minimum wage). I hadn’t been in a while but I knew I didn’t want to do anything related to the characters. I just went on a total lark. Seriously, I work up one morning and while I was getting ready for school, decided to go to Disney that afternoon after school got out. It was about a 25-minute drive. I found the casting building and walked in. I had no references and had dressed nice but not too business like. Being in high school, I didn’t have any professional clothes anyway. I asked for an application and they gave it to me. I filled it out. I didn’t have my SSN card or anything like that with me (didn’t know I would need it as I had never gone on a job interview before). I sat down and filled it out. My references were people I had baby-sat for and neighbors. Absolutely no job experience other than baby-sitting. However, I had been baby-sitting this one family for about 4-5 years and made it a point to list that. I turned my application in and they said that they actually had an interview spot open that day and asked if I could wait for about 25 minutes. I said sure and sat down. In the waiting area, they played Disney movies on a TV in the corner. I sat and watched a Disney cartoon for the duration. About 30 minutes later, an interviewer came out and got me. We went into the little office and I was interviewed for about 15 minutes. They asked me questions like, “What park would you like to work in?” and “What job would you absolutely not like to do?”. I answered as honestly as I could but really didn’t care what I did or where I worked. I didn’t know if at that point I would accept any job they offered. She said that they had an opening at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom for a seating hostess. She asked if that was something I’d like to do and I said, “Sure”. Next thing I know, I’m given a date and time to come back to casting with paperwork and then given a date and time for training. It was so easy!!!! I got hired just like that. I found out later on that it’s usually not that easy but that it was their downtime and pretty much anybody that walked in the door would get hired. Doesn’t do much for my ego, but that the hell. I was just hired by Disney World!

I went through a two-day training period. Because so many high school students get hired, they have training on Saturday and Sunday. Both were all day sessions. I had to get trained on how to count money back (not as easy as it sounds) and we actually had to go to SMILE class. Yes, you read that right. SMILE class. They wanted to teach you the Disney way to do things. You must always have a pleasant look on your face (to make you seem approachable) and you must never point at anything with just one finger or even point in a stationary position. You must use your first two fingers (pointer and middle) and gently sweep your fingers from side to side in the direction you need to point. This was because in several countries, it’s offensive to point with a single finger. Since Disney gets so many foreign visitors, it was their way of being politically correct. I found it funny at first, but after working their and having to do it literally like 20 times a day, it became second nature and for years after I quit working there, I still did it!

After that, I started work. I worked nearly every weekend. Once I graduated from school, I worked at least 50 hours a week. The pay was good and the job was fun. We had management turnover like crazy but that was all good. I got to mostly work the early morning shift at the cap cart outside (the cappuccino cart). That meant I got to work at 6 am and got off at 1:30. I then had the rest of the day to play in the park! My friend Mimi and I used to try to get the same shift so we could play in the park after work. We would go to the arcade at the exit of Space Mountain and play air hockey and Ms. Pacman. We would walk up the exit of Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain and flirt with the boys working there so they would let us ride without having to wait in line (I know, I know, we were soooo bad). One time, my friend Harley and I were off work at the same time. He only had a couple of hours to play so we went to stand in line at Splash Mountain. The line was so long that we decided to leave in the middle. As we were exiting, a CM (cast member) came up and asked us why we were leaving. We explained that we just got off work at Tony’s and that Harley had to leave now and we couldn’t wait any longer. He gave us a plastic card and told us to go up the exit ramp and when we got to the top, just hand the CM that was manning the ride the plastic card. When we got to the top, we did just that. The CM looked at us and said, “Your picture came out bad, huh?” and (not knowing what he was talking about) agreed. We got on the ride next and had an awesome time. We found out later on that if you take a bad picture, they let you ride again (with the understanding that you will most likely buy the re-take). We had so many ways to have fun in the park.

I loved working there. If I could make a living working there today, believe me, I would. Unfortunately, the only way I could work there and be able to support myself and light of my life, is if they offered pay me $50k and to move me. Otherwise, I can’t afford to live in Florida (at least at this time). Since you can’t make 50K off of just above minimum wage, it ain’t gonna happen any time soon.

However, once light of my life graduates high school and goes away to college (or even stays here for college but doesn’t live with me), I’m making plans to move back to Florida for a while and will hopefully work at the Kingdom once again.

I have lots more to talk about when it comes to Disney but I’ll let y’all off the hook for now.

The picture above and to the right is of light of my life at MGM Studios (now known as Hollywood Studios) this past May. She had just gotten her face painted (she paid for it herself) and was admiring the way it looked. 20 minutes later, it was all off as she splashed and played at the Honey I Shrunk the Audience playground! $12 down the drain!!! Oh, well, it was her money. LOL!!!!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Friends

I've never been one of those people who had a lot of friends. Now, before you start to feel sorry for me, it's not a negative thing.

When I was growing up, I had one "best" friend. You know, the one that was labeled your official "best friend". Her name was Amy and we met when I was five and she was four. She was only younger than me by six months but was a grade behind due to that cut off birthday crap with school. Only one house separated us in the neighborhood we grew up in. I grew up in the 80's (a truly safer time, I believe) and people were much nicer and more friendlier about "boundaries" then. Our neighbor didn't believe in fences, so we had free reign to run back and forth from my house to hers and vice versa. We were even allowed to play in the neighbors yard. They had a hammock which was soooooo cool to us. We had a ditch that ran behind our house and separated the neighbors directly behind us. I had such an idyllic childhood. I truly had a happy one but that's for another post.

Amy and I did everything together. Then, I moved. I moved far, far away. So far (at least in my mind though in reality it was only 3 states away) that it appeared that my friendship with Amy was doomed. But, we managed to work it out. We kept in touch by letter and phone and when I would come back to my home state to visit the male parental unit and his cheating partner (again, a story for another day), we would visit. As per the course of nature and time, we did gradually drift apart but re-connected when we were about 15 due to a phone call from her mother. She had called to tell us that Amy had been in the hospital with a brain tumor and was back home after an operation to remove it. She was having some memory problems and really couldn't remember me that much but wanted to hear the sound of my voice and wanted me to talk about our childhood. We talked for about an hour and she could remember bits and pieces of our childhood but didn't seem uncomfortable talking to me. We sort of stayed in touch a bit after that and after I turned 16, they came down to visit me and when they were leaving, I bought a plane ticket and went back to stay with them for a while. We had a blast reconnecting. A couple of years later, they came back to visit again and again, we reconnected. About a year later, we found out she was pregnant. She was 20. She married the dad and had a beautiful little girl. Not long after that, the brain tumor came back and eventually, when she was about 23, she died from complications of the brain tumor. It was never cancerous, just a large growth that wouldn't stop. About two years after she passed on, her mother passed on as well. That just left her brother and father as well as her husband and little girl. I'm not in touch with any of them anymore and am a bit sad about that.

When I moved from my home state to the sunny state, I made friends. I had a couple of girls that I ran around with. One moved away and the other gradually made other friends that she had more in common with. I then found Jenny my freshman year of high school. We stayed real close for a couple of years but eventually grew apart. I really didn't have anyone close again until I started working for a major theme park and met Mimi. We hit it off so well we ended up moving out of our parents homes into an apartment. Issues occurred and that friendship ended as well. We've since reconnected via the internet, so that's cool.

After that, I really didn't have anyone real close. I eventually moved from the sunny state to the watery state and hung out w/co-workers and got pregnant and married and divorced. It wasn't until after a whole lot of water entered our lives that I discovered what a friend I had in my next door neighbor. We had always been friends and neighborly and occasionally done things with our kids. Her son is 2 years older than the love of my life and they get along pretty well. However, since he's a boy and mine's a girl, it wasn't all that conducive to do things with the kids together other than museums and the movies. In 2005, the friendship just exploded and we started hanging out more and started to become real friends. Since I'm an adult, I don't believe in the term "best friends" but she is probably one of my closest ones.

I've since moved again. Oddly enough, back to my old home state. However, not to the old stomping grounds but about 3 hours north. We've stayed in touch and I just saw her yesterday. I never realized the impact we had on them living next door to them. She got emotional yesterday when we were visiting. It touch my heart like nothing else to know that we were loved and cherished as neighbors and friends that much.

When I made the HUGE decision to pull up roots and move elsewhere, I worried about my daughter making friends but that was a silly worry as she made friends quicker than you can say "jack rabbit flash". In fact, we ended up moving right across the highway (yes, highway) from her best friend and her family. They are over at each others houses CONSTANTLY. But to be fair, I'm over there quite a bit myself. I'm surprised at how quickly I've become friends with B and her husband, L. I know myself and I'm slow to make friends so it came as a surprise.

I guess the whole point of this post is just to acknowledge the friends I have in my life and to wonder at the marvel that is friendship. I know I haven't written down specifics to signify just how great the friendships are, but that can come at another time.

Later,

Mama Dawg

P.S. I do have to give a big shout out to my friends on Yahoo!!! This is a big thank you to my Early Bird girls that have gotten me through so much just by being a click away. I've had the honor and privilege to meet a few of the ladies and I'd love the chance to meet more. Maybe one day that will happen. Fingers crossed!