More Like an AI Premiere Here...

Even though last night was the American Idol finale, I'm still hearing singing in my house.

Every year when American Idol starts, I try to convince Greg to audition for the show. It would be such a fun little road trip to drive to the nearest tryout destination... and if anything, maybe it would get him to stop singing during the commercials. It never fails. Every year during American Idol, Greg belts out Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love..." during EVERY commercial break. Sometimes he'll change it up. And sometimes he sings "Jericho Road."

Backstory on "Jericho Road": Nope, you've never heard this song before. It's a song that's been forever in the making. Well, at least since I've known Greg. He wants to write a song and that will be the name of it. Jericho Road. He'll play the guitar and hum and then sing "it happened on Jericho Road," or "all because of Jericho Road." There's no more or less to the song. Just simply the name. Oh, what I would give for Greg to make it big and finish writing "Jericho Road"!

But, of course, Greg won't give in to my persistant poking and prodding for him to try out. So maybe I could get a little help with that. Just nonchalantly mention to Greg that he's a musical genius... thanks!

Anyway, last night during the AI finale, we were watching Kris Allen sing with Keith Urban. I looked over at Greg, and he said, "I've got chills." 

He had this dead serious look on his face. Of course, I just laughed! And then he proceeded to tell me that he got "chills" three or four times after that! He's got to be the only man I know that would say that about Urban and Allen. It was a great performance, but sheesh! Boy, was I relieved when he rewinded the DVR to see Kara DioGuardi's bikini body again!

So then I asked Greg about when he gets on American Idol and makes it to the final two (this is how I always talk about Greg and AI... it's great, you should do it, too!), who they would choose as his celebrity musician equivilant. 

"Toby Keith," was his first response, followed by a quick chorus of "Whiskey For My Men, Beer For My Horses."

"Nope. Probably Alan Jackson," he said, changing his mind. "His songs are the only ones I can play really good on the guitar."

"Maybe Hank Williams, Jr.," he added.

Sounds to me like someone has been dreaming about his American Idol finale!

So, I just checked americanidol.com, and they will be holding auditions in Dallas at the Cowboys Stadium. Is that not fate or what? A less than five hour drive is between Greg and his destiny.

So come on. Help me out and encourage Greg to do this... I'm pretty sure that the age limit is 28, and Greg turns 29 in November. That will be a good point when you're trying to convince him to try out! If he doesn't try this year, then he'll never be able to again. He'll never know what could have been... and then he'll just be an old man without an American Idol title... yeah, whatever!

GRAND-parents

Grandparents are pretty much the greatest thing in the world. I might be a little biased since I have the world's best grandparents. But, seriously, some of my greatest memories are those I shared with them, and some of my greatest characteristics are the ones I obtained while striving to be like them.

Greg and I talk about our grandparents a lot. It's fun to swap stories and hear about things we each did as a little kid. It's weird though because our grandparent-centered stories are freakishly similar... that got me thinking that there's something going on with the grandparents of our generation.

I told Greg about the time that my grandpa asked my sister if she wanted a drink of his milkshake, but it wasn't a milkshake it was a huge glass of buttermilk. My grandparents always had a carton of buttermilk in the fridge in addition to regular milk... so did Greg's grandparents! 

Then there was the time that my grandpa asked my sister if she wanted a bite of celery. Yeah, that wasn't celery either; it was a green onion! He loved to play tricks on people... until, of course, my sister started crying! But then Greg said that his grandpa always had to have green onions with every meal! What the heck?! I distinctly remember my grandpa doing the same thing. Always having this relish tray on the side of every meal. Green onions, celery, a pepper or two. 

Sun tea, orange peanut candy, orange slices, giant tubs of ice cream, pork rinds, Nilla Wafers, marshmallow creme pies, ginormous jars of pickles... the list goes on and on. Our grandparents stocked their shelves with all of the same stuff! It's almost like Greg and I had the exact same childhood experiences with our grandparents. But you know, I couldn't wish for anything better for my husband than to have amazing grandparents that were so much like mine. 

Then I talked to my friend, Matt.

We were talking about our grandmas, and I told him that my grandma washes out Ziploc bags after she uses them so that they can be reused. And then he said that when he was little his grandma washed out the trays that raw hamburger meat comes in, so she could serve lunch to him and his sister on those little trays. (I think that's how you get mad cow disease!)

Outside of the kitchen, my and Greg's grandfathers both wore pearl snap shirts, straw cowboy hats and bolo ties, for dressy occasions, of course! With all they have in common, it makes me wonder if they are friends up in heaven... I'd like to think so. 

It gives me a sense of comfort, though, to know that lots of grandchildren, not just me, share in like memories. Without a doubt, everytime I smell Old Spice (and sometimes Brut), I think of my grandpa, and every time I see an Avon catalog, I remember rummaging through my grandma's make-up drawer searching for a tiny tube of lipstick. 

And even though I like to think only my grandpa smelled of Old Spice (ok, well, Old Spice mixed with cigarettes and coffee), it's refreshing to know that every time a young person my age smells that familiar smell, they are filled with memories that bring a forever smile to the face.

Whatever will we do when that generation is gone? When there are no more pork rinds and marshmallow pies to be eaten? I'll tell you what I'm going to do... I'm going to make sure that my shelves are stocked for my grandkids... and I might just stock them with those very same things. I'll give my grandkids a swig of buttermilk and tell them a story about the good ol' days. That's if I ever get old enough to have grandchildren... yeah, whatever!!!

Me, my grandma and Izzy ~ March 2008

Graduation Conversation

Graduation announcements are all over my refrigerator, and that got me thinking. How long have I been out of college now? Five years. Wow! FIVE years!!! 

• Five years ago, my last name was at the end of the alphabet, I didn't know Greg, and I had no idea that a little princess named Izzy would one day rule my life!

• Five years ago, my grandpa was running alongside my car every time I left his house (just like he did when I was a little girl), and we had no clue that he had cancer.

• Five years ago, Lucy was only eight years old. (Fifty-six in dog years.) 
  

• Five years ago, I stopped working for minimum wage at The Northeastern, my college's newspaper and started my first 'real' job working at KOTV.
  

• Five years ago, I thought 30 was old... now that I'm quite a bit closer to it, I think 40 is old.
  

• Five years ago, my little sister, Nikki, who now has three kiddos, was kid-less. Pregnant with Addison, but still kid-less!  

• Five years ago, I had never tried sushi. Boy, I was missing out!
  

• Five years ago, I had only lived in Oklahoma... and now I've lived in four other states.
  

• Five years ago, I didn't own a digital camera. Thus, the abscence of pictures to document this blog!
  

It's really hard to believe how much has changed in just five years. What will happen in the next five years? And how could one really predict what's to come? There's no way I could have predicted the things that have happened to me. Five years ago, I'd have never believed it if someone would have told me that I'd have a one-year-old little girl at the age of 27.

In retrospect, it's easy to see the stepping stones... circumstances that I didn't understand or that maybe frustrated me. At the time they were stumbling blocks, but those things led me to very precious, significant days in my life. 

Everything truly does happen for a reason. It's hard to say that and mean it while we're living in those uncircumstancial, frustrating times. But sometimes we just can't see those stepping stones until we look back. And in looking back, we can live our best day today, knowing that today is a stepping stone, and it will surely lead us to the next great thing in our lives.

Dog-gone the luck!

Ever since I was four years old, I knew I was lucky. I'll never forget that day. I was outside swimming with my sister when the phone rang. My mom said that we had to get out of the pool and go to the dentist's office. What?! The dentist's office? My name had been drawn out of the fish bowl at the dentist's office, and I had won a giant pink stuffed hippopotamus. I was so, so excited. 

That was a defining moment in my life. I had been chosen; I was lucky.

From that point on, lots of lucky things happened to me. I made cheerleader every year from 4th to 12th grade. I won lots of awards in school and even a few scholarships.

Then I named my chocolate brown Chihuahua puppy, Lucky. Big mistake. You'd think with a name like that he'd have luck on his side. Not the case. I'll never forget sitting at the computer and feeling something warm and wet on my ankle... Lucky had hiked his leg and peed on me! That little dog was rotten! Not too many months later, Lucky had gotten hit by a car, as most dogs named that do, and his luck ran out, literally.

Lately I've been feeling that same way. Like my luck is running out. I seem to always pick the worst lines for grocery store check out. I'll think it's a great line: an old lady with less than ten items. I guess I just forget about how S L O W old people are, how many coupons they cut out and how many questions they ask. Now how could, I, Lora 'scared of old people' Hodges make that mistake?! 

And I've been looking for a job as a teacher. I've been on many interviews and attended lots of job fairs. Still nothing. I've gotten pretty close a few times, but still nothing. 

"Dog-gone the luck."

That's what my grandpa would tell me if he were here, but I know that everything happens for a reason. 

I didn't make cheerleader every year because I was lucky. I gave it my best. I practiced and worked very hard to be the best cheerleader I could be. Same for the awards and scholarships.

I know Lucky was hit by a car because I needed to know that the stupid boy that hit him, was, indeed, stupid. 

I'm almost positive that the reason I haven't found a job yet is because the best job for me is still out there. 

Now as for the grocery store lines... I'm not sure why that keeps happening to me. Maybe I need to learn to be tolerant of old people!

I don't know how much I believe in luck anymore, but I do believe I can make my own luck. Anything I can do to 'up' my chances in life, I do it. Whether it's entering every single day in the HGTV Green Home giveaway, so I can try to win that beautiful house, or exercising and eating right in order to stay healthy, I will do what I can to get the best outcome. Being positive and proactive in my life provide me with that feeling of luck.

Greg thinks that he's luckier than me because he won a cruise with the Dallas Cowboys back when he was in college. Well, that pretty much spoils my pink hippo story. Who wants to go on a cruise with the Dallas Cowboys anyway? I'd much rather cuddle up with a ginormous pink hippopotamus! Yeah, whatever!

Look out: Flying Pigs!

Three bottles of hand sanitizer, two thermometers and more than a dozen freaked-out phone calls. That is how the swine flu has infected my husband!

While the swine flu is a little scary, especially with our proximity to the first two cases in Houston, I'm very annoyed with the way that this "pandemic" has been expressed by the media. I am dealing, first hand, with the result of the out of control, non-stop production the local newsies have made of this. Every fifteen minutes, my scaredy-cat husband takes Izzy's temperature, douses the thermometer in alcohol and takes mine... first with an old school thermometer and then with a digital one. And sanitizing is becoming just as normal as breathing. I think I am permenantly anti-bacterial hand sanitizer scented.

I'm not trying to make light of the swine flu, but I worked for a TV station. I know exactly how they operate and how excited they get over things like this. Right now, about half of the newscast is dedicated to the swine flu. A different spin here, a new case there... the swine flu is the best news going on right now. And that's just what they call it. The "best" news. Really?! Isn't that great? Something new and exciting that kills people... it's the best! And then they come up with a million different stories intended to scare the ever-lovin' daylights out of everyone. Oh, and this is my favorite part: they send their reporters and crews to the location where the latest case is! They're shutting down schools, but the reporters are there live at five!

And what is the result? Crazy people. When we went to Walgreens for Greg to stock up on hand sanitizer, we got the last three bottles... people, just like my husband, are rushing out to stock up on hand sanitizer. The cashier rolled her eyes as we checked out. And Greg held his breath on the way home as we drove alongside the deserted high school where a case of the swine flu was confirmed. Don't you think that we are more likely to catch something by being out and about among the masses?! I tried to explain this, but there's no rationalizing when there's a swine flu outbreak! Must get to Walgreens immediately for hand sanitizer!!!

People are even avoiding pork products right now. I had to convince Greg that a turkey dog didn't have pork in it. I believe that this is all a direct result of media showboats trying to one-up each other, trying to get the better, scarier story.

But you know, swine flu isn't going to keep me away from bacon and pork ribs! I just pray that an enchilada flu never comes out of Mexico! I'd be a goner for sure... yeah, whatever!

(That's a bottle of hand sanitizer that Greg's tossing in the picture! Crazy!)