Lordy, Lordy, it's 10W-40

Just like an oil change renews the life of an internal combustion engine.........I've been using the website www.meetup.com as a virtual  oil change for my social life. The main function of motor oil is to lubricate moving parts, it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing and cools the engine. Man could I write paragraphs of analogies on all that! Suffice it to say, that my internal engine needed all that in the last few years, ha.

The meetup events this summer have been stellar and loaded with stories that I can retell at future events. Here's just a few:

There was the Writers Meetup where the members were all trying to get their work published. Some writers were creative and colorful with tats and piercings others were corporate types by day and writing chick lit and horror tales by night.

There was the singles dinner party at T.G.I.F. where the lone man at our table of 13 women leaned over and asked to finish eating my meal. It struck me as so funny that I had to shrug and say yes. Then when dessert came, he was quick to offer me the first bite of his cake.

We went camping with a single parents group in June. There were 3 families, 3 adults, and 5 kids. Their plans for some slow cooked chicken were going slowly and the kids were getting hungry so I took my one pound of hamburger, and like the multiplication of fishes and loaves in the Bible, I created a slew of tiny white castle burgers on the grill and filled their satisfied tummies.

In July I went to an outdoor festival with a meetup group to hear the Johnny Holm Band - renowned in Mpls for music and dancing. After introducing a few local celebrities that were among us Johnny asked all the meetup singles to wave their hands in advertisement of being single and we all screamed in surprise. Of all the gals and guys that came with our group, only my friend that I brought to the party actually met a great guy and has been happily dating ever since.

The best meetup so far was the sailing trip to Duluth. How crazy was it to commit to a 3 hour car ride with complete strangers for a day on the lake? Well crazy turned into fabulous as we laughed and dished and shared stories that wove us together as friends. I have this quote on my fridge: "risk is the price you pay for opportunity." That risk had a great payoff and now we're looking forward to more events.

I can clearly see that my friends on meetup are keeping my parts moving, cleaning up my ideas of fun, and totally inhibiting any corrosion on this engine. I feel like I'm 21 again and ready to take on the world. I’m finding that being single doesn't mean being alone it means having choices and mustering up the confidence to make a new choice every day.

Enjoy this tune by the Beatle's singing Revolution.....it's time for a change

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrkwgTBrW78

If Life is a Highway, Why am I in the Woods?

Summer is here and road trip season has begun. I've completed my first weekend trip circling around Northern Minnesota, 6 hours away from home, and back again.

There's a great feeling of independence when you're driving with the wind in your face, the tunes blasting, and the family fast asleep in the back seat. In the previous chapter of my life, my stellar role as navigator was only eclipsed by my cheetah-like ability to fall asleep in a moving vehicle. Now that I'm steering and navigating.......I have a new Mountain Dew-inspired ability to stay awake and I'm loving it!

We have 3 more road trips planned for this summer. Thanks to my low budget planning and our new family sized tent we'll get to see a little of Wisconsin this year (go Packers). Sure I'd rather be staying in a 4-star resort using the jet skis and waiting for my spa appointment.....but given the choice of living my life or just dreaming about it......I'll gladly downsize to a camping vacation if it means exploring the beauty of the woods with my family. The spa will have to wait for another day.

Don't you love beating the odds and finding the sunshine after the weatherman has predicted a total washout of a weekend? Don't you love finding cheap dime store treasures that remind you of what being a kid is all about? That's what I love about summer vacations; all the surprises that pop up and make the day so memorable. All we have is our memories, let's make some good ones this summer!

Enjoy this little tune by Rascal Flatts singing, Life is A Highway, from the movie CARS.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsmRuRp4cM

"All my friends know the low rider," as sung by the rock group WAR.

Low riding cars are both cool to drive and cool to look at. It's the low riding jeans that I have a problem with. When some fashion trends appear on the scene.....well you can only idle in Drive so long before you're dying for the Red Light to change.

Full figured gals, like myself, don't fit well into those low riding jeans. Our muffin tops are exposed as McMuffin tops loaded with extras! The other day I shopped a Consignment Boutique and found my summer steal - a low priced pair of black cotton pants. Behind the curtain of the dressing room I started to giggle. First I pulled up one leg and then another and kept pulling up and pulling up until the "waistband" finally rested well above my belly button. OMG, how many years ago were these pants made? What decade did some gal walk the streets of Mpls styling and profiling in these high waisted pants? They were so retro (and comfy) I had to treasure them for my own.

Another fashion trend I have to pass on is the girlie t-shirt that is 2 sizes too small. Does every woman under 30 have to wear their cotton t-shirts with a coordinating shirt underneath from the little girls department at Sears? No matter the size of their muffin or how low their jeans can go....the rest of their body is wrapped in cotton so tight it looks like colored Saran Wrap. Gone are the days of the Glamour Do's and Don'ts that warned against tight blouses, showing bra straps or panty lines.There seems to be no rules in fashion anymore; anything goes.

Now a cool car has something fashionistas can only dream about. The universally cool car will have a classic shape, a tried and true design, all the mechanics of a fast hot car with a kick ass stereo system. Women don't walk down Nicollet Mall humming some tune about their new low riding jeans. But you can bet some 65 year old in his Chevy low rider is definitely humming a few bars of ..... "take a little trip, take a little trip, take a little trip with me."

Enjoy this retro blast of WAR singing Low Rider. Hike up your jeans and sit back and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A0U7jakUY8

Roundabouts

Roundabouts. You either love 'em or you hate 'em. They are everywhere now. The big cities have them and the suburbs have them too. I think they're great. Roundabouts allow you to make U-turns within the flow of normal traffic.

I've been thinking about U-turns lately. Changing direction is scary but feeling stuck can be much worse. It can be that our change is dependent upon our life or it can be that our life is dependent upon our change.Sometimes we change as a response to exterior pressures and other times it's an inner angst that sparks a fire within us until we just can't ignore the heat.

It has been said that life is filled with "second acts." As one who has lived through Act I and is just beginning Act II, I'm hoping there will be a long run of Act III before the last and final curtain call. 

Like a roundabout circles around a center island, I really admire people that circle around their primary calling but take advantage of all choices that a U-turn can bring. For example, a childhood friend with a very respectable career, a marriage and small kids has begun  a new part time career in comedy. Another friend working 9 to 5pm in a business office works 7 to 11pm in local theater. A third friend began motherhood as a stay a home mom and has now transitioned to a new career in the classroom. All second acts. All decisions that began with a raging fire in the belly.

We 're lucky if we have opportunities for U-turns and even luckier when they work out. I'm all about second acts and second chances. It makes me want to stand and applaud my friends. I want to share in a little of their heat. I want to warm my hands over the fire that has grabbed them. I want to keep those embers of fire in my belly so that I'm ready to take the next U-turn when it comes along. Roundabouts rock!

Here is a great song by Kelly Clarkson. She sings..."make a wish, take a chance, make a change, and breakaway."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-3vPxKdj6o

The Golden Girls

A nasty reminder came in the mail recently, it was another invite to join the AARP. No thanks! But it did get me thinking about retirement.

I don't have much of a plan but my sketchy dream is to live out my golden years with some BFF's in a condo in a warmer climate. We'll take walks on the beach every morning and we'll shop the boardwalk every afternoon. I hope to keep my car in the carport and do all my boardwalk commutes with a little shuffle and a little wiggle. Ah and then we'll rest up and get partied up for our evening dates. Assuming there's more than 3 eligible bachelors in our senior community.

Sounds familiar doesn't it? I think that show, The Golden Girls had it right. We women can have it all. Even if we can't remember where we put it, our BFF's will help us find it, ha.

I've been lucky to still have my very first friends. They were some of the first girls I met in the neighborhood, back in the day. We don't ride our Raleighs to Seven-11 anymore. We don't put on fake accents to meet boys at the beach. We've graduated in many ways. But we still meet up for brunch or lunch and laugh about the old days.

As life gives us some twists and turns we'll be there for each other just like Bea Arthur was for Betty White. I'm looking forward to my retirement and living out my Golden Years with my Golden Girls. So if in 20 years your phone rings and someone with a giggle asks....."Do you have Jim Bean in a bottle? Well let him out he's drowning" you'll know it's me and the girls pulling prank calls from our condo on the beach.

Enjoy the theme song from the TV show, The Golden Girls

http://www.myspace.com/video/noizyneighbour/andrew-gold-thank-you-for-being-a-friend/5510300

Out on the Streets (Bruce Springsteen)

As I scour the database at work editing addresses putting commas in place, capping proper nouns, and extending those nasty abbreviations I've come across some great addresses and it's given me pause to think about street names. I wonder, would the name of your street seal the deal when buying your next home?

We have a Columbine Avenue where I live. Selling a home on that block must be every realtor's nightmare. Or would your kids have nightmares....... living on Loch Ness Road? Every little girl would love waking up on Rainbow Drive or Enchanted Point.  How about Candy Cove or Sunnyslope?

Growing up in Richfield, we had a house a few blocks over that, despite having a practical and numerical address of 12th Avenue, was totally haunted. I never saw a soul in the place and it was old and rundown with busted attic windows frequented by bats and stray baseballs. Anytime I had to pass by I would quicken my step and always, always cross the street to be a safe distance away. And if on Halloween I made my way over there on that dark scary night.......well I knew I wasn't ringing their doorbell for treats (or tricks).

Neighborhoods get their reputations from the homes, the people that live in them, and the surrounding street names. Given my penchant for wanting to live like a Queen I've always felt drawn to the King's Highway stretch of gorgeous old homes in Minneapolis near the lakes. They are regal and old school with landscaped yards and inviting paths leading up to the door.

I wanted funky architecture and secret doors leading under the stairs in my first home but instead I found my way to a set of identical town homes set one atop the other. It wasn't old and it wasn't unique. There would be no Nancy Drew mysteries to solve under my stairs because I didn't have stairs. Ah, but it was new and so bright and filled with possibilities. What clinched the deal for this wide eyed first time home buyer? The address of course........Providence Drive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qZbyLsiHzY

Enjoy this video of the Boss, Bruce Springsteen, singing Out on the Streets.

Rocking Down the Highway

As I'm listening to the Doobie Brothers sing an old classic, "Rocking Down the Highway," it makes me value the work of my mechanic that got me back on the road last month. Where would we be without those greased up guys in coveralls?

Repair shops outnumber donut shops - but it takes a special car crisis for the names of these mechanics to be whispered about. Like the rumored little black book that single men kept with the names and phone numbers of all their dates......today's married men keep a crumpled yellow post-it note buried deep in their wallet with the name of their favorite mechanic. More than once I heard the phrase whispered benevolently......well......yes....I've got a guy you can call.

My truck is back on the road thanks to Shakopee Midas and all their hard work. It comes and goes and hums and purrs in all the right places. Now I have the open road before me and all summer to plan my road trips. Did I mention how cute the mechanic was that handed me my keys? I might have to go back for the free tire rotation after 2K miles. Why you ask? Because I'm a little curious about how many pages are in his little black book, LOL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHJaqe12BIc
Check out the link above to hear the Doobie Brothers live.