I LOVE LUCY!!

People have asked me many times, "How did you become a Lucy fan?" I smile because I love to answer this question. I also love to tell that I'm a Lucille Ball fan, not just an "I Love Lucy" fan.

Scene set: 19xx, living room, green carpet
Little Eva, looking bored, but watching television.
Enter Mom.

"I'm bored," said little Eva.
Mom changes the channel. "Here, watch this show. You'll love it!"
It's funny how I can see that scene from xx years ago.

I was hooked from that moment. My life had changed. I was mesmerized by that show. That funny lady on TV.

I know that I was 7 years old because that's when I began collecting. I would cut out little snipets about the show in the TV guide and glue it on notebook paper. The first scrapbook I ever made - tanish in color. I'd search through all kinds of magazines looking for anything I could find about Lucille Ball.

I have the original clippings from Vivian Vance's first announcement of dying. I believe those articles were from the National Enquirer. From there, I began collecting books about Lucille and the show. My favorite was the one by Bart Andrews.

I remember setting my clock to 3:30 or 4:30 because back in the day, the reruns would come on two different stations. And yes, I would tape them on a tape recorder.

When I was in 7th grade, I joined the band and played the saxophone of course. I couldn't wait to play "Glow Worm."

As I got older I could buy my own things. Before I knew it, I had to buy a curio cabinet that would hold my Lucy stuff. I have the original Hamilton collection plates and dolls, TV Guides, magazines, etc.



My favorite item out of all my collection would have to be Lucille Ball's shoes. I got those thanks to one of my awesome friends, Glen. We were at the 2000 Loving Lucy convention in Burbank. The auction was going on and I knew that it was the year that I would own something of her's. The guy brought out the beautiful black shoes and I began bidding. Well, someone decided to bid on those shoes, too! Glen knew how badly I wanted those shoes, so when I stopped at a certain price, he began bidding. And I won! That was the best day ever. I actually had a pair of Lucy's shoes. Shoes she wore. I never wanted to take those gorgeous shoes off my feet. To think, Lucy walked in these shoes!! Thanks, Glen.






When I got home, I searched and searched to see if I could find a picture of her in those shoes. Low and behold, I have an 8 x 10 of her dancing with George Burns and she's wearing the shoes! To top that, I have that episode, so I could watch her dance around in MY shoes. I got married in those shoes as I marched down the aisle to the "Lucy" theme song.



I've made so many good friends from going to the conventions in Burbank and Jamestown. Even though I haven't seen them in over 10 years, we still keep in close contact. Mike, Glen, Eve, Breck, Terra, Liz, Sherry, Melanie, Patrick, Lynne, Laura, Cathy, and so many more I've not met personally, but have "met" online.

I'm proud to say that I've turned my love of Lucy into something good. My friend, Martha, and I do a Lucy/Ethel skit for nursing homes or churches.

My top 3 episodes:
The Dancing Star
Lucy Is Envious
Tennessee Bound
I could keep going, but need to narrow to the top 3. There's so many more! Aye ai ai.

Lucille Ball movies:
"A Girl, A Guy, and a Gob"
"Dance, Girl, Dance"
"Mame"

I'm a Lucille Ban fan and proud of it!

How Stephen King Ruined My Life

Stephen did. Really. Ok, so I'm exaggerating.....a little. Thanks to him, I have a fear of hotels and other things. I've also learned a lot from him, too.

After reading, "The Shining" and watching the movie, I can no longer walk down long hallways without picturing those bloody little girls. They are waiting. Mimicking me. Taunting me.

Stephen is good. To be that awesome of a writer, where certain words can change you.

So here I go. Down the long hallway. At least I'm not riding my tricycle type thing.
I walk with my head down, looking at my feet. Steve usually laughing at me, because he knows. So he starts whispering my name all freaky sounding. Thanks, I say, add to my terror. As I pass each room, I wonder, "Did something happen in there?" OH, I hope not. Thanks, I want to tell Stephen.

I check my room number to make sure that it's not "1408" or any other number that might equal to 13. Thanks, Stephen King. You and hotels. I check my room to make sure there's no one hiding in the closet or under the bed or no freaky lady laying in the bathtub or in the corner or nothing written in red on the mirror or.......Get a hold of yourself, girl, it's not real! Or is it.....

Every little noise in the hotel seems to tease me. I hear pops, noises. Ugh. Will this night ever end? Thank goodness my radio does not come on playing, "Close to You."


Oh, Stephen, did you realize that I can't walk past a sewage drain without thinking of Pennywise the Clown? Thanks. I hurry past.

And if I were to ever get inside an old 1950's type car and the music plays oldies, I will make sure that I'm not eating a chocolate Ding Dong. I'm outta here. Thanks, Stephen.

Can I ever look at a growling dog without thinking that he may be another Cujo? I think twice when I hear a dog growling behind me.

Oh, and don't ever make fun of another person. She may get angry and burn the school down. Never tick off anyone named Carrie.

Everytime the flu season rolls around, I wonder: is this it? Hopefully no superflu will ever wipe out most of us to where we dream of an old lady in a cornfield or a black crow who sits on power lines. Please, I will never walk through the Holland Tunnel.

I hope no one ever comes up to me and says, "I'm your biggest fan."

Vampires, forget it. Corn fields.....I will never go there.

Well, Stephen, you did it. Your talented writing has provoked the fear in me. I love it and it scares me at the same time. But that's what you wanted right? Well, sir, you have succeeded. I hope that one day I can follow in your footsteps. :)

The Bad Appendix and Twisted Stuff

A stormy Friday night -

"OWWWWWW! My stomache!" Those are words you don't like to hear when you are ready to go out for dinner.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Jacob grabbed his side. "My stomache hurts. OWWW!"

I looked back at him in the backseat. "We need to go home if you are hurting like that."

"I'm fine. Let's just go eat. I'm okay. It quit hurting."

We decided to walk around this new store that just opened trying to decide what to do. We wanted to make sure that Jacob was okay before going into a restaurant. We were walking around the aisles when we heard it again, "OWWW! My stomache." He kept saying that he didn't feel like he was going to throw up, it just hurt.

Steve, my husband, drove to a pharmacy to get Jacob some Mylanta hoping it would help. After the Mylanta, Jacob calmed down, so we went to Shogun's.

He stopped complaining while we were eating. He seemed more concerned about the heavy rain and thunder going on behind him. He laughed and cut up with Steve while we waited on our food.

I have to say, it's fun watching him scoot back from the table when the "fire" blazes. He never forgot his first time of seeing the fire. It scared him so badly that he pushed his high chair back from the table, then fell on the floor. That would scar anybody.

After Jacob chewed his last bite, he yelled, "I have to go to the bathroom bad!" Steve took him, but they came back quickly. Poor Jacob had thrown up everything from the whole day. He and I went outside to wait for Steve to pay and he asked, "What's a varmit? I think that's what I just did." He's so funny.

When we got home, Jacob played with his army men. He told me that he hurt just a little. I called my friend and asked about appendicitis but she told me that a virus is going around.

Jacob seemed fine, but I was still concerned with the right side pain. But you never know. You always seem to hear, "There's a virus going around."

Jacob slept fine all through the night. In the morning, I heard him crying in his sleep. I woke him up and being, Jacob, he wanted to eat. Two chocolate donuts. His favorite. Once again, I asked him where he hurt and he pointed to the same place. The lower right side.

Steve said, "Take him to the doctor now!" Off we go.........

After the doctor examined him, she looked at me and said, "I'd advise you to take him to the ER immediately." Ugh. ER. Appendix. My baby. Why?

I never EVER wanted to go back to that hospital after the way they treated my mom last year. Last July a year ago. Ugh.

Fear engulfed me. My mind raced the whole way to the hospital. I was shaking and started to panic. I had nausea. I took deep breaths and prayed. "I can do this. I can do this for Jacob." I kept saying in my mind. The drive to the hospital was long and gloomy.

First thing they did to the poor guy was give an IV. Oh, me. The terror in his little eyes. The screams and pleading of, "My stomache doesn't hurt anymore, I promise!" It's more than a Mom can handle. Steve and I calmed him the best we could. Once the morphine set in, the boy was comical. The nurse told Jacob that he'd tell the truth about anything. He told off on himself and Steve for sneaking food when I take a shower. Goodness. Laughter. Calming down. I pushed away my issues to focus on my child.

The CT scan was next. He liked that because he told me that it looked like the medical ship in Star Wars. I pointed to the guy standing there, "But that's not a medical droid." Jacob laughed. The guy snarled at me and said, "I'm a Star Trek fan." I almost said, "Yeah, I can tell."

After the scan, we go back to the room to wait some more. Within 15 minutes, they said, "His appendix is swollen and we need to operate." Jacob started crying and screamed, "But I don't want a shot!" I said, "How soon?" "One hour." ONE HOUR????????? All of a sudden I had a stabbing pain in my appendix. No joke. I wasn't even thinking of myself, but I guess it was sympathy pains. I always thought that was a joke! That's the first time that ever happened to me and I hope it never does again. Steve kept telling me that sympathy pains are real. But why do they hurt?!

I sent out texts to some prayer warrior friends, then I put it on FaceBook for everyone to pray.

The time had come. Breathe deeply.

We prayed with him and I assured him that I would be there when he woke up. I don't dare let him see the tear in my eye.

I'm walking behind him as they wheel him down the hall. I see his little head laying there so still. I almost ran to the bed and screamed, "No! Don't take him! Don't do this!" Sorry, but the thought crossed my mind.

We stayed with him in the operating room as long as we could. After he had the "feel good" stuff, he was fine and no longer scared. They put us in a room across the hall and told us that they'd call. They called us when the doctor started, halfway through, and when he's finished. The nurse said, "He found some weird tissue." Strange. Weird tissue?

Relief swept over me when I saw the doctor and he assured us that everything went well. The appendix was swollen, and the weird tissue was "twisted." Twisted tissue. Sounds like a rock band? So the twisted tissue caused other tissue to die. The doctor removed it and sent it off. Then he tells us that Jacob's gall bladder is already hardening. Aye ai ai. Poor kid!

The doctor took pictures of Jacob's insides and it's gross. Gross is the only word to say.

Joy swept over me when I finally saw him. I hugged him tightly. They made us spend the night for observations. I didn't care at that moment, I just cared that all was well with him.

Jacob did great during the night and the next day. Now he's recovering nicely and taking advantage of his situation, like any kid would. I shower him with hugs and kisses as we watch Disney channel all day long. My Jacob. Back at home. Life is good.

My First Blogginess

This is the first sentence of my very first blog. WOOHOO! I'm blogging. Welcome and keep checking back and hopefully I will entertain you with a good read? Maybe? Well, let me know!

You are reading my words for the first time. Pretty cool, eh?
I guess I need something empowering to say........
It sure is hot!
I love chocolate!~