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Doing Things MY Way!
3 years ago
Doing Things My Way!
A Valentine's Day Story!
**Giggles!**
Good morning! A special edition of Coffee With The Princess, y'all! ❤️
Over the years of chatting with people, I have had the pleasure to meet and get to know so many out there, most of it being a pleasure. Now, while you know the ones that are bad, let's take this issue and talk about the fun and goodness for a moment. As most of y'all know, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. While I'm eternally single, I still believe in romance, love, passion, desire, and just being good to one another in life. Why make life miserable for others when you could spend that energy on something more productive and fulfilling. It's something I have never understood and that's perfectly fine by me. My folks instilled upon me a creative outlet for my overactive and curious mind through my projects and artistry. While I wasn't as good as a lot of people out there, it wasn't about competing as much as it was getting the thrill out of making it yourself. Even though I was an artist of limited skill, I found that writing was more my passion.
My mother made quite the living writing Historical Romance novels at the start of the late 1970s, throughout the 1980s and then into the 1990s. I want to say that it would be around the bottom of the 1990s, she decided to retire. A bad call by her agent or publisher cost her a lot of sales and they dropped her. If anyone out there knows the fickle nature of being productive, you know that once you fail it is hard to pick yourself up and start again. Mom was getting on in years and a lot of her life was spent on writing. At times, she was so busy that perhaps the rest of us got left behind in a way. I cannot speak for Pop or my Big Sister, but I can say that it was lonely for a good portion of my earlier life, but I learned rather quickly to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. Also trustworthy which was a bonus when Mom and Pop would travel around the country, meeting fans and selling her books. During middle school and especially through high school, I got the pleasure of having that HUGE house to myself. ❤️
When I was a little kid, Valentine's Day would come around and the school encouraged us to have an afternoon of giving cards away. Pop used to get me tons of these boxes and encourage me to give them to my classmates and friends, which I was delighted in doing so. I suppose I was adorable enough to get some candies and cards from others, but often I felt that some of the kids only got something because we were told to treat everyone the same. I found that fascinating and pointed it out to a teacher who told me that it would be nice that everyone was so giving like myself, but that's not the way the world works.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked with that impish smile on my face. ❤️
After that particular Valentine's Day party, I want to say this would be my second time in first grade. Oh yes, I was asked to repeat the first grade because when I moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia from Lexington Park, Maryland, the powers that be at Fredrica Academy asked Mom and Pop to allow me to start in first grade. I shrugged and took to it like a duck to water. I was only at that school for a couple of years, but I made a name for myself as an A Student, hard worker, and seldom missing school. I left the place due to my Big Sister getting into trouble, but I'm getting a touch ahead of myself. I want to say it was when I was in second grade that we had a Valentine's Day party for the whole school ... a dance for all of the kids. Most of us younger kids watched and enjoyed the music while the older kids had fun. From what I was told, my Big Sister had been found in a car out back, high as a kite and unconscious. The various boys that were last seen with her swore that she was taking drugs and doing things that they didn't like. The school had no choice but to suspend her. Mom and Pop went ahead and pulled me from the school and put me into public education of the Glynn County School System. Now, while I took it as a challenge to make more friends and have fun, my Big Sister continued on .. well she ended up getting expelled for her habits and poor attendance, but I kept on doing what I did. Pop used to say, "She does things her way!" when speaking about me. Mom often scoffed and say, "Both of our knuckleheads do that, honey. I wish they would grow up!"
Now, here's where I'm going to break away from my Big Sister since from here, I'm not entirely sure what happened after that, but I have some theories based on stories from Pop and the rest of the family, including some stories from my Big Sister and then her kids verifying the details. The one thing that I do remember growing up with my Big Sister is that she was a natural Blond Bombshell, gorgeous like my Mom and Pop were. She had this animal magnetism that guys found enchanting and alluring. They often hung out around the house and Pop would often chase them off with either the garden house or a baseball bat. While he was a military man, he didn't own a gun, but he did have his own ways of handling the tomcats. ❤️
Me, I was completely different. Boys were understandably a fascination, but more friends and fantastic people to hang out with. Often more fun than hanging out with the other girls, but at the same time, I never wanted to neglect any friend, male or female. Thanks to Mom, I always dressed to impress and Pop and my Uncles Buck and Charlie taught me how to defend myself. Pop's lessons in pressure points and simple wrestling holds were a necessary evil, to which Mom was aghast about, but my father shrugged. Honestly, I never had to really use these lessons until later in life. For now, I got to be a kid!
Throughout elementary and middle schools, I excellent in classes and making friends. And every Valentine's Day, I want to say that I was certainly a hit with most of my class. I often put away money for a rainy day and Valentine's Day was a special occasion. While the store-bought cards were easy to hand out, often I did the homemade ones as a project between my studies. The earlier ones were terrible, but as I got better, I got to do ones of popular cartoon characters like Peanuts, Garfield, and even the various Disney and other superheroes too. Along with a card, I always included candy, usually the Charms Blow-Pops or the Tootsie-Pop. I want to say that I often gave away lollipops back before the mid-1970s and I do remember giving out the Space: 1999 and Star Wars Bubblegum Cards too. Teachers got special roses from Mom's personal garden with her permission and later they also got an autographed book from Mom, especially in the 1980s when Mom's popularity was climbing like King Kong scaling the Empire State Building! ❤️
It would be late in middle school that I got introduced to the Valentine's Day dance, something that in public school they didn't do. I'm not entirely sure, but it could have been they thought we were too young back in elementary school. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. I got to dance with all sorts of people and I had a blast! I was surprised by several groovy guys offering to not just dance with me, but to also give me flowers! Now that was different ... and a bit off-putting to me. I think it was more that I didn't want to grow to expect free stuff from guys because they were interested in me. "Obligated, honey. That's the word you are looking for," Pop said when I asked about this when I was telling Mom and Pop about my day. Mom laughed and walked out of the room. She told me later that I'd better get used to that. With Pop, he stayed quiet about my activities with romance, often listening and seldom giving input, though he often kept an eye on me.
Still, with Valentine's Day, I always felt to give more than get and never, ever expected people to do stuff for me. Dating me was a hassle as I was told by a few guys since I often paid for at least my share, "going dutch" as it was. Oh, I did this often enough with all of my friends, though there were times with the parents picking up the tab on my side of the aisle or theirs, but not often since I said that I needed to learn to be more responsible. "Be more gracious, honey," Mom often softly scolded me.
When I went to high school and then through college, it wasn't much different for the dating scene and yet Valentine's Day was still pure fun for me! The guys got gifts from me and often I picked up the tab on the date, which freaked out a few of them, though there were a few who were understandably good with this. Personally, I didn't care what they thought as long as we had a good time.
Now, these days ... I just kick back and watch my friends, most who are married, deal with their significant others. Some are very detailed and fun-loving and others are more laid back. One of my groovy guy-pals told me that his idea of Valentine's Day was cooking a meal for the wife and then just sitting back and watching a movie they both enjoyed. Marvel movies are often popular among my friends, though there's a whole list of possibilities. One of my gorgeous gal-pals squealed last year when her husband paid for a day-spa treatment with her best friend and then he stayed home and cleaned the house. And I'm talking seriously clean! Then later, they also did the dinner at home and a movie both enjoyed. Nodding to both people, I have to agree that sounds good to me. ❤️
No matter how you live, you might take a moment and appreciate the friends and the loved ones that you have in your life. Buy a few pizzas for the gang, get something special for the significant other, heck ... do something unexpected! But, make sure that you have fun!
Happy Valentine's Day!
BE Happy!
Love and Kisses,
Loonia
A Valentine's Day Story!
**Giggles!**
Good morning! A special edition of Coffee With The Princess, y'all! ❤️
Over the years of chatting with people, I have had the pleasure to meet and get to know so many out there, most of it being a pleasure. Now, while you know the ones that are bad, let's take this issue and talk about the fun and goodness for a moment. As most of y'all know, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. While I'm eternally single, I still believe in romance, love, passion, desire, and just being good to one another in life. Why make life miserable for others when you could spend that energy on something more productive and fulfilling. It's something I have never understood and that's perfectly fine by me. My folks instilled upon me a creative outlet for my overactive and curious mind through my projects and artistry. While I wasn't as good as a lot of people out there, it wasn't about competing as much as it was getting the thrill out of making it yourself. Even though I was an artist of limited skill, I found that writing was more my passion.
My mother made quite the living writing Historical Romance novels at the start of the late 1970s, throughout the 1980s and then into the 1990s. I want to say that it would be around the bottom of the 1990s, she decided to retire. A bad call by her agent or publisher cost her a lot of sales and they dropped her. If anyone out there knows the fickle nature of being productive, you know that once you fail it is hard to pick yourself up and start again. Mom was getting on in years and a lot of her life was spent on writing. At times, she was so busy that perhaps the rest of us got left behind in a way. I cannot speak for Pop or my Big Sister, but I can say that it was lonely for a good portion of my earlier life, but I learned rather quickly to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. Also trustworthy which was a bonus when Mom and Pop would travel around the country, meeting fans and selling her books. During middle school and especially through high school, I got the pleasure of having that HUGE house to myself. ❤️
When I was a little kid, Valentine's Day would come around and the school encouraged us to have an afternoon of giving cards away. Pop used to get me tons of these boxes and encourage me to give them to my classmates and friends, which I was delighted in doing so. I suppose I was adorable enough to get some candies and cards from others, but often I felt that some of the kids only got something because we were told to treat everyone the same. I found that fascinating and pointed it out to a teacher who told me that it would be nice that everyone was so giving like myself, but that's not the way the world works.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked with that impish smile on my face. ❤️
After that particular Valentine's Day party, I want to say this would be my second time in first grade. Oh yes, I was asked to repeat the first grade because when I moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia from Lexington Park, Maryland, the powers that be at Fredrica Academy asked Mom and Pop to allow me to start in first grade. I shrugged and took to it like a duck to water. I was only at that school for a couple of years, but I made a name for myself as an A Student, hard worker, and seldom missing school. I left the place due to my Big Sister getting into trouble, but I'm getting a touch ahead of myself. I want to say it was when I was in second grade that we had a Valentine's Day party for the whole school ... a dance for all of the kids. Most of us younger kids watched and enjoyed the music while the older kids had fun. From what I was told, my Big Sister had been found in a car out back, high as a kite and unconscious. The various boys that were last seen with her swore that she was taking drugs and doing things that they didn't like. The school had no choice but to suspend her. Mom and Pop went ahead and pulled me from the school and put me into public education of the Glynn County School System. Now, while I took it as a challenge to make more friends and have fun, my Big Sister continued on .. well she ended up getting expelled for her habits and poor attendance, but I kept on doing what I did. Pop used to say, "She does things her way!" when speaking about me. Mom often scoffed and say, "Both of our knuckleheads do that, honey. I wish they would grow up!"
Now, here's where I'm going to break away from my Big Sister since from here, I'm not entirely sure what happened after that, but I have some theories based on stories from Pop and the rest of the family, including some stories from my Big Sister and then her kids verifying the details. The one thing that I do remember growing up with my Big Sister is that she was a natural Blond Bombshell, gorgeous like my Mom and Pop were. She had this animal magnetism that guys found enchanting and alluring. They often hung out around the house and Pop would often chase them off with either the garden house or a baseball bat. While he was a military man, he didn't own a gun, but he did have his own ways of handling the tomcats. ❤️
Me, I was completely different. Boys were understandably a fascination, but more friends and fantastic people to hang out with. Often more fun than hanging out with the other girls, but at the same time, I never wanted to neglect any friend, male or female. Thanks to Mom, I always dressed to impress and Pop and my Uncles Buck and Charlie taught me how to defend myself. Pop's lessons in pressure points and simple wrestling holds were a necessary evil, to which Mom was aghast about, but my father shrugged. Honestly, I never had to really use these lessons until later in life. For now, I got to be a kid!
Throughout elementary and middle schools, I excellent in classes and making friends. And every Valentine's Day, I want to say that I was certainly a hit with most of my class. I often put away money for a rainy day and Valentine's Day was a special occasion. While the store-bought cards were easy to hand out, often I did the homemade ones as a project between my studies. The earlier ones were terrible, but as I got better, I got to do ones of popular cartoon characters like Peanuts, Garfield, and even the various Disney and other superheroes too. Along with a card, I always included candy, usually the Charms Blow-Pops or the Tootsie-Pop. I want to say that I often gave away lollipops back before the mid-1970s and I do remember giving out the Space: 1999 and Star Wars Bubblegum Cards too. Teachers got special roses from Mom's personal garden with her permission and later they also got an autographed book from Mom, especially in the 1980s when Mom's popularity was climbing like King Kong scaling the Empire State Building! ❤️
It would be late in middle school that I got introduced to the Valentine's Day dance, something that in public school they didn't do. I'm not entirely sure, but it could have been they thought we were too young back in elementary school. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. I got to dance with all sorts of people and I had a blast! I was surprised by several groovy guys offering to not just dance with me, but to also give me flowers! Now that was different ... and a bit off-putting to me. I think it was more that I didn't want to grow to expect free stuff from guys because they were interested in me. "Obligated, honey. That's the word you are looking for," Pop said when I asked about this when I was telling Mom and Pop about my day. Mom laughed and walked out of the room. She told me later that I'd better get used to that. With Pop, he stayed quiet about my activities with romance, often listening and seldom giving input, though he often kept an eye on me.
Still, with Valentine's Day, I always felt to give more than get and never, ever expected people to do stuff for me. Dating me was a hassle as I was told by a few guys since I often paid for at least my share, "going dutch" as it was. Oh, I did this often enough with all of my friends, though there were times with the parents picking up the tab on my side of the aisle or theirs, but not often since I said that I needed to learn to be more responsible. "Be more gracious, honey," Mom often softly scolded me.
When I went to high school and then through college, it wasn't much different for the dating scene and yet Valentine's Day was still pure fun for me! The guys got gifts from me and often I picked up the tab on the date, which freaked out a few of them, though there were a few who were understandably good with this. Personally, I didn't care what they thought as long as we had a good time.
Now, these days ... I just kick back and watch my friends, most who are married, deal with their significant others. Some are very detailed and fun-loving and others are more laid back. One of my groovy guy-pals told me that his idea of Valentine's Day was cooking a meal for the wife and then just sitting back and watching a movie they both enjoyed. Marvel movies are often popular among my friends, though there's a whole list of possibilities. One of my gorgeous gal-pals squealed last year when her husband paid for a day-spa treatment with her best friend and then he stayed home and cleaned the house. And I'm talking seriously clean! Then later, they also did the dinner at home and a movie both enjoyed. Nodding to both people, I have to agree that sounds good to me. ❤️
No matter how you live, you might take a moment and appreciate the friends and the loved ones that you have in your life. Buy a few pizzas for the gang, get something special for the significant other, heck ... do something unexpected! But, make sure that you have fun!
Happy Valentine's Day!
BE Happy!
Love and Kisses,
Loonia
Sad to say, one of the worst things happened to me on St. Val's . . . and the memory of it is still a sour point for me whenever the day comes around.
But, I try not to let it get me down. I still do sweet things for the people I care for, and try to just do myself a treat every so often.
Glad to you hear you have fun after all these years, Princess. Thanks for sharing as always, and hope you have a great St. Val's this year.
-- Stephen
Everyone's got one bad Valentine's Day story ... and I had more than I would like to say, but for me, it was when I looked too forward to it and got too revved up. Often, I would find myself hanging out at the local bar, pub, or roadhouse and then having more fun than expected. Go figure.
I try, honey ... it's not always easy when you work as hard as I do. What I used to do ... more driving and hanging out with the bosses while sitting in the car like a cop on a stakeout made a few relationships sour fast. One was the person got jealous ... and started calling me every fifteen minutes. We'd spend about ten minutes talking and then we'd hang up. And, you guessed it ... we'd go through that again. I got accused of screwing around by this person and I was flabbergasted. So I left. That's why I'm single, turret be told. If the other person is only willing to scream, yell, and throw a fit without listening, I'm done.
Mm ... I should and thanks, honey!