As is usually the case with the two of us, we had entirely too much fun on the ride up there.

We stopped at a McDonald’s to grab more coffee and use the ladies room.  WOW, have things  changed since I had small children.  I closed the stall door to a spacious ‘potty’ spot, sat down and found myself looking at a chair mounted on the inside of the door, complete with straps.  Frankly that  kinda creeped me the heck out.   Oh don’t get me wrong, having had to use the bathroom with a small child in tow in my distant past, I get the need and the idea is really a good one as it keeps the little  crumb crunchers out of trouble in a germ infested area.  But my first, very sideways and wrong thought, was “oh, a midget bondage chair!”  Yes, I know, wrong and sick.  My Biker appreciated the sick humor when I shot him a picture of my view from the top of Mount  porcelain.

We got lost, sort of, thanks to mapquesting the directions.  We left the highway 2 exits too soon and the address turned out to be a high school.  But that is okay, because while driving through that area we found some rather interesting businesses.  One called the Splash And Dash car wash.  Next door to that is the Soggy Doggy pet groomer.  The topper was the strip bar in what appears to have been an old church.  Ice the cake with what appeared to be life size iron sheep, horses,  cowboys and some other barnyard critters on the one sidewalk, and well you have one very interesting little town.  We were in tears from laughing.

The rest of the day was, to us Avon reps, the beauty industry version of crack for druggies!  It is a fabulous distribution center, high tech, and totally amazing!  It makes me appreciate what I do for a living all the more.  It was a huge shot in my mojo.  Doesn’t hurt that all of us that went are a peppy group of ladies bursting with excitement for the brand, Avon.

See what one misses when they don’t run with a totally crazy person like myself?  :)

The first time I tried the Bug Guard Plus IR3535,  “Cool ‘N Fabulous” SPF 30 Lotion Disappearing Color. The disappearing color is great if you need to ensure that sun sensitive skin is completely covered as the blue color stays on the skin for a few moments before vanishing. It is, as it says, very water resistant.  This is an ideal product if you have little ones that swim or are outside playing sports.  For my taste, I cannot stand the scent. I am pretty sensitive to smells and didn’t care for it at all.  If I were swimming or had little ones I’d use it but for me personally, no thanks.

This past weekend I used the Bug Guard Plus IR3535 “Gentle Breeze” SPF 30 Lotion.  I’m sold, hooked, LOVE  this stuff.  The scent was pleasant, doesn’t smell like a sun screen to me.  And it works.  I applied it once around 11:30am yesterday, then got on  my honey’s Harley with him and rode all day, in the sun.  When I returned home last night I had tan lines but no sunburn whatsoever.  It should be noted that being a natural blond with very fair skin I tend to burn easily.  I haven’t gone to a tanning bed in over 2 years,  so I had zero base for protection.  Not a single red spot!  Add to that the fact that mosquitoes see a 7 course meal with a super decadent dessert when they spot me, and not a single bite anywhere even though I came home and spent time sitting outside for a while. I am totally sold on this product.

Right now you can purchase  this product on  myAvon Website Store and if you do so before midnight on 5/24 it will ship to you free!  In fact, any size order ships free until that deadline, just use the code: FSMAY2 and you should receive it in a few days time.

I am SO thankful it is Friday.  Been missing my Biker this week, work and life getting in the way of our fun.  But the weather is going to be outstanding so my hope is a lot of throttle therapy.  Frankly I’d settle for some serious snuggle therapy and a few naps, I’m exhausted.

My vampire hours are back, oh the joy.  I expected it last night, between my mind being an over active jumble of thoughts and the Mucinex I took for my stuffy nose it was a sure fired way to be awake half the night.  When I was sleeping it was a lot of screwed up, fitful Twilight Zone style dreams I could have lived without.  It gave me plenty of time to lay there contemplating the bizarre  stuff I see in life that leaves my face contorted in  puzzled thought.

Example…do people not realize that when inside their car, unless they have tinted windows, they are still visible?    I’ve noticed a good number of people cleaning their ears with keys (not a safe practice by the way), shaving,  applying makeup, and picking their nose, examining what was extracted then snacking on said item (stomach turning), sneezing into their hands and wiping in  on the seat or their shirt sleeve…seriously people, knock that nasty crap off!

Ladies, unless your rear luggage rack is in excellent condition, do NOT wear white pants/shorts.  And under NO circumstances should you wear anything that is a mix of spandex.  Yes, curves are sexy to some men, like my honey.  Others, like the ex-spouse think twigs are hot.  Now, what I am about to say is acceptable coming from me, as I have a somewhat over sized load back there:  if you have a large caboose white pants do  not make you look fresh and summer like. They make you look like a major appliance that grew legs.  There is nothing appealing about looking like a refrigerator wrapped in white plastic.  Be comfy in your skin and all that, but  please learn how to dress in ways that compliment your curves.

Gentlemen…what is the fascination with reading in the bathroom???  It is the least comfortable place in any home or office and yet when they need to spend any amount of time in there, most every man I know grabs the sports page or a magazine and struts off  to the commode.  Shortly after the work day started and they had consumed their first cups of coffee, the guys in the office could all be seen making their way to the men’s room with a portion of the newspaper or a trade magazine under the arm.  Come on fellas, we all know what you are doing in there, and it ain’t going to smell pleasant, why would you want to linger over the baseball scores from last night?  Can you seriously not find a better place to call “the library”?  Especially when it is obviously a group activity based on the numbers entering.  If you need to be in there long enough to read anything of length perhaps you should consider an increase of fiber in your diet to move things along.  Get in, get out, and use some air freshner for the sake of all following you in there, please!

One last peeve…when standing in line at the grocery, thumbing through magazines, please do NOT LICK YOUR DAMN FINGERS to turn the page unless you are buying it!  That is just nasty and gross! Not to mention you may be picking up the germs left by the last digit-licker that browsed through it.  Same goes with wetting the finger tips to then count out paper money…you don’t know where those bills have been and that poor cashier  doesn’t want to handle the money after you’ve slimmed it.  Besides, she may give it to me, the next one in line, in my change and then I’m going to run you down with my shopping cart!

If my calculations are correct, Fred would be 97 today.  Fred is my grandpa, the single greatest man to ever walk this planet in my lifetime, and that is my most unhumble opinion of the man.  He was the most generous, kind, positive, wise, beautiful person ever.  I was his first grandchild,  born on his birthday.  I miss him SO much sometimes that I will still tear up.  I can still remember his voice and hear it in my head  as clear as if it were yesterday.  We  always talked on our birthday,  and my first dozen roses came from him, on my first birthday.  He taught me what I now  refer to as the Thumper Rule  (from Bambi), “If you don’t have something nice to say, it isn’t necessary to say anything at all.”  Thumper the rabbit says something similar in the movie Bambi, it is awesome advice.  Fred lived it, I never heard him say anything that was unkind about anyone regardless of who they were, he  always tried to find the good or remained silent.  I sought his advice a few times in my life, and now I would give so much to be able to still ask “what would Fred do” to him.  Instead, when life overwhelms me, I sometimes go find him in the cemetery and lay next to his head stone and talk to him.  I don’t know if beyond this world he can hear me, but I feel better.  I just so often wish I could hear him.  He always called me by my first and middle name, and is the only person I will ever allow to do that.  It’s how I honor his memory.

I was reflecting on the past year last  night as I drifted to sleep, thinking about where I have been, and where I am headed.  I think it is a good time to do this, and a good idea just to be sure I have myself grounded and have a direction to go.  Here are some of those things that I pondered in the night:

I got my heart broken a few times…first by Mr. Wonderful (would have been nice to know before I fell for him that he was married),  then the Superhero (though not at all his fault, timing was just all wrong), and skirted a lifetime of hell with the Count (I dodged a serious bullet on that one, major self centered control freak – I was totally settling when it came to that one).  I vowed to spend this year single, no dating just enjoying life as a single chick.

Fate and destiny had other plans, and they brought the Biker across my  path for the 4th time in as many years.  This time he didn’t mess around with the “come to work for me” angle.  Instead, he  came over the wall of the garden that is my heart and tore down the walls with a sledge hammer.  Thanks to the Count for being a  complete asshole, I would have missed the opportunity to be cherished, adored and loved.  :)

I lost 3 of the kids I enjoyed watching, but gained 2 more part timers.  I half heartedly worked my Avon business, making it to President’s Recognition Club, but not making the kind of money I wanted.  I have since started working on a business plan, so that when school is out I will be done babysitting and can devote myself to working my business with the intent of making it my living and livelihood.  And I’m working on the future husband’s business, as his office/business manager for both that he is working now.  Yes that means no more babysitting for the Marvelous one, I will be entirely too busy.  I also want the freedom to drop everything when he comes in and says “pack the saddle bags, Beautiful, it’s time for some throttle therapy.”

The  most important thing that I learned over the past year was to be true to myself.  No more allowing anyone to tell me who or what I can be, what I can and cannot do,  no more caging the Marvelous one and clipping her wings.  I will never again exchange parts of me to please someone else.  I’m way too strong a personality, and way too much woman for most men to handle.  And I’m okay with that.  I  knew I’d find a man strong enough in character and personality to pair with, and I have in the Biker.

I know that  none of this is news to many of you, just wanted to get my thoughts down.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRED!!!

We DID browse other places and I found a few things  that I simply MUST own.  One, is a an Austrian Crystal chandelier, at the Disney Store of all places.  It isn’t for sale, it is part of their store display.  The floor is a beautiful, midnight blue tile with sparkles in it like diamonds.   I am so all over that except I want a “pink brick road” with diamond sparkles.  After all I AM a princess!  The chandelier had lights shining on it, making it appear PINK! OH HELL YES!!!!  I plan to have an office in my home, from which to run my Avon business as well as my future husband’s business.  I MUST  have this hanging in my office, or something similar, but with REAL pink crystals.  Okay not real crystal, that is an insane, over priced non-necessity.  Just pink do-dads will be fine, they can be plastic or glass, as long as the darn thing is pink!

Upon wandering to the back of the Disney store, we spotted a pea pod, and when we opened it, we found it contains 3, adorable little peas!!!! Again, I must have this.   I do not know WHY I feel I need it, I just do.  And I will go back and buy it one day to put in my office on a shelf, or my desk, because it makes me smile like a little kid.  That alone is a good reason, right?

We strolled into the Godiva store for chocolate, because the daughter gets a free piece every month because she belongs to their chocolate club.  She purchased some chocolate covered strawberries while we were there, that are as big as a toddler’s fist.  Then we sat on a bench and ate those until I thought I was going to be sick to my stomach from the sugar rush of that and the cookie crumble  mocha whatever the hell it is from Starbucks that she felt we simply had to consume.  She had a gift card she had purchased for a former boyfriend turned-out-to-be asshole, so we used it.  :)  I had enough sugar in me to crawl up the wall and across the ceiling!  Frankly,  and I told her this,  Esther Price chocolates are way better than Godiva.  Just sayin.  The guys I used to work with, when I had to send them to Europe for work, would bring me back Godiva and other chocolates from over  seas.  I’ve sampled a variety from many countries.  You can keep them all, Esther Price has them all beat!  But hey, it was still pretty tasty!

We wandered into the Swarovski store and browsed dozens of adorable, high priced crystal objects.  And that is when I spotted the Hello Kitty items.  OMG!!!!! I love Hello Kitty!  I was even wearing my Avon, Hello Kitty watch today!  I know, right? AWESOME!!!!  These are way too damned cute and if I could justify spending $205 on each of them, not to mention the other items, I would, but 2.5 inches tall of crystal, for that price they better clean house and do laundry aside from being adorable.  I was stopped by a store clerk, and told I was not permitted to photograph the items.  Oh WHATEVER!  I was able to slip this shot in before we left. WAAHAAAHAAAA!  That necklace in the back of the photo? $270!!! Like I’d walk out of my house wearing a necklace that cost that much??? But it is fun to look, dream, and then move on.   Just not my style.  Too many cute,  AFFORDABLE Hello Kitty items to be had.

We also stopped by the Reggis salon and had a feather put in my hair.  I’ve always wanted one, another one of those things various men in my past frowned upon.  My daughter has one now, and that motivated me.  I know only too well that my Cowboy Wolfman will love it, because it makes me happy and that alone would cause him to encourage me to get one.  I love that man for letting me just be ME and loving me for who I am.

After we left the mall, we headed to Dancing Wasabi, a sushi place she loves.  The last time she introduced me to sushi was at a Thai place.  It was just okay.  This time? OMG STOP THE PRESSES!  It was to die for delicious.  Yes, I’m so sold and will again dine there with her, hopefully soon.

It was a very fun time, celebrating Mother’s Day, with my amazing baby girl.  We laughed a lot, dreamed a lot,  and shared some special moments.   I love making memories.

This is a one use code per customer, but I have a code you can use on my Avon website to get FREE shipping on ANY size order if you use it before 5/24.  Use it now, before you forget and are disappointed later that you didn’t take advantage of the awesome sales and especially things for Memorial Day and Father’s Day that are in the current brochure on my site.

Just go to MY AVON STORE, and click “Shop My eBrochure” to see the latest book!  Click it and you can page through the catalog and then click items to order!  When you go to check out, use the code  FSMAY1 and your order will ship to you FREE!  Best part? It will be there  within a few days, right to your  door step!

Don’t wait and miss out on the  FREE shipping!  OH and don’t forget, purchase your Bug Guard now, it was a mild winter and the mosquitoes etc will be in abundance this year!

My cowboy rides the steel horse, and he calls me his angel.  The tattoo he is designing for me is a large set of angel wings that will cover most of my back, with various things worked into the feathers of the wings, dates, words and verses that are important to us.  At first glance  you will just see the feathers, but as you look closer there will be things written in them.

COWBOYS AND ANGELS – Dustin Lynch

There’s a want and there’s a need
There’s a history between
Girls like her and guys like me
Cowboys and angels
I’ve got boots and she’s got wings
I’m hell on wheels and she’s heavenly
I’d die for her and she lives for me
Cowboys and angels

Chorus
We ride side by side
A cloud of dust, a ray of light
My touch is her temptation
Her kiss is my salvation
She’s sweet, I’m wild, we’re dangerous
Cowboys and angels

I’m not sure why her path crossed mine
Accident or grand design
Maybe God just kinda likes
Cowboys and angels

Chorus
We ride side by side
A cloud of dust, a ray of light
My touch is her temptation
Her kiss is my salvation
She’s sweet, I’m wild, we’re dangerous
Cowboys and angels

There’s a want and there’s a need
There’s a history between
Girls like you and guys like me
Cowboys and angels

awesome song, isn’t it??? SO perfectly describes us!!

His ancestry is half Cherokee, and half Celtic.  Hence our wedding rings will have Celtic knots because I want to honor that.  From his Cherokee side he bears the symbol of the wolf, a leader,  teacher etc.  No doubt more ink will be had to incorporate that, though my hope is the tattoo artist can work a wolf’s head into the feathers in such a way that you don’t see it right away, but once you do you can never view the ink without seeing it.  We were at Cliffty Falls while down in Madison over the weekend and he spotted this photo, of two Timber Wolves, and said it reminds him of us.  I had to take a picture and then noticed when I pulled it up that you can see our images in it (click to enlarge the photo).

I love it and would love to have it printed and framed in the house one day.

Hopefully with a few adjustments I’m making this week, I won’t have to spend a night apart from him anymore, because it is killing me to not have his arm protectively wrapped around me while I sleep apart from him.

While there that evening, we were enjoying a few beers before retiring for some much needed sleep.  Sitting outside on the deck of the restaurant, enjoying live music, my honey went up and requested a song.  Then, in front of everyone there, pulled me out of my chair to dance.  No dance floor, no one else dancing, just us beside our table, because he felt like dancing with me.  I love this man!!!  The next day made me love him more when he got a taste of that temper that supposedly is why the ex divorced me.  He didn’t get mad, offended, or tell me how terrible I am.  My Biker laughed!  He loved me off that edge but still will laugh if it comes up.  He called me his fire cracker, and just doesn’t see what the big deal is, even when I got pissed off and flipped him off, he still laughed and said I’m down right adorable.  It took very little loving from him to totally defuse my anger and make things all better.  He was so sweet about it that it made  me cry, because he totally understood why I was ticked off but instead of going off on me opted to kiss and hold me.

So today,  I’m multi-tasking my Monday away.  Planning wedding details,  working on my Avon business, doing office manager work for my Biker’s company, baby-sitting, and still managed to create a make-believe crime scene in the bathtub.  In other words, I dyed my hair today.  My roots were starting to get out of hand and it was fading some from so much time in the sun on the back of my baby’s Harley the past 3 weekends.  Trouble is when you dye your hair a deep, reddish brown,  it looks like blood in the shower when you rinse out the color after the specified time for the dye to work it’s magic.  Kinda expect to hear the music from “Psycho” playing in the background.  I may have to purchase this shower curtain, it is cool and would be just quirky enough to fit into our home.

I know for many it seems we are moving rather quickly toward marriage.  Keep in mind, I’m no stranger to falling in love.  I’ve been married twice and have a number of very serious relationships under my belt.  I’ve been in love, and I’ve been head over heals in love, and I even know what it is like to love heart, soul, body and mind with every cell in me.  That one divorced me.  Go figure.  But once again, I find myself with feelings like that.  Feelings that put someone at the center of my world.  I know, I said it would never happen again.  Never say never.  So what, so twice in my life I will experience a love that transcends all other loves I’ve known.  Only this time it is with a man that doesn’t want to change a single thing about me.

I’m very socially connected.  Wide open book, I check in everywhere on various social media outlets.  I pour my heart and soul out on my blog at times.  He knows this, has set no limits on my doing this.

I love to wear pink streaks in my hair.  He loves it.

Sometimes I may decide to dye my hair a different color.  He encourages it.

I want more tattoos. He is designing them.

I have a temper at times, though much less of one thanks to my meds.  When I lose it, he gets affectionate and kisses, hugs and loves me off the edge of the cliff, all the while thinking I am an adorable little spit fire when I’m pissed off.

I’m loud and obnoxious, he doesn’t mind one bit.

If I flip him off with my middle finger, he doesn’t get pissed or take it as an insult, he grabs me up in a bear hug and says “okay baby, let’s go” and heads for the bedroom.

I’m kind of a freak, he is too and adores my freaky side and my very vanilla side.

He loves ME, wants me to be ME and be free from any cages or boxes.

He thinks  I’m beautiful at my most unattractive moments.

On our recent trip to Alabama last weekend, two  things DID get crossed off that list of dreams/fantasies.  His Navy brother was getting married so we went down for the wedding.  During the outdoor reception, once it was dark, a romantic tune was playing.  He pulled me out of my chair and onto the front lawn, and we slow danced under the stars.  SO much love in those eyes while we danced and he kept touching my face telling me I was beautiful,  it was so sweet and wonderful.  And without giving away details….we made  love in the sunshine on the return trip, still thankful for those remote  locations off the beaten paths that allow for  spontaneous moments to become awesome memories.

Yes, it is life in the fast lane at the moment.  I’m okay with that.  And it has not come without a price.  My son, my oldest child, has cut me from his life.  He drew a line in the sand that he will have nothing to do with me if I’m with a 1%er.  He feels I do not know what I’m doing.  I’ve researched more than he knows, come to find out that even a fellow law enforcement friend of his has a lot of misinformation about this brotherhood my man is a part of, out and out wrong information.  But they will believe what they want to believe, I’m seeing it from another side and see a totally different picture.

I’m not  choosing my Biker over my son.  I’m choosing MY happiness.  I’m about to be 49yo.  I’m no stranger to life and problems, love and  heart break.  I’m no fool, I do my homework.  I judge by the character of the man, not the patch on the vest.  I am not getting any younger.   Life is  there, and I won’t stand outside the fire because it is safe.   Someone has come along that makes me HAPPY.   He loves me for ME,  not who he  can change me to be.  He is honest, real,  has a heart of  gold and while he is a bad boy, he is a very very good man.  He loves his Lord, loves his brotherhood, takes care of  those in the world that need help, and he loves me.  I’m choosing to be the center of someone’s world.

I want to dance, with my Biker, in the rain, as his wife.

Yes, I DID just use the  ’M’ word (marry), I’ll come back to that.  Relax, you can wait a bit!

Where was I?….Oh yes.  Well I’ve mentioned my honey is a biker, runs with a 1%’er club.  Not going to give the name, it is NOT important to know.  I will say this, I did a lot of research on this.  Law enforcement has  their side, and the clubs have their version, and from what I can tell the two overlap a bit and in the middle, just a like a divorce, is the truth.  For  those that don’t understand what a 1%’er club/gang is, go and read this article, A Guide To Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs, it may be eye opening for those that view them as scary or dangerous.,

Damn, I hijacked my post again, back on track here.  My baby is a biker, the real deal. Hard core, he will and does ride in the cold and rain.  LONG rides, he is not a Harley owner that rides in nice weather for short trips  (under 300 miles) and then thinks they are a biker.  He has close to 5000 miles on his Harley in the past month.  Some in freezing temps, pouring rain, and almost all racked up over 4 weekends.   He rides hard and the group rides fast.  Okay so does he.

I’ve never been overly fond of highway riding, in fact I hated it.  And then, as mentioned in a recent post, I wanted to get to my baby on the other side of Memphis, so I hitched a ride with the brothers and rode all night, 500 miles, to get to him.  With someone who has “Crazy” as a part of his nickname.  In the COLD.  At speeds in excess of 85mph.  The semi trucks were so close in the lane next to us at times I swear I could have reached out and touched them.  I got over that fear of the highway real darn fast.  It was not at all how my wolfman wanted to initiate me into this, he had hoped to gradually ease me into the long rides and the less than fun weather conditions and high speeds.  Oh well, it was a baptism by fire for me and I did not complain once.

Then when it was the chapter up date, I added 300 miles to my biker chick resume, in the rain.  At least this time it was on the back of my man’s bike with him.  I slept in a tent etc, but I covered that.

This past weekend a friend of my wolfman was getting married….in lower Alabama.  700 miles one way.  The plan had been to ride down over a two day run, but it was SO cold and already 11pm when we got on the road that we just stayed in a hotel and did the 700 miles in one shot, one day.  And to think my ex-husband wouldn’t ride to Gatlinburg because he didn’t think I could  handle the 300 mile trip. BA HA HA HA HA HA!  In 3 trips  I’ve racked up 2550 miles on baby’s Harley over 3 weekends.  I’ve ridden at 95mph, rode in the rain, cold (VERY cold),  and even once told my honey to just smoke the idiot in the car next to us that was playing speed games.  And again I  never complain.  I ride with hair messed up from both helmet and non-helmet  states.  I even got tired and figured out  how to sleep back there  without falling off.  He told me I am definitely a hard-core biker babe.  I LOVE it.  I LOVE riding and the elements just don’t matter to me.

Okay now back to the marriage thing. YES I AM getting married.  I know I said it would never happen at one point,  and up until recently had been posting reasons to be single.  That was before the biker entered my life in a way he had not before.  With a sledge hammer, knocking down the walls to my heart’s garden from the inside out.  We were holding off until July, but now we might just move it up and do it in June.

These will be my engagement and wedding bands.  Pink sapphire, since it is my favorite color, and rose gold setting, since that is pink gold.  I LOVE these.  He has Cherokee and Celtic heritage so the Celtic knot was my idea.  :)