Behind the Music - Summer, the First Time

 The title kind of says it all. But let me back up...

Bobby Goldsboro was a popular pop and country singer/songwriter in the 60s and 70s. He was best known for wholesome songs like "Watching Scotty Grow", "Little Things", "Honey" (the biggest hit of his career) and "Little Green Apples".

Then once the 70s hit, Mr. Goldsboro went left in 1973. He wrote a controversial song entitled, "Summer (The First Time), which reached the Top 25. As a young girl barely out of toddler hood 😄 this song was absolutely scandalous. Let's look at the lyrics. As always, I own no rights to this song and make no profit from it:

'It was a hot afternoon, the last day of June, and the sun was a demon. The clouds were afraid, 110 in the shade, and the pavement was steaming.' So far, so good: it's a hot day and he really drove home this point and set the stage.

Then we get to 'I told Billy Ray, in his red Chevrolet, I needed time for some thinking. I was just walking by, when I looked in her eye, and I swore it was winking.' Yep: now we're starting to get an inkling...

'She was 31 and I was 17-' Hold the phone Mrs. Robinson: what nefarious thoughts were budding in your head about this innocent boy? 'I knew nothing 'bout love, she knew everything, but I sat down beside her on a front porch swing, and wondered what the coming night would bring?" I bet you did little boy! Even though you shouldn't have been wondering anything where this woman was concerned, except how many other teen boys had sat on that porch with her! Let's continue:

'The sun closed her eyes, as it climbed in the skies, and it started to swelter. The sweat trickled down, the front of her gown, and I thought it would melt her.' Now see if it was me, I wouldn't have been sitting outside sweating. But apparently she wanted him to watch the sweat dripping off of her. Yuck.

'She threw back her hair, like I wasn't there, and she sipped on a julep. Her shoulders were bare, and I tried not to stare, when I looked at her two lips.' Um...are you sure it was her two lips you were trying not to stare at? 'And when she looked at me I heard her softly say, "I know you're young, you don't know what to do or say, but stay with me until the sun has gone away, and I will chase the boy in you away."' Say what Mrs. Robinson??? Was 17 the age of consent in your state in 1973?

'And then she smiled, then we talked for a while, then we walked for a mile to the sea. We sat on the sand and a boy took her hand, but I saw the sun rise as a man.' 😲

At this part of the song you hear the crescendo of violins and hear waves in the background...you get the idea. Just in case you didn't realize they had sex. I'm sorry: she had sex. He "made love". And I guess his parents didn't realize he wasn't home at lights out. Or maybe they thought he was spending the night at Billy Ray's. Seriously.

The last part of the song: 'Ten years have gone by since I looked in her eye, but the memory lingers. I go back in my mind, to the very first time, and feel the touch of her fingers.' I have absolutely no doubt that he remembers that time: probably every single day. And I'm sure if he was with anyone else after that (no guarantees!) he compared them all to Mrs. Robinson. But I bet her next deflowering was with Billy Ray! Where's that song???

Thank You, Merci, Gracias!!

 As of today, October 10, 2022, my little blog has 30,004 reads! Whoo hoo!! Of course, it is thanks to all of you that are faithful readers. I am truly humbled at your loyalty; and appreciate those of you who share my blog with the people you know 💛 

I would like to share some numbers with you; as it appears that not only is the blog being read in the U.S.: but also overseas! I always say I have no idea how they found it, but I'm glad they did. I know that Google + (rest in peace) had a lot to do with it, so I am thankful for the time that platform was alive and well. Regardless, over the lifetime of the blog, here is a synopsis of where it has been read:

19,600 U.S, 1,330 France, 1,140 Russia, 661 Canada, 644 Unknown Region (the International Space Station???), 615 United Arab Emirates, 598 Germany, 466 Poland, 336 Portugal, 203 Spain, 134 Ukraine, 126 India, 121 Belgium, 113 Mauritius, 109 Netherlands, 103 Argentina, 95 Japan, 86 Switzerland, 63 United Kingdom and 3,420 Other (where / who are these people?).

I wish I knew who some of the people are in the foreign countries, but it's all good. I am thankful for their readership!

I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you so much for your loyalty. Hopefully I can keep you entertained, or thoughtful, or emotional for the next 30,000! And always feel free to leave me a comment or just reach out in general. Much love! 💛💓

Yes it's a real cake, and yes it was delicious! I will miss Gamble's Bakery when they close at the end of the month. May the memories live on forever 😎, but hopefully not the pounds!

A Little Knowledge...

 …can be a horrible, tragic thing.

Very recently, I was given some information that devastated me. It was something that had been briefly broached to me before, but then was brushed aside as it was unsubstantiated.

Unfortunately, I cannot go into detail about all that I now know is truth, as I wish to protect some parties involved. But I have discovered, once again, that just because a package is pretty on the outside, doesn't mean that what's inside isn't dark, disturbing and disgusting.

Since learning of this tangled situation, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Normally, I would give it to God and move forward. But this time I seem to be stuck in a time loop of terrible thoughts with my mind seemingly unable to process that what I now know is real. I know God has this. But if you know me at all, you know I'm a fixer. However, I can't fix this. I am certainly available to the innocent people involved, but there's only so much I can do in this situation without throat-punching the evil bastard responsible. And even if I did that: it doesn't erase what already happened. So Jesus, please take the wheel on this one; and let there be healing to repair all of the damage that has been done.

Amen. 

It's For A Good Cause!

 I was sitting on my sofa minding my own business (mistake #1) when Brie came home from work. "Guess what?" she said. "What?" "We're having a bake sale at work!" "Cool. What are you contributing?" "Your famous brownies."

I rolled my eyes. "Are you making my famous brownies?" "Well no. But because you're so smart and pretty and the bestiest baker ever, I figured that you would like to make them." Ugh. "Why me?" "Because it's for a good cause!"

It might have been for a good cause, but it wasn't my good cause. However, I begrudgingly said I would make them. "When do you need them?" "Not for a couple of weeks. I was volun-told that I needed to be on the committee so this will be my contribution." "Okay."

A week later, I was sitting on my sofa minding my own business (mistake #2) when Brie came home from work. "Have I told you lately how much I love you, and how pretty you look sitting there and oh so young?" she said, smiling sweetly at me. I gave her a look. "What?" "I have good news for you!" Now I was really suspicious. "What?" "Well, you no longer have to make your famous brownies." I sighed in relief. "Great! So what are you making instead?" "Um, your famous chocolate covered bacon!"

"Are you kidding me??? I'd rather make the brownies! Why did you mention the bacon?" She had the grace to look contrite. "It wasn't me, it was Becky! She was telling the big boss about how I had brought in some before, and it was so delicious, and he was like oh I've never even heard of that, who made it? and she was like Brie's mom Rita and so they decided that the chocolate covered bacon would be a big seller and it's for a good cause!"

Yes my chocolate covered bacon (it really is a thing) is wonderful and merges savory and sweet in the best way possible, but it's a pain to make. And to make enough for a bake sale? I glowered at my oldest daughter. "You soooo owe me!" "Thanks momma!! It will be the best thing at the bake sale! And remember: it's for a good cause." "Yeah, yeah."

I put it off for as long as I could, but by 9:00 pm Sunday night I knew I had to make that chocolate covered bacon for the next day before I fell asleep. It's a bit of a process and takes quite a while, especially when you're making enough for a bake sale and I don't use the pre-cooked bacon (I don't trust it)! However, it was for a good cause! So I had the oven going because that's how I cook my bacon. I had to monitor the bacon, make sure I had snack bags to divide it up into, make the chocolate dipping concoction. All with no help from the person on the committee who was currently on the sofa! 

Finally, around midnight, the luscious chocolate covered bacon was all laid out on sheets to harden overnight. I told Brie the least she could do would be to put it in the snack bags in the morning, which she graciously agreed to do 😒

Fast forward to mid-morning the next day. I hadn't heard from Brie so I emailed her. "Hey, how's the bake sale going? Did they like the bacon? Did it sell out fast?" After a few minutes I got this reply:

"Um...the bacon was the biggest hit! It didn't quite make it to the sale. I gave a snack bag to Becky, and then I couldn't leave out her boss. He loved it so I actually tried a piece, and it was soooo delicious! Then Laurel wanted to know what we were all eating so I gave her a bag too, along with Trevor. Long story short: it never left my team and we ate all of it!"

"WHAT???" I typed. "You said it was for the bake sale and a good cause!"

"It was, but they had enough stuff. Cookies and cupcakes and the like. Everyone on my team loved the bacon and said thank you and you're the best!"

So it looks like I slaved over a hot stove for the good cause of her and her greedy co-workers! Brie soooo owes me!

I Think This Could Happen

 Last night, the group Shinedown was at SPAC with Jellyroll opening. Brie was bummed that she couldn't go because her boyfriend had to work, and they had wanted to go together. As she was bemoaning the fact that she hadn't seen any concerts this year, I had to remind her of two things: 1) he took her to Hawaii for a week; and 2) she was going with me to see Chris Botti (hey, I needed someone to drive me to Troy!). As you can imagine, the second one didn't make her happy!

However, I am very happy. In case you didn't hear the screams of joy last month: I have secured second row seats to see jazz trumpeter extraordinaire Chris Botti in concert in October! Yes I have seen him before but I need to see him again! The first time I saw him, Kitty and I were at SPAC to see her favorite group Earth, Wind & Fire. Chris was the opening act. After his set, he was doing a free meet and greet and I hustled Kitty over so I could have him sign my CD. All was going well and I knew once he met me, he would realize we were meant to be. When it was my turn, he asked my name and chatted as he signed the CD. I was already trying out the name "Rita Botti" in my head. Then he got to Kitty and said, "How are you this evening?" to which she replied, "I'm here to see Earth, Wind & Fire". That was the dart that burst my dream balloon!

But now I have the chance to try it again! When I saw Maria Schneider at the Troy Music Hall, she did an impromptu meet and greet afterwards and signed my program. I'm pretty sure Chris will do the same. I can't wait!

As Brie and I were getting ready to leave for work this morning, I said to her, "Do you think Sting will be with Chris Botti when he does my favorite song?" "I really don't know mom." And then inspiration hit: if Sting couldn't make the concert to sing, maybe Chris Botti would invite me onstage to sing "It's Probably Me" with him! I could contact him via social and suggest it to him!

There was a slight look of alarm on Brie's face as we started walking down the hall. "Um...I don't know about that. You don't sing on stage." "But I sing solos at church and I'm part of the worship team so it's like the same thing! I'll show you." And I burst into an impromptu chorus from the song.

For some reason, Brie began walking faster. "Why are you walking so fast?" Then we got to the stairs and she fairly flew down all 30 of them. "Wait! How does it sound?" I asked, trying to catch up to her. I'll admit it: I don't quite know all the words and made some up, but I needed her to get the gist of how it would sound. And I may not have had the perfect key either, but still: "Picture it with the trumpet!"

She didn't even hold the downstairs door for me! I followed her to the parking lot and called, "What did you think??" I think I'm glad I didn't hear her answer!

Thankfully I have time to practice. You know: so I can be prepared just in case. Stranger things have happened. To paraphrase from the song: "If there's one girl, just one girl, Chris Botti should give a whirl, it's hard to say it, but I have to say it, it's probably me."  I believe this could happen! And admit it: Rita Botti has a really nice ring to it!

I Just Wanted to Hang Up My Dress

 Friday night I decided to go through the Loft bag that had been delivered that day. It was just like Christmas! (still working on that 'date' wardrobe) The first thing I took out of the bag was a lovely white sweater with blue stripes. Too bad it was something I had already ordered that wasn't returnable! So Brie got the sweater. Twinning!

Then I took out what I knew to be a dress, but it was a color I never wear. It looked orange, but according to the tag it was 'bright Paprika'. Brie said, "Well that's different." She was right. But I took it out of the plastic and you know what? It was a nice dress! Maybe I needed a fresh pop of color. So I decided to hang it in Brie's spacious closet with my other dresses. I put my feet into a pair of flip flops and went into her room with her behind me. I got a hanger, put the dress on it and proceeded to hang it up. And then something happened...

I turned to say something to her, not realizing that the flip flops I had on were slippery. My left foot slipped a little and I put my left hand on her hamper, leaning as my right foot came up off the ground. Brie said, "Put your foot down!" but it was too late. My hand sunk in the clothes, I slid a little more as my right foot rose higher, and the next thing I knew I was laying on some shoe boxes next to the fallen hamper. "Are you okay?" Brie asked, stifling laughter I'm sure. I had to laugh. "Yes I believe so." One of the shoe boxes had come open and Brie said, "I've been looking for those shoes!" "Really?" I said. "I'm glad I could help you find them! While you celebrate finding your shoes, can you help me up?"

Before she could do that Lilly came in the room, saw me on the floor and started whimpering, running over and scrambling on top of the boxes so she could examine me to make sure I was all right. Then she gave Brie the stink eye because she thought Brie had tried to hurt me! Vivian came in too but was disinterested in poor Grammy laying on the floor so she left. Hater!! So now I'm trying to reassure Lilly and calm her down, while Kitty entered the room to see what was going on. And then came the project of getting me up. 

I have a bad left shoulder so I couldn't use the foot board of the bed to pull myself up. I had knee surgery so I couldn't get on my knees to get up. Kitty took my right hand to pull me up but that wasn't successful either. There wasn't enough room between the shoe boxes, Lilly and the bed. So I finally had to scoot on my butt until I was past the bed, roll over onto my poor bony knees and haul myself up. Ouch! Then I limped back into the living room.

Luckily I hadn't hit my head on anything. But I knew my neck, back and hip would be sore for a few days. Thankfully poor traumatized Lilly got up in my lap to make me feel better. Not!

Ever helpful Brie said, "I don't know why you wore those flip flops. They are very slippery." Are they Brie? I wear them because you bought them for me!

Here is the dress that started it all:

Cute, right? Yet not worth the aches and pains. And Brie is not allowed to buy me any more flip flops!

The Blueberry Club

 There is this great local supermarket that I frequent called Market 32. It used to be called Price Chopper, but I guess that wasn't fancy enough so they had to upgrade the name.

A big perk of shopping here is they have an Advantage card, which entitles you to extra discounts on grocery items and Sunoco gas. We could all use that now! And when they have special items, like bakeware and cookware, you can use your points to buy them. I was all about the MasterChef cookware!

Anyhoo, I was perfectly happy with my Blue Advantage card, until I noticed a woman ahead of me in line. She took out her Advantage card, and the picture on it was blueberries! You know I had to ask her where she got it from, and she said, "When I signed up for the card, this is what they sent me."

As you can imagine: I was so jealous! I had a plain old blue card, and she had blueberries! My mission was to get one of those cards! So when I went home, I ordered a new Advantage card and eagerly awaited delivery. When the envelope came in the mail, I ripped it open, unfolded the sheet -

- And the same plain blue card was in there! I was so upset! I wanted to be part of the Blueberry Club too! To try to make myself feel better, I did buy a reusable bag that had the blueberries on it, but it wasn't the same. 

My ire was further raised when the girls decided to get their own Advantage cards instead of me getting all the points. As you already know: of course they were both given the blueberry card! Why was I being excluded from this obviously exclusive club? Why did Price Chopper / Market 32 hate me???

So I had to suck it up and not sulk like the child I am inside. I would just continue to use the stupid plain Advantage card and be satisfied.

Then my card stopped working, and I used my license for the points. Yep: I did that right up until a male cashier one day said to me, "You live in South Glens Falls, right?" "Um...I might. Why?" "Well I saw your address on your license the other day. I grew up right around the corner from your family and I know your brother." That's when I knew I had to stop using my license! I didn't need anyone showing up at my house because they know my brother! That was all the impetus I needed to go online to sign up for a replacement card.

My new card arrived Saturday. I opened the envelope and unfolded the sheet, and what to my wondering eyes should appear? A blueberry card to fill me with cheer! I was finally a member of the Blueberry Club! I immediately put the card in my wallet, and I even have one for my keychain which I display proudly because I'm a nerd. Yet I feel like one of the cool kids now 😎 Thanks Market 32! Recognize!