All About Higher Learning

   

      Let’s talk about school, because I can!  The one school that I have coveted and would have LOVED to attend is the University of Notre Dame.  Unfortunately, it has always been a bit out of reach even though I did win a scholarship to Notre Dame when I was in high school.  It was for science of all things.  Can you imagine?  I was hell-bent at the time on going to Belmont University and studying music business, which is what I did.   That didn’t last, of course, because it was a passing fancy.  Ever since I was little I wanted to be an artist.  That was my pipe dream, so there is little wonder I ended up studying graphic design at Indiana Vocational Technical College.  Still my heart will always belong to Notre Dame.  When I walk around campus there, I am home.

          What about Hogwarts?  Who wouldn’t want to go to the school of wizardry and witchcraft?   Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to do magic, hex someone, or visit Diagon Alley for supplies?   If I had been lucky enough to study at Hogwarts, I would most definitely be in Ravenclaw for my intelligence, wit, and my ability to think outside the box.  I had to study up on the characteristics of all houses and go to Pottermore and face the sorting hat.  The sorting hat placed me in Ravenclaw!  I could never be a Gryffindor because not only am I afraid of heights, I am not keen on trying new things and am scared shitless of things like roller coasters.  No way in God’s green earth would you ever catch me flying on a broom or a hippogriff.  While I can be loyal, protective, and hardworking like a Hufflepuff, if I get a hair across my ass the wrong way, I am capable of cutting people out of my life forever without a backwards glance.  Sad but true.  Finally, while I am all about self-preservation, I simply am not ambitious enough to belong in Slytherin.

       
      If you are following the prompts from NaBloPoMo, you will probably be scratching your head about now thinking, didn’t she combine two prompts?  Ten points to you, that would be correct!

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Home Sweet Home

      NaBloPoMo asks:

  If I could live anywhere, where would it be? 

      Although there are lots of places I would love to visit, there is no sure guarantee I would really want to live there.  When I was a teenager, all I wanted to do was move to Nashville, Tennessee and start my life.  I graduated from high school and the following August, I moved to Nashville and became a resident in one of the dorms at Belmont University.  Once I got there, I realized a very important truth about myself.  While I loved visiting Nashville, if my folks weren’t there I really didn’t want to be there either.

 
 

       They say home is where your heart is, and all those years ago I realized that was the case with me.  As long as I have my husband, kids, and pets I could live anywhere.  Without my little family, it wouldn’t matter how beautiful the scenery, it just would never be home.

 

       I could say I would love to live in a sprawling castle in Scotland or in the picturesque countryside that surrounds London, but would I be happy?  I could say that I would give anything to live by the ocean, but after seeing the destruction of the recent hurricane, would I really want to live with that possible threat hanging in the air ?  I may discover that while it was a nice place to visit, I wouldn’t really want to live there.  Since I have a snowball’s chance in hell of living anywhere else besides where I am right now, I will be content right where I am at. 

      After all there is no place like home until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

I Dreamed that I …BFF 202

    I dreamed that I was young again living in Nashville, Tennessee in the basement of the dorm at Belmont University.  I woke to discover not only that my roommate had left to parts unknown but that the whole place seemed to be deserted except for me.  The silence was deafening.




     With panic rising I hurriedly bolted from my bed and went looking for someone, anyone.  I didn’t bother to dress.  I simply left in my night gown and bare feet.  Every door stood open with each room equally deserted.  Where is everyone?  Why didn’t they wake me and take me with them?  I felt an urgency to find someone and discover where they had gone.  I bolted up the stairs two at a time and burst into the lobby which also was equally deserted.  It was odd.  Even more strange was that every clock I passed including my watch had stopped at precisely 12:00.  None of them appeared to be in working order.  It was if everyone had vanished and time stood still from that moment on.

     As fear continued to grip my heart I rushed out onto campus feeling sure I would discover someone there.  The grounds were also eerily silent except for the pounding of my heart.  There were no sounds, no sign of life, and no movement anywhere.  I rushed across campus toward the mansion that is the centerpiece of the grounds.  Even it looked eerily deserted.  It didn’t make sense.  As I approached, I saw movement in an upstairs window.  A ghostly face peered out behind the curtain and then just as quickly was gone.

      I raced to the front door certain that the person I seen would know where everyone was and would know why I was alone.  I desperately needed the answers that would calm my sense of panic.  The front door was locked tight.  I beat on the door with both fists in vain.  No one came to the door.  Frustrated, tears swam in my eyes.  “Where is everyone!!?  G0d help me! “I screamed in frustration.  Maybe I had only imagined I seen someone.  Perhaps Adelicia Acklen Cheatham’s ghost was making her rounds.  That thought didn’t exactly make me feel all warm and cozy inside.  I gazed up at the window again.  The face was gone. There was no sign of life there either.  My mind was simply playing tricks on me. 

          Sweat poured off my brow.  I was hot and winded from running.  I didn’t understand what was happening.  I decided to turn around and return to the dorm with hopes that someone would be there by now.  I climbed the hill.  My breath was labored and I was instantly exhausted from my merry chase and my fear.  Maybe there would be someone to be found in the other girl’s dorm.  There had to be someone.  Certainly a campus that is normally swarming with people wouldn’t be deserted as if evacuated for a natural disaster.  

       Unlike my dorm, the other girl’s residence hall has an elevator.  Being hot and tired, I had no intention of running up or down any more stairs and chose to take full advantage of it.  With purpose I marched up to the elevator and pressed the up button and patiently waited.  The elevator arrived and I stepped inside.  As the doors slid closed I pressed a random floor and waited watching the numbers light up in slow succession as it made its ascent.  Suddenly everything went black and the elevator plummeted.  Falling to the floor, I scream in terror, and woke screaming and sitting bolt upright in bed sweating profusely, panting, and suddenly wide awake.  It was a dream, only a silly dream.  It was simply a silly dream that seemed so incredibly real that it left me gasping for breath, dripping with sweat, and trembling.  

       I have never understood what that dream meant.  I have dreamt it several times over the years since I left Belmont University.  Although I am usually alone, there have been other similar dreams when I have been accompanied by my kids and even my husband, which is even more incredible since they have never even been there.  Sometimes I have dreamed that although I have found others I wasn’t able to communicate with them.  It was as if I was invisible or didn’t exist in their reality.  They couldn’t hear or see me.    I rarely dream, but when I do it is always some bizarre twisted tale which makes absolutely no sense.  Although my parent’s visits in my dreams are rare, I find when they do grace my dreams with their presence I fight waking up because I am desperate to remain with them as long as I can.   Since most of my dreams leave me wondering why, or scaring the be Je$us out of me I am just as happy to simply sleep dreamless until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.
       

Oh! What a Night- BFF 185

     A star studded glittering night that will always stand out in my memory was the night my mom and I attended the CMA awards in Nashville, Tennessee.  The day dawned much like any other Thursday on the campus of Belmont University.  I woke early, showered, grabbed my books, and headed for breakfast and then class.  My mom had been in town all week visiting. When my classes were through for the day, she picked me up from my dorm, and spirited me away to the Opryland Hotel where she had a room.  

         Nashville was popping this particular day in anticipation of the CMA award show at the Grand Ole Opry that night, and there was no greater place to be than at the hotel.   My mom picked me up and we headed to one of the great restaurants at the hotel for a late lunch.  We were wandering near the shops in the hotel when a man approached us and said “Hey, would you be interested in going to the awards tonight?  I happen to have a couple tickets if you are interested.”  Does a bear $hit in the woods?  My mom found out how much the tickets were and before I could draw another breath, money exchanged hands and we were going to the award show.

        I had the perfect dress across town at the dorm.  I had been asked to bring a fancy cocktail dress to meet the Dean at a glittering reception at the university’s restored mansion.   My mother always loved to dress to the nines, so for her ensemble for the night we made a quick stop at Nashville’s mall at Green Hills.  Having spent many years touring around the country side with the Oak Ridge Boys, we were fairly familiar with several of the celebrities milling about the hotel.  The night would prove even more thrilling as events played out because our dear friends in the Mighty Oaks Band were nominated, and actually did take home “Band of the Year” that night.

         Not only were we entitled to be in the audience at the show, but our tickets also included the star studded party afterwards at the hotel.  I will never forget the thrill of seeing Lionel Richie perform “Deep River Woman” with Alabama on stage that night.  I grew up singing along with Lionel Richie, and learned several of his songs to perform for choir concerts in high school.  To meet him was an especial thrill I would have never dreamed possible.  I got my chance at the after awards party in the Opryland Hotel grand ballroom.

        After the show, the crowd drifted out of the Grand Ole Opry and strolled along a red carpet that was illuminated by hanging electric candelabra above.  Excitement was in the air and the mood was electric.  The ballroom was filled with country music’s elite and other notable celebrities from the music business.  Tables were filled with fabulous food and ornate ice sculptures with waiters mingling throughout the crowd passing out champagne.  I even met up with several members of the Mighty Oaks Band and was able to extend my heart felt congratulations in person.  The coolest thing about the whole night was getting to see their award up close and personal.

       The party roared on into the night fueled by exuberance.  Unfortunately, Cinderella eventually turned back into a pumpkin and it was rise and shine at the butt crack of dawn for college algebra the next morning.  I will always cherish the memories from that night.  We happened to be in the right place, at the right time with the right amount of money on hand.  Mom always said “Money talks, and bull$hit walks” and on that particular occasion the saying became fact.  Oh, what a night until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.