Tag Archives: nostalgia

a walk down mammary lane–I mean, memory lane.

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RWA National Conference is this week. I swore I wasn’t going to be sad about not going–and part of me isn’t. I mean, I really have no legitimate business reason to be there this year. The workshops looked blah, the speakers didn’t seem inspiring (NO MICHAEL HAUGE!) and my book isn’t out until next year. Honestly, it would’ve just been one expensive party.

I love parties. I wanna be in SAN FRANCISCO!

So I chose my annual trip to the beach in August over National Conference this year. It wasn’t an easy choice, but being grown up isn’t very easy, now is it?

But here I am on the eve of my original reservation, crying in my caramel coffee.

2000 writers in one hotel brings such an amazing energy, that you can’t help leave inspired. I am going to miss that. I am going to miss my friends. Louisa and Kristen are already there. Marley is on her way. My agent, Deidre, flies out tomorrow…

Oh well, there’s no sense in wallowing in my sorrow. I’m really not a very good wallower anyway. I think I’ll look at the blogs I posted from last year, enjoy the memories and the tatas, and remember that next year in DC, it will be 100x better because Maria’s book BUNCO BABES TELL ALL, my book, BITE ME!, Louisa’s book CAN’T STAND THE HEAT and Marley’s book GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING all debut next year…and it is going to be Rock Lobster AWESOME.

To enjoy memories and piccies from last year, please go here:

  1. Day the 1st: a shuttle ride with Eloisa James!
  2. Day the 2nd: in which a girl gets her nose pierced.
  3. Day the 3rd: wine with the lovely Barbara Samuel.
  4. Night the 3rd: who’s tits are these
  5. Day the 4th: drag queen karaoke and hangovers
  6. Conference wrap up

i refuse to let matt jones snort away my day

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This makes me feel better. One of my favorite movies (13 Going on 30)…and one of my favorite dances. C’mon, admit it. When Thriller was released, you kept the cable box punched into MTV channel all day, just so you could watch the video and learn the dance.

Only me? Oh well. I can rock the Thriller dance. (well, I used to rock the Thriller dance)

So, screw you and whatever you put up your nose, my former hero. I’m going back to celebrating my nose-pierce-iversary. Cheers!

def leppard always makes me happy.

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In a funk? Have some Def Leppard. Go on. It won’t hurt.

Don’t you want to tease your bangs 14 ft high and spray them with a can of Aquanet and hit the clubs wearing your shoulder padded jacket, short skirt, and fishnets? Only me?


(actual year: 1993) Yes. That’s really me. I can’t apologize enough.

working for the weekend…

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The vacay is over.

I’ve taken a part-time job. The good news is, it’s a quiet, laid back company and I’m just answering the phone and doing odds and ends. I was ‘recruited’ by a friend of mine who is the HR director here. He’s been after me since August to come work here full-time, but honestly, I need to keep half of my day available to write. Especially with the boys sports and summer coming. So, I’m working 8-1 Monday-Friday.

Everyone here has been very nice and welcoming. That’s a good thing. Cuz I don’t need no drama.

Ian graduated 8th grade last night and is now on his way to Washington DC for his class trip.

Favorite moment last night? When Rader commented that he wouldn’t be in the choir because singing was just ‘high pitched whispering’.

Least favorite moment? Realizing the little boy who’s bottom once fit in the palm of my hand, will be in high school in just a few months. Sigh. I want my 5lb 6oz treefrog back.

blast from the past

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Back in October, I blogged about having lunch with an old friend of mine from High School. In that post, I told the story of how we spent part of our 9th grade year as enemies, fighting over a boy. In that blog post, I named names.

You take a chance when you name someone in a blog, because people google themselves or their friends/family google them. And you have to decide if this is someone you possibly want to reconnect with or not. I had no problem reconnecting with Denton, so on the off chance he might find me, I named him.

Denton and I stayed pals throughout high school, even after he moved away from Bryant to Searcy. He joined the Marine Corps and we still stayed in touch. The last time I saw Denton was 10 years ago at our 10 year high school reunion.

If you haven’t figured out where this post is going, then you’re too slow to be reading my blog. Go away.

Anyway, Denton contacted me the other day. We emailed and chatted on the phone and I figure we’ll meet for lunch sometime soon.

Little known facts about the 9th grade love affair between Melissa McKenzie and Denton McDonald.

  1. Denton gave me my first hickey.
  2. He was the boy I made out with in the sheep barn at the state fair. (which is where #1 occurred) It’s been 23 years and I still think of him when I see any state fair commercial.
  3. We had school pictures the next day and I had to do my very best to hide my hickey. I still have that awful picture, which will NEVER be posted. Maybe. We’ll see. My hair was so bad…and I was wearing a mauve sweater.
  4. We had 2 songs (don’t ask me why I remember this) True, by Spandau Ballet and Islands in a Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (no, I am not making that up.)
  5. When I first fell for him, he had an afro. It was a perm, but I didn’t care, cuz to my little 14 year old heart, it was sexxxy. I have a picture still, somewhere. If I can get him to agree to it, I’m so gonna post it.
  6. He was the only boy I ever wore one of those split heart necklaces with and when we broke up, I threw my heart at him. Sooo dramatic. (like the one pictured, only it said something poignant like, together we are one...)
  7. Our senior year, we fooled around again, but never really dated again.
  8. He was really the only boyfriend I had during all of high school. I dated some, but never really did the whole “relationship” thing. Probably the smartest thing I ever did…

There you go. Little known facts that probably could’ve stayed swept under the rug.

In honor of this nostalgic moment, I give you: Spandau Ballet

it’s tuesday.

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Nothing has changed from yesterday. I didn’t get my pages written because we spent 4 hours house-hunting with a fabulous Realtor. We liked her tremendously and she showed us some great properties. And some not so great ones… Now, to sell our house so that we can purchase one of those (great) properties…

I’m having lunch with a friend of mine from High School. Here’s a piccie of us from our reunion.

Funny thing about Annetta, in 9th grade, we didn’t like each other because of a boy. What is with girls and their catfights over boys? Sometimes I wish we could have a little foresight in high school…it would save us sooooo much turmoil.

His name was Denton McDonald and he was my first real boyfriend in high school. Well, he was really my first real boyfriend ever. I’d had crushes before and I’d been kissed before, but I hadn’t really had a “serious” (like lasting more than a few weeks) boyfriend until my freshmen year. And Denton was it.

He was a bit of a country bad boy. He was the kinda lanky but muscular and at the time I thought he was hot. I mean HAWT.

He gave me my first hickey. Which is totally gross now, but looking back, I guess it was the best kind of branding. It said “She’s with me.” And I’ve always liked that alpha dog thing. Of course being with an Alpha male is hot, for about 10 seconds. Then it gets old. Fast.

Anyway, I got grounded for something (probably my smart mouth, go figure) and Denton couldn’t wait around for me, so he decided to go after Annetta. And of course, in typical teenage fashion, I blamed her. Hah. Girls are so stupid.

It all worked out in the end though. Denton and I remained friends after that year. (Hell, we had no choice, he always sat directly in front of me in class. McDonald/McKenzie) and Annetta and I moved on. (I have never figured out why some girls never move on. It’s HIGH SCHOOL for Chrissake! Move the fuck on!)

Heh, you know. I haven’t talked to Denton in years. Maybe he’ll google himself and find my blog and contact me. That would be a hoot.

I’m outty. Gotta hit the pavement for my 2 miles today before lunch.

Nostalgia part deux

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I wouldn’t go back to being 18 again for anything…not even if I could go back knowing what I know now.

But as my friend Jen said, it was great to relive the innocence of 18 for just a few hours. When our biggest worries were test scores and rejection and how to score our next beer. (not that I drank when I was 18…)

I’m still on a nostalgia high. I spent a fantastic week at conference and then followed it with a great night with old friends. Wonder what the crash is gonna feel like? Maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll just coast on the good feelings for a while.

I find it ironic that I enjoyed myself as much as I did, when even the morning of my reunion, I was dreading it. I don’t know what I was worried about…I guess no matter how much you grow into yourself, old insecurities can come crashing back like a landslide. High School was bittersweet for me. I didn’t always have a Naughty River (or at least, my Naughty River wasn’t free flowing…) I never had the one “boyfriend” but I had a lot of great boy friends. I never was the star athlete but I was athletic. I knew almost everyone, and was friend to most, but only felt true to myself around a few.

Today, I’m okay with who I am around everyone. I can look at the big picture and think, “I don’t have to be everyone’s friend. It’s their loss.” Could you imagine ever thinking something like that in High School? Or, if you thought it, did you really believe it?

The best part of this weekend’s reconnection was seeing that we’d all grown into ourselves. I’m amazed at the adults my friends turned out to be. And I don’t know why it should be surprising…they are my friends, and I’ve always had great taste… if I do say so myself.

oh the nostalgia…

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Bryant High School…20 years later.

Wow. It was fantastic seeing so many of my old pals. There was one group of friends I was most interested in catching up with, and thankfully they were all there. 2 of the guys traveled from Seattle and one traveled all the way from New Zealand. It was fantastic.

After the reunion, several of us took the party upstairs. At 5:00 a.m. I realized I was too old for this kinda thing. We all bid our farewells and I figure we’ll do it again in another 10. Or maybe in 5. Who knows?

The top picture is of my BFF Jen, Kim, Laurie and me. Laurie is a nurse in Afghanistan right now. She amazes me.

To the right is a pic of me and my friend Annetta.

And then the last pic on the left is of the group I was most looking forward to seeing. Me, Jason, Jon, Nolen, Jen. At one point or another, I crushed on each of the guys. Nolen and I did try to date a few years after high school, but we remained friends instead. It was a great night, lots of memories, and a little too much booze, but hey, if it only happens once every 10 years, it’s okay…right?