Why hello there! I am reminded that I have a blog. Well okay then!
Here’s a story. You like stories. When I was in my twenties, sort of like yesterday only not, I lived in the sunny and oh-so-freaking-hot clime in Phoenix. And while people later said helpful things to me like, “But it’s a dry heat,” I always reminded them that 120 degrees is 120 degrees no matter how you slice it.
And I had no a/c in my car for the first two years.
But it was no big deal, really, because all those golf courses and swimming pools and stuff that dotted the otherwise arid landscape between Camelback Mountain and the Superstitions? Yeah, not for me. I was an Indoor Girl. Working at my Indoor Job. No matter that everyone else in the Valley of the Sun had awesome tans. For me, it was just Too Hot To Be Outside.
So then the Upper Management People decided they wanted us Peon People to wear bermuda shorts and polo shirts in the summer one year. Yeah, fine. Um, no. Not for me. I was going to have to make people pay their rent on time and yell at contractors and order stuff and look important while wearing shorts?
I felt slightly ridiculous.
And then a women came in my office one day, very pale-skinned, who took one look at my legs which though quite skinny (that was my anorexic period, verrrrry attractive) could likely double as roadside reflectors in their dead whiteness, and said that she never thought she would ever in her entire life see someone with legs as white as mine. Why thank you! Yes, I like you too.
So I never forgot that comment, not that I’ve been haunted by it or anything (much), but I’m just not a person who tans much.
Which makes this all the more ironic:
Had parts of my face burned off. Before they turned into cancer.
Welcome to the fabulous world of sun screen!
Oh, do I look pissed off? Why, yes I am! Faugh on the cancer! But of course you know I really look like this much much more of the time.
Moving on. Eric is going to be a drummer, I think. Or have his own band. He likes taking a metal pail, upending it and holding it under his arm, then banging the hell out of it with a wooden spoon while he wails sings.
He can do that for hours, apparently.
Oh, I met a new guy a couple days ago. He’s pretty cute. I took his picture, too, you wanna see?
I thought you might.
Ready?
Okay, here he is:
That’s my grandson.
P.S. Wear your freakin’ sunscreen, people. I’m telling you this because I love you. And put it on your kids.
September 30th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Your grandson is adorable. Your face. Ouch. Sunscreen…got it!
October 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Finally. A fellow crusader. I am Latin, so I have a ‘built-in tan’ as my friend so often ignorantly goes on about. And yet she feel that I dont need sunscreen. I have horses so I am in the sun frequently. I also do work outside often. I ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN. They say I dont need it and I always wonder-to myself of course- how can people be soo dumb. The sun is good, but it can also be harmful if you get exposure too much, too intensely, and too often. So also make it a point to always wear my black long-sleeved shirt- yes I know it attracts heat, but it protects the skin against the suns harmful UVA AND UVB rays better than a white or light-colored shirt would, well as much as a thin piece of fabric can protect you from a force that changes the make-up of your skin cells. Anyways, I also wear a hat and slather sunscreen on my face, nose, ears, back of my neck, etc., and I reapply often. People don’t know the damage the sun can do. My friends make fun of me b/c I always preach to them about the dangers of the sun and the benefits of protecting yourself from too much exposure. But mark my words, I will be the one to end up with some cancerous spawn on my face instead of them. Fair-skinned, blue-eyed, freckle-faced, never-worn-sun block-a-day-in-my-life and healthy to boot.
October 1st, 2007 at 10:08 pm
I had been wondering about that grandbaby! He kept popping into my mind!
Congratulations!
Much love to all -
Cynzim
As to sunscreen… my mom insisted I use it when I rode my bike in NE Australia… which I actually did, including on the backs of my hands… she and my stepdad have had to have had many “spots” burned off over the years. Both were outside a lot for many yaers.
I don’t use enough… but yes, good reminder.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:32 am
Congratulations on the new family member! He’s gorgeous!
It’s nice to see you back. Be well.
Karoliina
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Sweetie, are you SURE you’re old enough to have a grandson?? Not that he’s not gorgeous (he is) and squeezable (likewise), but seriously!
Congrats on the baby, fah! fah! fah! on the stupid sun’n'cancer.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Finally! Someone points out the obvious! (thank you) No, I’m NOT old enough. But I was a wee slip of a girl when his mother was born. And she’s not that old herself. It adds up.