Happy Birthday to ME! What a Day!

...And what a night! Can't believe I got up this morning before 8 a.m. Especially since it was after 1 before I crawled in bed.


I thought Sam was going to be out of town so planned to go bar hopping...LOL! Those of you who really KNOW me are going riiiiight. Neither of us are smokers so don't tolerate smoky places very well, and he generally prefers not to go. We are big drinkers...I've got a one drink limit when we are out. And before any of you say riiiight...sometimes when Sam is there, I'll have a second drink. I just don't. Drink much that is. Sam has one or two beers. Maybe a gin and tonic. That's it.


Anyway...he changed plans so that he could be here for my birthday. So, I cancelled the bar hopping...;o)...with Earlene. Yesterday Sam asked for THE plans. He knew that I wanted to eat Chinese - which we did at noon...but what about after he asked. I didn't have any further plans. He asked about going to 'the bar.' Told me to call Earlene and go. So I did! I also notified my high school classmates via our Yahoo group. Got a call from another friend...so it was three of us.


We have yet another classmate, Richard...who has a band. Lady Chazzz and the Tramps. (I think I've mentioned them before.) http://www.myspace.com/ladychazzandthetramps Richard did a career in the US Navy...THANK YOU RICHARD! After retiring, he and his wife moved to northeast Texas and started a band. (That's Richard doing his Ray Charles imitation last night.) I like to go hear them as often as possible, but the smoky atmosphere in most of the bars really gets to me. They were playing at a restaurant in a nearby town last night. I was pleasantly surprised that the smoking was at a minimum! I didn't have to shower before crawling in bed. (Usually...you're going to get a big kick out of THIS!...I strip down to the nothings in the garage and leave my clothes out there...then tra-la-la through the house and step into the shower, washing my hair before throwing a towel over my pillow and crawling in bed. Visual image you can forget...or if you do think about it...think about Sophia Loren please.)


We had a great time! Chazz WORKS the crowd. She is the ultimate entertainer. While she is harassing...I mean entertaining the crowd, she sometimes gets so tickled she has to stop. Last night was one of those times. The poor guy she was picking on, patted her back. She said he had the most expressionless face...

Richard sings a lot of oldies...

On occasion, someone in the audience has performed with them. I didn't get a photo of Chazz's daughter...but that young woman is GOOD on vocals. While Chazz was out doing her thing...that woman can dance! The daughter would break out in a smile from ear to ear.


Last night, a young man (teenager) in the audience requested a Gun n Roses song...Knocking on Heaven's Door. Richard said he didn't know GnR rendition...he knew Bob Dylan's and Bob Marley's...but Richard sang it his way...and would only do it if this young man would sing along. He did his part GnR's style...knock, knock, knocking on heaven's doe-ah. The boy had a blast! Can't you just hear him at school?! What did you do this summer? "I sang with a band!"

Here we are...Richard and Earlene standing. Me and Melanie seated.

I moved here and started the 3rd grade. Melanie was my first best friend. The school district did some shuffling and sent me to a different elementary school, and I started 5th grade at the other elementary school in town...where I met Earlene. Richard I met in 1967/68 in high school. Thanks to my BFF for helping me celebrate my birthday!


Note: Going into Junior High, 6th and 7th grades, we had kids come in from three elementary schoolsGoing into High School kids came in from three junior highs.