{"id":383,"date":"2005-06-11T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2005-06-11T19:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2006-04-04T10:21:26","modified_gmt":"2006-04-04T17:21:26","slug":"a-broken-back-makes-for-a-boring-blogger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/?p=383","title":{"rendered":"a broken back makes for a boring blogger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/obnoxiousaries\/18736179\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" src=\"http:\/\/photos12.flickr.com\/18736179_bfb9e1c2b7.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I HAD to get out of the house yesterday. There is only so much staring out the window and watching the weeds grow that I could handle.<\/p>\n<p>I crawled in and out of the shower and managed to blow dry my hair in a four part series. I crawled to the closet and found my bag that my makeup was in. I crawled up into bed and put on makeup. When Shaun got home I looked like the woman he fell in love with instead of the broken zombie that came back from Redding.<\/p>\n<p>After MUCH convincing that I was &#8216;okay&#8217; he let me go bye-bye with him to drop the kids off at their mom&#8217;s this weekend. We went to dinner and then to a movie. I got to see &#8220;The Longest Yard&#8221;. BEST.MOVIE.EVER. shut up. I&#8217;m a sucker for football movies where people get slammed to the ground and smoke on the field. I wanted to watch it again after it was over.<\/p>\n<p>I stood up and remembered WHY I had been in bed all week. I couldn&#8217;t walk down the stairs. The bathroom was a million miles away from our theater and I had to pee like a mutha. Do you know how hard it is to move fast to get your pants down when your back is OUT? Shooting pain up my back on a cold toilet seat. I have figured out what Satan will do to me if I go to hell for all eternity.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/obnoxiousaries\/18736067\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" alt=\"captain &#038; coke, pack of smoke and the Almond Tree. heaven.\" src=\"http:\/\/photos12.flickr.com\/18736067_4d49c8daa3.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Shaun took me to the Almond Tree before the movie. This was my hangout for a couple of years during college. I spent Wednesday and sometimes Thursday there during karaoke nights. It&#8217;s a bar that mostly the older crowd frequents. When I say &#8216;older&#8217; I mean&#8230;like 60-80 year olds. I don&#8217;t care. I love watching the older people get out there and dance to &#8220;Mustang Sally&#8221; and hang out with the regulars.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/obnoxiousaries\/18736142\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" alt=\"and they danced all night long.\" src=\"http:\/\/photos12.flickr.com\/18736142_dc4daabff3.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I was greeted with, &#8220;HOW HAVE YOU BEEN!?&#8221; and I felt just as welcome as always. I got to say hi to &#8220;Queen Bitch&#8221; who I met one night many years ago when I accidentally sat in her &#8216;spot&#8217; in the smoking section outside. She was as blunt to say,<br \/>\n&#8220;Dear, you&#8217;re going to have to move because I have been sitting in this spot every Friday night for the last 15 years and I don&#8217;t care to move. I am the queen bitch around here.&#8221; Instead of being offended, I moved my ass right over to the spot next to her and she has always treated me with respect since. I greet her with, &#8220;HELLO QUEEN BITCH!&#8221; and she gets a huge smile on her face and invites me to sit with her and she asks me where I have been and what I have seen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/obnoxiousaries\/18736091\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" alt=\"jerry plays it all. slide. sax.piano.guitar.harmonica.\" src=\"http:\/\/photos12.flickr.com\/18736091_7e53538a98.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jerry is the musical entertainment at the Almond Tree. He has been playing there forever. On Wednesday and Thursdays he runs the karaoke. On Friday &#038; Saturday he sings.<br \/>\nHe has worn his signature black hat and vest every time I have seen him. He ALWAYS asks about my mother and says, &#8220;You singing &#8216;Chantilly Lace&#8217; tonight?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/obnoxiousaries\/18736112\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" alt=\"jerry's playlist is endless.\" src=\"http:\/\/photos12.flickr.com\/18736112_0f01758649.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This place was just like Cheers for me. I felt like it was &#8216;home&#8217;. I spent more time in this bar during college than I did in class. It was nice coming back and seeing the old faces and watching the older crowd dance and mingle with each other.<br \/>\nThe Captain Morgan &#038; Coke that Benny the bartender makes is still the best one I have ever had. It&#8217;s been well over two years that I have &#8216;hung out&#8217; there.<\/p>\n<p>I wish you all could come hang out one night at the Almond Tree.<\/p>\n<p>Lets just wait until my back gets better though&#8230;I would hate not to be able to sing and show you my awesome &#8216;electric slide&#8217; move I have down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I HAD to get out of the house yesterday. There is only so much staring out the window and watching the weeds grow that I could handle. I crawled in and out of the shower and managed to blow dry my hair in a four part series. I crawled to the closet and found my bag that my makeup was in. I crawled up into bed and put on makeup. When Shaun got home I looked like the woman he fell in love with instead of the broken zombie that came back from Redding. After MUCH convincing that I was &#8216;okay&#8217; he let me go bye-bye with him to drop the kids off at their mom&#8217;s this weekend. We went to dinner and then to a movie. I got to see &#8220;The Longest Yard&#8221;. BEST.MOVIE.EVER. shut up. I&#8217;m a sucker for football movies where people get slammed to the ground and smoke on the field. I wanted to watch it again after it was over. I stood up and remembered WHY I had been in bed all week. I couldn&#8217;t walk down the stairs. The bathroom was a million miles away from our theater and I had to pee like a mutha. Do you know how hard it is to move fast to get your pants down when your back is OUT? Shooting pain up my back on a cold toilet seat. I have figured out what Satan will do to me if I go to hell for all eternity. Shaun took me to the Almond Tree before the movie. This was my hangout for a couple of years during college. I spent Wednesday and sometimes Thursday there during karaoke nights. It&#8217;s a bar that mostly the older crowd frequents. When I say &#8216;older&#8217; I mean&#8230;like 60-80 year olds. I don&#8217;t care. I love watching the older people get out there and dance to &#8220;Mustang Sally&#8221; and hang out with the regulars. I was greeted with, &#8220;HOW HAVE YOU BEEN!?&#8221; and I felt just as welcome as always. I got to say hi to &#8220;Queen Bitch&#8221; who I met one night many years ago when I accidentally sat in her &#8216;spot&#8217; in the smoking section outside. She was as blunt to say, &#8220;Dear, you&#8217;re going to have to move because I have been sitting in this spot every Friday night for the last 15 years and I don&#8217;t care to move. I am the queen bitch around here.&#8221; Instead of being offended, I moved my ass right over to the spot next to her and she has always treated me with respect since. I greet her with, &#8220;HELLO QUEEN BITCH!&#8221; and she gets a huge smile on her face and invites me to sit with her and she asks me where I have been and what I have seen.&#8221; Jerry is the musical entertainment at the Almond Tree. He has been playing there forever. On Wednesday and Thursdays he runs the karaoke. On Friday &#038; Saturday he sings. He has worn his signature black hat and vest every time I have seen him. He ALWAYS asks about my mother and says, &#8220;You singing &#8216;Chantilly Lace&#8217; tonight?&#8221; This place was just like Cheers for me. I felt like it was &#8216;home&#8217;. I spent more time in this bar during college than I did in class. It was nice coming back and seeing the old faces and watching the older crowd dance and mingle with each other. The Captain Morgan &#038; Coke that Benny the bartender makes is still the best one I have ever had. It&#8217;s been well over two years that I have &#8216;hung out&#8217; there. I wish you all could come hang out one night at the Almond Tree. Lets just wait until my back gets better though&#8230;I would hate not to be able to sing and show you my awesome &#8216;electric slide&#8217; move I have down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}