I’ve come to the conclusion that scrapbooking is something that I could do even if I were lying at death’s door.  It’s quite rehabilitating, you know.  You just sit, and cut, and think a little bit, and be creative.  No real exertion is involved—unless you count peeling the backs off the adhesive mounting squares.  If there were such a job as Professional Scrapbooker, I would gladly apply.

Or even better, Professional Coloring Book Color-er…

The right-brained Lulu honing her mad skillz, circa 1977.  Pre-freckles.

Anyhow, I figured that at this point, a summary of my trip would be best.  There’s no need to regurgitate every last detail of my travels, because a) I would bore you, and b) I would bore you into an agonizing death.  That being said, I will summarize the trip with a list of my favorite things about Germany.

Side Note: After I finished with this summary, I realized that it was more like an anthology, so an agonizing death was still possible, in addition to bleeding eyeballs.  This is why I decided to break this post into two parts.  I’ve included pictures to help you through it.  I’ll post Part II on Monday.  You’re welcome.

MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE

This is a tough one, because everywhere that we visited was so beautiful!  But, if I had to pick, I would say Lake Königssee in the Berchtesgaden area.  This is the deepest lake in Germany, and the crystal-clear green waters are unbelievable.  We took an electric boat tour (no motor boats allowed) to the far end of the lake, and then hiked another 15 minutes over to Lake Obersee, which was just as beautiful.  And I forgot to mention that mid-way through the boat ride over, the tour guide played a song on his trumpet that echoed off the mountains.  It was amazing.

FAVORITE MEAL

By far, the best meal that I ate was salmon-trout almondine while sitting on the banks of Lake Königssee. On our boat ride, we made a stop to tour the small church of St. Bartholomä that sits on the banks of the lake and to eat at the Fischerei. 

 The salmon-trout was caught and served fresh directly from the lake.  It was a meal that I will never forget. 

I’m still coughing up the bones.

FAVORITE TOUR

While traveling, we went on six guided tours:

1) Mike’s Bike Tours through Munich with our very cute Irish tour guide, Steve-O

2) The breath-taking boat tour on Lake Königssee

3) Salt Mine tour in Berchtesgaden

4) Panorama’s The Original Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg

5) Tour of Neuschwanstein Castle

6) The creepy (but humorous) Nightwatchman Tour in Rothenburg

While they were all wonderful in their own way, I would have to say that I most enjoyed the biking tour through Munich.  Biking is such a fun way to see the city of Munich!  Our guide, Steve, was cute and funny and made things so very interesting.  And he was cute.  Half-way through the tour, we stopped in the Englischer Gardens at the Chinese Pagoda to have a beer and some brats, and we were able to get to know Steve our fellow bikers a bit better.  It was loads of fun, and Lulu didn’t even fall off her bike.  Not even after drinking a beer.  If you ever go to Munich, I highly recommend Steve this tour!

 FAVORITE PLACE IN MUNICH

Munich is such a great city.  We were only there for 2 days, but I could surely have spent several more days there and been happy.  However, we were able to cover a lot of ground while there—we visited Munich Residenz, Nymphenburg Palace, and the Spielzeug Museum (toy museum).

We meandered through the Viktualienmarkt, made a very long trek through the city looking for the München Paulener Brewery (to no avail—sorry Big H), toured the city on bike, watched the shitty Glockenspiel spectacle in the square (Steve-O’s words, not mine), and had a beer at the Hofbräuhaus (definitely not all it’s cracked up to be) and was told by the waitress that the price did not include tip—while she rudely waited at the table until I was able to produce the tip.

But of all the places that we visited there, the Viktualienmarkt was my favorite.  The market was located steps from our hotel room, and you could find anything from fresh vegetables, cheese, breads, flowers, and meats (even horse) to homemade jams, sandwiches, and crafts.  I could have spent the entire day just browsing through the stalls.  And eating—only not the horse meat.

Are your eyes bleeding yet?  I’ll post the remaining list on Monday.  I swear, people.  I already have it written!

Auf wiedersehen for now!

Does it make a person crotchety if said person can’t even think of a single artist that she would like to see in concert, even if she had free tickets? (okay…maybe front row)

If so, call me old and crotchety.  I take that back—don’t call me crotchety.  Crotchety sounds sweaty and gross.  Call me old and surly.  Or cantankerous.  Or cranky.

Any way you put it, Lulu has turned into a Concert Nazi.  I can think of many other things that I would rather be doing than sitting a bazillion rows back in the rafters of an arena, all squinty-eyed and deaf, trying to enjoy the singing of a performer whom I paid upward of $100 to see, who is now the size of a migrant ant, and who sounds better on the radio anyway.  Eh-uh.  Not my idea of fun.

However, once upon a time when I was carefree and young-ish, those were not my feelings.  In fact, I have attended quite a few concerts in my time that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  And one in particular that I couldn’t tell you whether I enjoyed or not, but you might ask the lady that sat next to me who ended up with a Fat Tuesday’s Falcon Fever drink regurgitated all over her nice, if not slutty, concert-going outfit.  Forgive me, lady…I was all but 23.

Anyhow, as I was digging through my box of carefree and young-ish treasures the other night, I stumbled upon a couple of concert tickets that I have saved for reasons of which I’m not sure, other than the fact that they represent a couple of firsts—the first concert that I ever attended (at the tender age of 11), and the first concert that I attended sans parents (at the not so tender age of 16).

Now, for the embarrassing part.  Do you want to know the first concert that I attended?  Squint your eyes and look, y’all:

Don’t squint too hard, or you’ll end up looking like the guy below on the left.  The guy on the right is unable to squint for the love of God and all things holy.

Good ‘ol Kenny Rogers.  Not NKOTB, or the Jonas Bros, or the Spice Girls, or Hannah Montana, or any other random boy band or teen queen—they simply weren’t around in 1982.  Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett were has-beens at that point.  So, why not settle for an elderly man?  Every preteen girl’s fantasy.

After Kenny, there were many dry years of concert going.  Many.  I would not attend another concert until I was a junior in high school.  A concert for which I awoke at 5am and drove myself down to the local Turtles Records and Tapesto find a spot in line behind a kagillion people in order to buy a $17 ticket for this concert:

Good ‘ol Genesis.  The Invisible Touch tour.  Not Bon Jovi, or Def Leppard, or Poison—the bands that were cooler than Genesis at the time.  But oddly enough, I had a slight crush on the balding Phil Collins, and I could just barely see him when I stood in a chair on the floor of the Atlanta Omni, 46 rows back.

Soon after the Genesis concert, several of my friends and I worked briefly as volunteer ushers at the Omni.  Basically, all you had to do was show up an hour prior to any concert wearing a white shirt and black pants, carry a flashlight, ask for Barbara at the gate, and if you got there before all the volunteer slots were filled, you were in! 

As a volunteer, you got stuck in the rafters showing drunk people to their seats and getting high from pot smoke, but halfway through the concert, you were off duty and could sit in any open seat.  Or you could stand and scream.  But it didn’t matter, because I got to see

-Heart
-White Snake
-Jackyl
-Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
-Boston
-AeroSmith
-Wilson Phillips
-The Nelson Brothers (ha!)
-Richard Marx
-Sa-sa-samantha Fox (opening act for Marx, otherwise, I don’t think so)

And in addition to the handful of concerts that I ushered back in the day, I’ve actually plunked down money over the years to see

-Tom Petty
-Van Halen (3 times—with Hagar, thankfully)
-38 Special
-REO Speedwagon
-Bryan Adams
-The Rolling Stones
-Bon Jovi
-The Ramones
-ZZ Top
-Rick Springfield
-Kenny Chesney (2 times)
-Tim McGraw

I am totally a child of the 80s.  And just a teensy bit country.

So, what was your first concert?  And which concerts have you been to?

That’s Where I Come From

I am from my grandmother’s old house of memories.
From a home once filled with cousins
and Sunday afternoon food and laughter.

I am also from the small, ranch house with walls thin enough to hear
my dad snoring in his chair in the den while pretending to watch football,
my sister in her bedroom listening to Randy Owen sing sweet, Southern songs about his home state of Alabama,
my mother doing dishes in the kitchen.

I am from the rock salt used to churn ice-cream
on the back porch of my grandmother’s house,
the large oak tree in her front yard that had a knot hole
low enough to reach with your foot while swinging high
on the old, creaky swing set.

I am from family vacations to the beach,
the mountains,
the North, the West,
and card games of UNO and Rook played with cousins
on my grandmother’s kitchen table,
from Grace and Aunt Genk and Uncle Jesse.

I am from fried chicken and family jokes and idle gossip.

From Come Home Before Dark! and Don’t Argue With Your Sister!

I am from what was once a small Baptist church,
which has now grown into something of which I am not sure.

I am from a town with a courthouse square,
from my grandmother’s fried salmon patties
and homemade biscuits.

From the grandfather who tragically drowned
before I even got a chance to know him,
and before he even got a chance to know his own children,
the widowed grandmother who raised five small children on her own,
and from the parents who stayed together for 27 years
for the sake of their children, and then parted ways but still care.

I am from Sunday after-church gatherings at my grandmother’s house,
until the house grew too small and the family grew too large.
From traditions that soon became less important,
and from the old house and oak tree that really misses its family.

Anyhow, soon after GR and I returned from Aruba, we packed our bags again (and our furniture for that matter), and moved seven miles up the road into our second home.  The home in which we will grow old and die.  Or maybe we’ll just skip the part of growing old and just die first from the agony of paying our mortgage.  Either way, this house will be the death of us.

And for the next couple or three years, we were back to eating crab legs at my mom’s place near Clearwater Beach during the summer, and trips to the mountains in the winter.  Fun trips for sure, but I was ready to get my motor running.  Head out on the highway, if you will.  Look for a little adventure.  Or just whatever was to come my way.  Lulu was born to be wild, people.  Eh-hum.

So, in February 2006, I found myself in a phone booth halfway around the world.  London was calling, and I had to answer, y’all! 

For six fun-filled days, I traipsed around glorious London with my friend Brandy, my cousin, Miss Margarita, and her husband.  It was a crazy, whirlwind trip that left my legs wobbly and my heart filled with a great love for this city.  I want to live there.  I swear it hurts just to think about how much I want to live there.  And not just because I love Pret a Manger (sick, right?), but I love the history, and the people, and the Underground, and the mushy peas, and the fact that women wear boots—every day!  It’s a dream life, for sure.  And now I’m whining.

So, touring London in 5 days (with 1 day spent in Paris) is a feat within itself.  There’s just way too much to see and do.  But, we did our best to hit the major highlights.  I’ll give you an overview of our itinerary…

Day 1: 
The Original London Sightseeing Tour and The British Museum.  Although it was a freezing cold day in February, we sat on the top of a double-decker bus and enjoyed a wonderful tour of the city.  Afterwards, we spent the afternoon at The British Museum, where I came this close to passing out from trying to see everything in a 4 hour span. 

Day 2:
Tower of London, Lunch at Café in the Crypt at St. Martin in the Fields church, The National Gallery, and Madame Tussauds.

Here I am inside one of the towers, standing where Anne Boleyn herself might have stood…

And here’s the site of the scaffold where Anne Boleyn was beheaded…

Finally, here’s me at Madame Tussauds sitting beside King Henry VIII himself.  I am wife number seven.  The Good Wife.  Wearing an ugly sweater…

Day 3:
Hampton Court Palace, The Three Greyhounds pub, the National Portrait Gallery, and The London Eye.

We visited one of King Henry VIII’s many homes…

We ate fish, chips, and mushy peas here (remember this pub from Bend it Like Beckham?)…

After we ate, we visited the National Portrait Gallery, and then it was off to the London Eye—which is amazing at night. The city is beautiful…

Day 4:
On this day, we took the Eurostar to Paris for a very long day trip. If you want to know how to tour the Louvre in two hours, just ask…

I suggest heading to this painting first…

The painting was much smaller than I had imagined it to be and just a bit of a disappointment, but definitely a must see.

Next up was Notre Dame.  However, after running (literally) through the Louvre, Brandy and I worked up an appetite, so we decided to skip the tour of Notre Dame and gorge on some French pastries.  We have our priorities, okay.  Actually, we had felt so rushed that we really just wanted to sit in a Parisian café and relax.  So, we went here…

And shared a crepe…with bananas.  I think.  The menu was in French.  It could have been slices of beef, but I’m not sure.

And after we rested a bit, we did some shopping, and then headed over to the Eiffel Tower for a ride to the top and a gorgeous view of the city…

Paris is another city that I would love to live in for a while.  But I must learn to speak French first…

Day 5:
On this day, we toured the amazing Westminster Abbey…

Did some shopping in Notting Hill where I bought my most favorite perfume evah (La Chasse aux Papillons by L’Artisan)…

And we also floated down the Thames River on a boat tour.

Day 6:
On this final day, Brandy and I embarked on a full-day bus tour of the English countryside.  On the tour, we visited Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill…

And visited many quaint countryside towns, including my favorite, Bourton-on-the-Water…

Needless to say, this trip was exhausting.  There’s so much more to London than what we did.  Five days in this town is not nearly enough.  And trying to do one day in Paris is just crazy. 

However, just a year later, I seemed to have found my way back there again…reliving a very similar itinerary…

To be continued next Friday…

In 2001, GR and I were dreaming of going somewhere tropical.  Hawaii was still fresh in our minds, but a 10-hour flight was just too much for GR to bear again.  And God knows that he was such a bear on that flight, that I had to trade seats with my cousin just to keep myself from strangling him with the oxygen mask strings.  So, for my sanity, our thoughts turned a short skip and a hop south toward the Caribbean. 

We wanted to go somewhere just as beautiful as Hawaii, but I just wasn’t sure which island in the Caribbean to choose.  I had never been to any of the islands, so I started to hound co-workers and acquaintances with questions about their travels and experiences in the islands.  And of course, I bought the always trusty Frommer’s Caribbean guide.  However, the foremost determining factor in my decision was brought about by a personal web site that I stumbled across—Aruba Bound!

Way before blogging was in vogue (or at least I think before it was in vogue…hell, what do I know? I just found out about blogging less than a year ago!), Jerry and Lisa created a travel site dedicated to Aruba because

a.  they love Aruba more than the normal, reasonable person, and

b.  to inform and educate other would-be travelers about traveling to the beautiful island.

This local Atlanta couple lists their own travel tips, restaurant and hotel critiques, guide to activities, and even their own personal trip reports and photos from their many visits to Aruba.  Jerry and Lisa—I say MOVE THERE ALREADY!  It’s truly a well put together site, so if Aruba is even a blip in your brain, I suggest taking a gander.  I swear, you’ll be booking your flight the next day.

Anyhow, enough about them…back to me, Me, ME!  Because it’s all about Lulu, right?  That’s what I thought.  So, GR and I jet off on our short 4-hour flight to Aruba, and we end up here…

On the damned windiest island imaginable.  Hence the stylish black baseball cap.

We stayed on the lovely, windy Palm Beach…

Where we drank sand tropical drinks and soaked up the sand sun…

We also mingled with the flesh-eating raptors local wild life…

And experienced the local horticulture…

And otherwise enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Seriously, y’all, I could go on and on about the beauty of the island, where you can go in a 4×4, what not to eat, and how to avoid the random, wandering goats.  But why when Jerry and Lisa have cornered the market on this topic?  And to be honest with you, I gotta go to bed, people.

So, I’ll just leave you with a picture that I posted previously here (along with a couple of others).  When I think of Aruba, this is what I remember the most…GR peeing wading through the water at dusk with the sunset on his back and his arms raised in jubilation…

Update:  I just realized that I’m an idiot. “Fell” should have been spelled “feel” in that photo.  See?  I was sleepy… 

And now that I’ve had all of the Aruban sand particles surgically removed from my corneas, I do believe that I hear London calling, y’all…

To be continued next Friday…

And that’s why I ended up at a banking software company making travel arrangements for stuffy, old businessmen.  Oh, the irony of it all.  The good news is, that I eventually worked my way up the corporate ladder of said software company and landed right smack in the middle of this technical writing gig that I have today.  Hey—who said that writing about network configurations, user permissions, and general ledger journal entries can’t be adventurous and exciting?  If I could just find a way to work in the travel part…

But I digress.  Needless to say, I did not get to travel often after starting my new job.  With my measly starting salary and only 2 weeks vacation, I had to plan carefully.  Luckily (or not so luckily, depending on how you look at it), my mother’s husband was transferred to the Clearwater Beach area that same year, so our vacations evolved into long weekends at their house.  Swimming in their pool.  Drinking their Coronas.  Eating crab legs on their kitchen table.  Here we all are on the Clearwater Beach pier way back in 1995:

But finally, in 1997 my travel luck would change.  As I was listening to Clark Howard (local travel and consumer guru, a.k.a. my hero!) on my commute home from the office one day, I heard magic words.  United Airlines was having a sale from Atlanta to Maui for $250 roundtrip.  Eureka!  Well, that was a definite cause for me to go directly to jail home without passing GO, without collecting $200, and without stopping at any traffic signals.  I could hear the sounds of the ukulele, but not the sounds of the sirens in pursuit of my car.  I was on a mission to eat pineapple and papaya.  I was on a mission to get to Hawaii.  I was on a mission to get to a phone.  And that I did.

Three months later, we (along with my cousin Ms. Margarita and her then husband) were on our way to do the hula.  But only after an 8-hour layover in San Francisco, where we ate chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf, devoured chocolates at Ghiradelli’s, and rode on a trolley car…

And once we made it to Maui, we did fun stuff like drive the crazy, winding Road to Hana, snorkel at Molokini Crater, drive to the top of Mount Haleakala (unfortunately, no one would bike down with me), and attend the wonderful Old Lahaina Luau…

It was such an amazing trip, and it made me long to see the other islands of Hawaii.

And as sheer luck would have it, my buddy Clark Howard came through again just three years later.  United Airlines was having another sale from Atlanta to Hawaii.  And this time it was to Kauai with a stopover in Oahu—for $350 roundtrip!  I’m thinking I spend more money on my Blond Ambition Tour each year!  And again with my cousin and her husband, we hopped on another plane headed straight for Honolulu. 

However, just hours before we landed I became ill with fever and strife.  And possibly bronchial pneumonia.  For the two full days that we spent in Honolulu, I could barely stand upright—as illustrated in this photo taken at the USS Arizona Memorial…

For the most part, I sat on the balcony of our hotel (the Waikiki Beachcomber) coughing up a lung and wishing that I could go here…

But after a few days, I was starting to feel better, and we flew to the most beautiful island in Hawaii—Kauai.  There we did fun stuff like visit the Kilauea Lighthouse, gander at the Wailua Falls that are shown during the intro to Fantasy Island, and climb to Windy Point on the Kalalau Trail while wearing flip-flops (or maybe that would be Ms. Margarita who wore the flip-flops)…

The feeling that I get from being in Hawaii is a bit difficult to describe.  When I think about Hawaii, I truly feel peace and serenity, and I can almost smell the plumeria that grows abundant there.  I can’t imagine another place on this earth being quite as beautiful as the islands of Hawaii, and I do hope to return there one day.  Especially to Ke’e Beach.

But then again, I think that I hear the steel drums of the Caribbean calling my name.

To be continued next Friday…

And it’s not as if I’ve traveled to many places in my life.  I am not a world traveler by ANY stretch of the means.  Mostly I just dream about and research places that I would like to visit.  And then I talk about it for a while, look at my non-existent bank account, and decide that I better get back to work.  But a girl can dream, right?

It’s all true.  My traveling experience is chalked up to a handful of trips to here and there, but nothing real exotic.  I don’t want you to get any preconceived notions at this point that I’m going to whip out a trip to Zimbabwe on you.  If you’re expecting that kind of stuff, you’ll just have to go visit a real honest-to-goodness world traveler—Kim at Follow That Elephant.  Now that girl has some real world experiences under her belt.

As for me, I’ll just continue the pitiful little story of my wanderlust…

When I was 19 years old, I was lucky enough to snag a job in vacation planning for a mega travel corporation—even though I had no prior travel experience at all.  For that matter, I didn’t have any prior work experience!  Luckily, my then mother-in-law was a big-wig at the company, and she basically set me up with a pretty decent job.

And back in 1989, there were perks in the travel industry, y’all!  Today, I think that they have diminished a bit.  But back then, if you had an IATA card, you could fly stand-by for free, stay in hotels and resorts for ridiculously cheap prices, and take part in agent FAM trips.  That is, if you had enough vacation time AND the funds to partake.  Of course, being a very young mother at the time, the time off and funds were always a bit short for me.

However, I did get to take advantage of some travel benefits.  Once a year, the company that I worked for sent each employee packing on an all-expense paid FAM trip.  The down side was that I had to travel with 12 of my co-workers, take part in site visits at the hotels that we promoted, and write a formal report upon return.  There was work involved, but it was FREE!  And drinks were included.  Them’s some magic words, y’all. 

And because my area of travel planning involved the Latin American countries, my first FAM trip was an 8-day tour of Guatemala.  Here’s a picture of me with a couple of my co-workers doing a little shoppin’ in Antigua (don’t be hating the hair, people…we’ve discussed this)…

And the next year, I was sent on a 6-night trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Again, here’s a picture of me with a couple of my co-workers at some fancy-pants resort where we spent the day drinking, eating, lounging, and drinking.  Did I mention drinking?  Those travel agents are some partying folk, y’all.  And for some strange liquored-up reason, this is the only picture that I can find from that trip…

And the next year, the lucrative, company-financed FAM trips abruptly came to an end (a sign of things to come).  However, there were other companies offering FAM trips that travel agents could book for a small fee.  So, GR and I packed our bags and took off to Cancun, Mexico for a long weekend of Dos Equis and pina coladas.  We paid only $200 per person for flights and a 4-night stay in a fancy-pants hotel.  Sadly, my most vivid memory is of cursing a mariachi band with my right cheek against the cool Mexican tile of a bathroom floor.  See?  What did I tell you about those travel agent folk?

And the next year, the mega travel corporation that I so loved?  Announced that our tour division was being phased out.  That meant me. And so my lucrative career in the travel industry went kaput.  As did my travel perks.

And even though my short-lived career was over, the travel bug had already bitten and left an indelible mark on my soul.  However, with our first mortgage on the horizon and me out of a job, it would be several years before the travel bug would rear it’s beautiful, glorious, Aloha-loving head again. 

To be continued next Friday…

FYI:  I came across a great article today at CNN.com—Top 25 Travel Web Sites.  You should check it out!

In fact, the occasional trip to the Atlanta airport to pick up my mother makes me dizzy with excitement.  When she flies into town, I’ll sometimes arrive at the airport a bit early just so that I can watch the hustle and bustle of travelers arriving and departing on flights to and from foreign lands.  Actually, they’re probably just traveling to and from other states, but nonetheless it’s exciting for me to think that they’re off to somewhere exotic or foreign.

And it’s not as if I’ve traveled to many places in my life.  I am not a world traveler by ANY stretch of the means.  Mostly I just dream about and research places that I would like to visit.  And then I talk about it for a while, look at my non-existent bank account, and decide that I better get back to work.  But a girl can dream, right?

Anyhow, as I was growing up, my parents made it a point to take my sister and me on a couple of family vacations each year.  Usually we visited the beach in the summer and the Smoky Mountains in the fall, but they were vacations that we looked forward to with great anticipation.  And when I was 9 years old, my dad bought a conversion van—mainly for the purposes of our trips.  I called it The Big Yellow Twinkie…

We traveled to many places in that van—Memphis, TN to see Graceland; Washington D.C. to tour the capitol; Pennsylvania to visit family and the Amish countryside; Atlantic City, NJ to walk on the boardwalk; and to many places along the Blue Ridge Parkway and up and down the Florida coasts.

When I was 11 years old, we loaded up that big hunk of a Twinkie and began a 2-week journey across the Western U. S.  We started in Georgia, of course, and drove as far as Las Vegas—visiting as many kitschy places along the way that we could find.  Cadillac Ranch?  We saw it.  JR’s Southfork Ranch?  We were visitors.  Bedrock City—home of the Flintstones?  We were there, y’all!  And all the while singing the tunes of my dad’s favorite country singers, Waylon and Willie.  It was such a fun trip and one that I will never forget.  Well, I would remember a lot more of it had the journal that I kept during the trip not mysteriously disappeared when we were almost back in Georgia (cough-sister kicked it out the door at a gas station-cough, cough).

Here we are at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona:

And when I was 15, I took my first journey on an airplane to the Bahamas.  That’s where I also got my first taste of room service…which will come back to haunt me later at the Opryland Hotel (am I right, Aunt Patty Cake?).  Here I am (in my 4XL shirt trying to hide my embarrassing skinniness—WTF?) standing with my sister who’s wearing what looks to be an outfit that she borrowed from my grandmother (just kidding, sister-who-reads-my-blog)…

And besides more trips to Florida and to the Tennessee mountains, that pretty much sums up my vacation adventures until I turned 19.  And that’s when I got a job in the travel industry and my real wanderlust began.  “Real” meaning the kind of wanderlust that I could plan on my own and sadly enough—personally finance.  Lucky for me I worked in the travel industry.  Not so lucky for GR.

To be continued next Friday…
(Settle down my two dear readers, I know that this is tantalizing, juicy stuff…)

But first, let me just say that if you haven’t visited Superkimbo’s blog, you need to check it out.  She’s an American who is living, traveling, and teaching overseas with her husband.  And she has reached her goal of traveling to 30 countries before she turns 30.  Hmph.  I really just want to hate her, but then I wouldn’t be able to live vicariously through her blog.  And to top it all off, she’s really smart and nice, and she’s giving me some much needed advice on traveling to Germany in the fall with GR (yes, I said GR), because she has lived in Munich.  Anyhow, she’s a far better writer than I ever thought about being, so just go visit her, people!

So, the rules for this meme are as follows:

1. Go to http://www.popculturemadness.com/
2. Pick the year you turned 18
3. Get yourself nostalgic over the songs of the year
4. Write something about how the song affected you
5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

And my first thought is, crap.  Do I have 5 friends?  I’ll come back to that one.  But before you read about the songs that I picked, I’ll tell you the same thing that I told Superkimbo.  I’m definitely a superficial, pop music junkie.  I never really delved into the alternative or deep-thinking singers and bands.  And I’m way too ADD to listen to one group for very long before I tire of their music.  So, the songs that I picked are not very profound.  But then again, after looking at the Billboard music list for 1988?  Not many were.  Actually, none.  Except for maybe Monkey by George Micheal.  Okay, I jest, people.

So, that being said, here’s a sampling of songs on the charts that I listened to from way back in 1988 (yes, I am old)…

January 16 – January 22: Got My Mind Set on You - George Harrison  
Were there any other words to this song besides “I Got My Mind Set on You?”

January 30 – February 5: Need You Tonight – INXS
Okay, I lied.  This is one band that I followed for a while.  Michael Hutchence was all kinds of hot in a Jim Morrison kind of way, and I loved every song on the Kick album.  My favorite was Never Tear Us Apart.  Need You Tonight was just meh.

July 9 – July 22: The Flame – Cheap Trick
Definitely the Big Hair Ballad of 1988.  I can’t even listen to this song now without getting nauseated. 

July 23 – July 29: Hold On to The Nights – Richard Marx
I know, damn it.  The mullet, the cheesiness.  But y’all?  I was in love with Richard.  I even went to Six Flags to see him in concert in 1988.  And for some strange reason, Sa-sa-samantha Fox was the opening act.  What was up with that?

October 8 – October 14: Love Bites – Def Leppard
This song was a bit too sweet coming from Def Leppard.  And I’m thinking that GR used to own some black and white pants like Joe Elliott’s. 

November 5 – November 11:  Kokomo – The Beach Boys
I can only relate this song to the movie “Cocktail” back when Tom Cruise was the center of my universe.  I am so ashamed.

November 19 – December 2: Bad Medicine – Bon Jovi
How is it possible that JBJ gets hotter every freaking year?  Did anyone catch him on American Idol last week?  I know that Big H and I discussed his finer points.  And there are many, people.

Anyway, that’s just the short list, and I promise not to bore you with more. 

Now, I must tag five others.  Hmm, let me think.  How about Jennifer, Teena, Stacy, Kailani, and Dragonheart.  Well, actually Dragonheart is a cat (yes, a cat), so I’m not quite sure if he’s reached 18 in cat years yet.  Or if he listens to music for that matter.  Probably just the Meow Mix tune.

Happy Friday, y’all!  Oh, and wish me luck on the Race for the Cure tomorrow!