Love Is In The Air ~ I Vow To Fiercely Love You

Valentine's Day is Friday. Are you ready? Is your Romance Well full to overflowing? If not, maybe some of these clips will help get you In The Mood.

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I am tagging all of these Love Is In The Air (even though the hop is over) and the following is a list of all the posts with links, so that you can watch any of your favorites that you missed.

Moonlighting 

Roswell - Michael and Maria

P.S. I Love You

The Gilmore Girls

Buffy/Angel and Firefly/Serenity

Grey's Anatomy (dedicated to Unicorn Bell)

Lois and Clark (Smallville) and Some Kind of Wonderful

When Harry Met Sally and The Way We Were
The Princess Bride and Serendipity 

Castle and Firefly 

Gossip Girl (Chuck and Blair) and 10 Things I Hate About You 
Veronica Mars and The Notebook 

Felicity 

Alias and Fringe 

Lost 

Ghost 
Grey's Anatomy 
What Dreams May Come and The Vampire Diaries 

The O.C. (Seth and Summer) and Crazy Stupid Love

Back at the beginning of this thing I asked YOU to share what you think are the most romantic moments on the big and small screen. Thank you to everyone who has commented with your favorite romantic scenes. I have enjoyed watching them on YouTube. I no longer have time to post them in this series, but I *might* include them on the HERE'S TO YOU post;)

Speaking of comments, some of your comments crack me up! Once I ran all movies and several of you indicated you'd never seen those TV shows. Hahahaha. I realize I must be more clear about what I am posting, since I am doing both.

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I don't know if it was where I was in my life, or the TV Show, but I cried through the first season of Everwood. Every episode. I bought it on DVD when it was on sale and then bawled like a baby every time I watched it. What does that have to do with this clip? Not a darn thing. This scene happened in season two or three and I was past the crying stage by then. This is a very sweet scene between the teens on that show, Ephram and Amy. If you think that they look familiar, but you didn't watch Everwood, they are now on OTHER TV shows. Everwood... one of the best Family Shows that has been on in the last twenty years.

Roll the footage...


I went on the hunt for these romantic scenes weeks ago, so it shocks me how I still get a kick in the gut when I watch that one. Why do work so hard to pretend to not show our feelings?  Amy summed that up spectacularly. "It should be easier." Yes, it really should.

This next scene is from a Movie that I recently watched called The Vow.  This is another movie based on a True Story. At the beginning, the couple is sitting in the car (parked) and they are rear ended by a truck. She sustains a brain injury and has no memory of her husband. As in none. The last thing she remembers is being in school and loving SOMEONE ELSE. As in someone not her husband. This scene is poignant because it shows how much they do love one another... and he spends the entirety of this movie trying to live these vows for a woman who doesn't remember him... at all. We should all be so lucky to marry someone who will go the distance like that.

Roll the footage...



I am going to finish off your Romantic Boost for today with a Movie clip that I am *pretty sure* you have seen. It really doesn't need an introduction or my two cents. Of course, that has never stopped me before, so why should today be different?  Why do I like this scene? I think when you realize that your life is truly better with someone in it, be brave enough to claim it. To say it. Isn't that what makes for a great love... a person who brings out your best?  And because they do, it feels like...

Roll the footage...


"Just shut up. You had me at hello."

HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY

SURPRISE. Drum roll please. I present to you HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY. With love. I know... it must seem like forever. And, frankly, it has been a long time. My hope to make it a weekly event didn't turn out so well. But, I woke up this morning and felt it. Yep. That is how it works. Now. Not how it used to work. I used to keep notes all week long and be ready WAY before the event. Now, I feel it the day of, and spend the day scrambling to recall what I read all week long. By far, the old system worked better.

Here is the recap of what is going on...

Here is what is going down: this is a weekly event. (It used to be a weekly event. And I hope it will be a weekly event again soon:-) The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:




This one is for Mary the Food Floozie:




This one is for Chris at A Deliberate Life:




This one is for Shoes at Red Shoe's Chronicles:




This one is for Phoenix at Res ipsa loquitur:




This one is for The Factory Girl at Radical Point of View:




This one is for Jasmine at A Yellow Rose of Texas:




image found at www.weheartit.com

BULLET TRUTHS

Once again, it seems I have a gadzillion non-related things bouncing around in my head. So, it seems like a good time for a bullet point post. That way I can just throw it all against the wall, and it doesn't matter that one thing has nothing to do with the next. Another plus is that it doesn't even have to go in chronological order. Once upon a time, that would have been really important to me. Today, not so much. Now, it is more like *when I think it* seems like the right time.

• My Social Security Disability Hearing has been scheduled for May 22. I have known this for a while.
  
• I thought that getting a date would be great. And it is. But is also super stressful. And my migraines have been reflecting it since I got the notice.
  
• Why? Because this is really it. My ENT doctor says I can't drive because of the loss of my inner ear function in my ears. And he is right. I am dizzy. I lose my balance at inconvenient, unpredictable times. I have constant migraines. I cannot work. So, my ABILITY to work doesn't change no matter what the judge says.
  
• The only thing that changes is the amount of financial stress on my parents. If I get the SSD, I can help them with the expenses of the house and taking care of me. If I don't, they are already on the financial brink... this will push them over.
• It is a lot of stress.
• May 21, ironically enough, is the one year anniversary of my dad's death. I have tried to look at that in positive ways in light of my Hearing. Said things to myself like his spirit will be around to bring positive energy to the proceedings.
  
• And I hope that is true.
  
• I already think about him all the time. I am afraid that having the Hearing one day after the anniversary of his death will make me a wreck for the Hearing. Inside.
• I was lying in bed two nights ago and smelled hot cocoa so strong it was eerie. I knew I had a visitor from the Other Side, but I couldn't process the Who. By the time I figured out it had to be my Grandma (my mom's mom), she was gone. But it was really nice that she stopped by. Now that I know her "signature scent" I will know her faster next time:-)
• In the process of crawling out of the Rabbit Hole, I knew I needed to think about something else, so I started thinking about *something* that I am not quite ready to share. BUT that something led me down the path to another novel idea.
  
• I am shocked. Are you shocked?
• After my last novel debacle, I was convinced I was never going there again.
• However, this time I didn't jump out of bed and immediately start writing. I just thought about it. And thought about it. I spent days thinking about it. I knew that I needed to know how it started (solid) and how it ended (solid) and have some good plot points in the middle.
  
• Yeah, I learned something from the last disaster.
• About four days later I finally wrote up an outline of sorts. Just to see what it would look like on paper.
• I like it.
  
• I just don't want to dive into it and lose myself. I kinda did that before. I think that was what made the failure so crushing.
• But, I also don't want to be so slow about the thing that I get bored and lose my momentum. Fine line there. And I only feel good about two hours out of the day. Some days. Some days more. Some less. Lately less due to the bone crushing migraines. Literally bone crushing migraines.
• BTW, thank you Phoenix, for that excellent comment. I am thinking about putting that on an index card and taping it up in my bathroom. Yeah, I do that kind of stuff.
• I just finished watching the entire series (four seasons) of Everwood. That was a great show. Truly great. I cried through a lot of that. Not so awesome on the migraines, but what are you going to do?
  
• It made me think about falling down the rabbit hole. As people we all fall down the rabbit hole. At some time or another we all make a bad call. Bad decision. Sometimes very hurtful to ourselves and/or others. And it is what you do AFTER that determines what kind of person you are.
• In kid news, C-Man is not doing well at the fine arts magnet school. Apparently, things have deteriorated so badly that he may not pass his grade. He has DEFINITELY been kicked out of the program and back into public school. What this means for him personally: he will have to move back in with his father. This breaks my heart.
  
• I know that this child doesn't want to leave the stability of the home he is in, but the public school he is zoned for would eat him alive. He is a rather geeky kid anyway, and it is something like 90% black in a very tough neighborhood. I am afraid they would kill him. Literally.
  
• I am not happy about the other alternative either. My ex doesn't seem to understand that he is a role model. Perhaps, that isn't true. He has simply lived in the rabbit hole for too long. He can only teach what he knows.
• H-Girl, who flunked out last year... you didn't know this? Me either. I didn't find out until a couple of months ago. Apparently I wasn't in the need-to-know loop.
  
• Anyway, H-Girl, who moved in with her aunt and is in an entirely new school is STILL not doing all that well. She should be acing this stuff since she HAD IT LAST YEAR. But no. The Kids are on Spring Break right now and H-Girl forgot her Report Card at school, so no one knows what her grades were for this term.
  
• When my ex told me this, he indicated that he was certain it meant an "F" was on her Report Card. I could feel my head beginning to explode so I decided to end chat. I talked to H-Girl the next day, and she gave me no clues about what was on her Card. She also didn't indicate she was on any restrictions for the Break.
• That would never have flown in my house. I would have been grounded on What Might Have Been on my Report Card. Or just trying to Manipulate The Situation. In fact, I would have been grounded for all "Fs," even though my parents would have known that wasn't the case. The point was to not pull that stunt because they will make it worse.
• Of course, this was never a problem for me. I had very good grades. My brother didn't, but even he knew better than to try this crapola.
• I realize how ineffective I am in their lives. I can't do anything because I don't live with them. And they are STRESS CAUSING (so taking them on full-time is not an option). I can't take any more stress. Had my ex allowed H-Girl to live with me back in 2007, when I asked we might not be here, but he didn't, and this is where we are.
• Oh, and my best friend from high school, with the sick husband, is still mad at me. No changes there.
• Yvonne posted a question on one of my blogs asking if liars and cheaters can ever change. I think that House is right in that everyone lies. But that isn't what you are really asking me. I think that perpetual liars and cheaters do not change. The only possible thing that would cause someone like that to change is an *event* which would likely be horrific, that could cause that person to seek counseling. It would be so clear to them that THEIR lying, THEIR cheating caused the horrific event that they would WANT to make a change.
  
• The only reason people ever change is because of a deep desire to change. Change is hard. And, even then, having that change stick would be tough. Why? Because they are used to making the other choice. It is what feels natural. When put on the spot: tell the truth or lie, a liar is probably going to lie.
• Man, I am cynical. Telling the truth is hard. People don't always like the truth. It won't make you popular. Just makes you honest.
• And we live in a world where people value popular. Wow. That was something I didn't see coming. We have been getting that lesson since we were old enough to know which jeans were fashionable and which were not. Too bad they don't run honesty commercials on TV and make it just as enticing.

Well, I am tapped out. My two hours is up. Not sure that I covered everything, but that was pretty close.

THIS ONE'S FOR MOM

Did you watch the TV series EVERWOOD? If you're thinking that this blog should go in my TV JUNCTION FUNCTION BLOG, hold your horses because I have a point. I've only seen the first two seasons because that is all that's out on DVD (that wasn't the point). In season one Treat Williams' character asks his nurse (and friend) if fathers and sons don't get along because they have nothing in common. Obviously, he and his son are having MAJOR issues. Her response is that the problem between fathers and sons who don't get along is they have EVERYTHING in common. (I didn't use quotation marks because I didn't get it exactly right.) I was already thinking about my relationship with my mother when I thought about that scene. As an adult, I find myself nodding my head and saying, "Oh yeah." Then I think that it is a really good thing that I didn't see that show as a teenager because I might have done the television set bodily harm. Egads.


When I was in the third grade my teacher made a comment about me and mother not getting along. I don't remember the context of the remark, but I clearly remember her saying it and I thought it was odd even at the time. How did she know that my mother and I didn't get along? Strangely enough, I can't remember her name, her face, but I think her hair was red and she may have worn glasses. That's it. And she knew mom and I were already in this wierd little dynamic for power in our household. Too alike indeed.


Fast forward to high school and I remember being very angry with my mother most of the time. I couldn't tell her anything. Every time I did, she would tell me what she would have done or what I should do or what was going to happen. In any event, it wasn't what I would have chosen. The irony was that 99.9% of the time she was RIGHT. It would have turned out way better if I had done it her way. It was infuriating. Invariably that resulted in me storming out of the house to meet up with one of my girlfriends just so that I could rant and finish it up with, "I HATE MY MOTHER!" The beauty of it was that no explanation was required. Most teenage girls weren't overly happy with their mothers and I didn't have to say why I hated her. "I hate her because she's so smart and always right," would have sounded really lame. Besides, I wasn't mature enough to know that was why I hated her. It was just really tough being around someone who was so right all of the time. Who can measure up to that? It only made me feel more wrong, which I was. Ooooh. I hated her. Her and her constant rightness. I couldn't wait to go to college where I could be more right and less wrong.

By the time I moved back in with my mother in 1995, I wasn't a little girl anymore, and I didn't care so much about who was right and who was wrong. In fact, her rightness was comforting and reassuring, instead of strangling and demeaning. Instead of coming to her after I had already made the decision only to find out what the right thing would have been, I came to mom first to seek her opinion. I realized that I had an asset in Mom. Mom had 23+ years of living on me and the advantage of wisdom. I had never seen that in her as a child or a teenager. She was no longer the person who made me feel less than; she became my friend, as well as my mother, and was my cheering section and booster-upper.


I lived on my own for a long time before moving back in with mom. What I have discovered is that whether we are under the same roof or living in different states, she still gives the best advice of anyone I know.