MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Kleenex

Wow! I DID IT! I caught up! Man, you miss a day or so and this thread just gallops off into the sunset - literally, and I must say those were some spectacular photos. Enjoyed Marlegals's tale of her great evening, and am totally horrified by PauldingMom's new findings while admiring her attitude. Meece - I hope your son is doing better.

Cookie - pumpkin pop tarts? I need to look for those!

Joni - many pages ago you made one of your comments that spoke directly to me: "puberty=demonic possession." Could not agree more.



I actually have NO "Mums story," as we lucked out again and my sophomore was still blissfully boyfriend-free for homecoming and didn't get one. Sadly, since then she has gotten her braces off, and she's all smiley and cute and confident and I am fully aware that the party will be over soon and we'll be dealing with DATING. If you don't know what a "mum" is, you should try Googling it. I may see if I can find a picture of one. The tradition started out as an actual crysanthemum flower adorned with some ribbon. It has mutated into a gargantuan "thing," with one to three fake mum flowers as the "base," festooned with three-foot-long ribbons, glitter, charms, stuffed animals, pictures - even LIGHTS are not out of the question. The boyfriend's mom is responsible for making them for the girl, and the boy receives a smaller one that's on a garter for his arm. They start out at about $60 and the sky is the limit as far as price. They are so heavy that in some cases they must be attached to a strap because they would destroy a dress. The band kids are not allowed to attach them to their uniforms because they would damage them, so they resort to carrying them attached to a hanger. This means that on homecoming night, the "popular" band kids are carrying a water jug, their instrument, their hat case, their marching uniform jacket, and a hanger with a ginormous, glittering THING trailing ribbons. Magical. Texas is definitely all about "more is better." These are the most gaudy and ridiculous accessories I have ever seen - and what the heck do you do with it after homecoming? Are people SAVING these somewhere?



Okay - maybe that WAS a story.

Kleenex

Despite an actual degree in MIS, I have no clue how to post a picture on here. Google "Homecoming mums," and you will see some splendid examples. I forgot to mention that sometimes they even include cowbells. Wish I were kidding.

elimar86861

P-Mom, Hope you and your MedOnc came up with a devastating plan of attack today.

elimar86861

Kleenex, Too bad no Homecoming Mum story, but I was fully prepared to illustrate it with online photos.  Why don't i just put some here for the uninitiated...

Here's what any old state has to offer:

                          

Now let's see some Texas-sized ones:

                     

I have mixed feelings about the decapitated plush animal.  Here's more, notice actual gi-normous size!

                           

Eph3_12

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

NavyMom

OH my!   What a hoot!

Eph3_12

E-love the waterfalls

Kleenex

Oh, Elimar! Thank you for illustrating my non-story. Aren't they AMAZING? Truly, these are NOT photos of isolated "extreme mums" - they are TYPICAL for this area of the country. I forgot to mention the decapitated tiger heads - they totally creep me out. Who does that? Cuts the head off of a cute stuffed tiger and glues it to a plastic faux flower? Probably, they order a "bag of tiger heads," even. Ew. These are great pictures - especially the last one, where you can see how much of a girl's body these things cover. They make jokes about tiny girls needing to pump iron to prepare to carry them around. It would be interesting to see if there is a corresponding increase in visits by teenage girls to chiropractors during "mum season."



Everything's bigger in Texas - because it's a whole other country. Yee-haw.

raeinnz

Me too Joni -   hahahahahahahahahahaha - what an absolute dag! 

3jaysmom

people REALLY wear those? i would rather not go, thank you!lol3jayswanted to say, stole the header AGAIN Elimar!

elimar86861

Meece, How is your son doing/feeling?  Have you talked to his doctors? 

Meece

I have, and I will give you an update when I get home from work.  My break is over.

Meece

I am home now.

I last spoke to Mat about 24 hours ago.  He was still in CCU, and the Neurologist finally told him that he would not be released until the migraines were under control and he was stable.

Matt also thinks he would rather be on meds for the rest of his life than to have the surgery to repair his heart.  I told him we would research the options once the cardiologist was involved.  He was having a fairly decent day/ early morning. but said the headache was on it's way back.

Thank you all for your love and support for us during this tough time.

Love, Meece

marlegal

3jays, I've met dozens of chatters in person - 27 of us went to Vegas in 2008, about that many went to Florida together in 2009, another group went to Virginia last month, and I see a few locals for lunch or dinner a few times a year!

Meece, I hope they get the migraines under control soon - they totally knock you out, I know.  Gentle cyber hugs to Matt.

elimar86861

Sounds like he has taken a few steps "out of the woods" with still a long path to go.  Any change in the numbness?  As serious as this is, I guess it is fortunate that it has alerted you to the heart situation and that he has some options on how to deal with it.  I feel bad that he is so far away and having to go through this without family there.

elimar86861

Today, I saw about five minutes of the Dr. Oz show...something about fighting the effects of being over 40.  Every other word was "droopy." 

Eph3_12

droopy as in: my eyelids, my chin, my underarm fat, my boobs (what's left), my stomach fat, my butt, my thigh fat-those kinda droopy?

elimar86861

Yes!  The little bit I did see was the "droopy butt" segment, and the solution offered was the special undies with the slip in butt pads.  That's great for maybe .001% of the population, but didn't seem to offer much hope for the rest of us. 

faithandfifty

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Anyone else notice that we're approaching the 200 page point.

I will check with our den-mother, but I respectfully request that we have a wing-ding of awesomeness-spectacular, similar to our first year anniversary, but right here in the middle of the ongoing saga that marks our growing friendship.

Here's to you, Paulding.

What do you want with your cheetos??

Any other special requests?

Theme??

3jaysmom

im in, especially if elimar gets guys to serve, like the ones she had to clean up..where does she find them? glory bee, the nurse she sent PM is mine, as soon as she's done with him...now, what kinda clothes are we wearing, ladies?

zogo

NOT a Homecoming Mum!

3jaysmom

ABSOLUTELY NOT a homecoming mum, you're so right!

3jaysmom

ssorry    no pics again

raeinnz

3jays - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  I am so wanting to see your lovely pix.  You're getting closer, at least there is a box now even if it is empty - lol.

Meece

Wow, I think we might even hit 200 tomorrow.

I think we should all wear our little black dresses and accessorize to the nines.  Only problem is Cheeto dust shows up pretty prominently on black.

BarbaraA

Y'all can wipe your Cheeto fingers on my dress.

Meece

Cheetorange it is then.

Meece

I think this one will camoflage the Cheeto Dust perfectly.

I plus is that it comes with the escort!

BarbaraA

I gotta get me one of those!

NavyMom

Oh Meece  You lucky girl you