A Book Worthy Life?

SPLIT PERSONALITIES

Originally I was going to focus this blog on my perfect little family of 4… The ups, the downs, the stuff that drives me wild and makes me happy at the same time...  I could find something to talk about like what’s behind this white picket fence or I could give silly details on the latest juggling act called the night time routine with two toddlers, but tonight I need something different.

I hear people talk about how different a person they have become from who they were BC (before children).  I am guilty of this exact act; however, I still feel that “then Hollie” in here somewhere.  Sometimes she peeks out and pulls through when I find myself in a little trouble.  Sometimes she plays with fine and flirts with disaster.  Sometimes she grabs a cigarette and swings out back until all hours of the night forgetting that dirty diapers and New York & Co. work slacks will greet her after the alarm clocks sounds…  Maybe she’s still here under a layer of new mommy coat, aka post baby weight; but I remember that girl…  Most commonly I see the “then Hollie” in the eyes and forehead peaking from the rearview mirror of my white SUV.  That is, after all; the one space we are alone for an entire 22 minutes between dropping the kids at the learning academy and arriving at my 8-5 office.  In that 22 minutes (or 17 minutes when it’s been a more than normal hectic morning) the “now Hollie” and the “then Hollie” listen to careless songs about sex, drugs and rock and roll and agree that both Hollie’s are perfectly imperfect and still present together as one adaptable lady.  Before I make myself sound like I have a multiple personalities, I’ll move on.  I’m sure you get the point…

Now that BC (before children) has transitioned into AD (after daughters) I think I’ll go out on a limb and admit to things I probably should sweep under the rug…  Problem is, I think about my life BC all too often and with the gift of social networking I am reminded of the past each time I log in.  The faces are all a little older now, but in the eyes of the tiny profile pictures I can still see the stories we share even though we hesitate to mention them in “public” (aka social networking sites).

TWO TRUTHS & A LIE

I have a few stories I’d like to jot down over the next few weeks… Think of this of as a game of “Two Truths & A Lie”, the only difference is I won’t admit if all or none are truth, semi-truth, exaggerations of the truth or flat out lies for your entertainment.  I’ll just tell you right now that I pled the 5^th on all these stories (names and locations have been changed to protect the identities).   ; )

Story #1 – The Cocktail Waitress

When Mollie moved to a new place with high school sweetheart, Jeff, she found her young inexperienced self searching for a job to help make rent.  As fate would have it, Mollie & Jeff ended up working together at a popular restaurant that would change their lives forever.  Just like the weird weather in this new place, Mollie & Jeff found themselves changing as fast as the seasons.  Neither one of them better nor worse than one another, but both far too different to fit into the same 5 day forecast.  They parted ways until much later in life… That’s a whole different story…

Mollie flourished in her new single skin.  With nothing but unfamiliar faces around her the wide eyed 19 year old brought all she was to the table… including beer and steaks since she landed a job as a waitress.  That waitress position turned into a cocktail waitress then one random night turned into a bar tending gig.  In Mollie’s home town she wasn’t near old enough to tend bar yet, but life was different in this foreign place and it wasn’t just the fact that people could smoke indoors – a big no no in Mollie’s home state of California. 

Mollie met friends with more personalities than characters from your favorite novels.  She pushed the envelope, did things that would make your mother blush and never held back.  Never crossing the line into deadly or stupid, Mollie lived out loud and had no fear.  Somewhere between karaoke dive bars and themed fraternity keggers, Mollie formed friendships with a list of characters as long as the lines at the DMV.  To this day she’ll pass a stranger in the mall and wonder if that could be a crazy friend from that far away place. 

She remembers thanksgivings far from her family, but is thankful for the holidays spent with the families of new boyfriends in that far away land.  She recalls spring break road trips, double wide trailer parties, a Halloween as a California raisin, singing in her underwear with her 4 girl roommates, sleeping through mid-terms, falling in love with a boy with an accent who broke her heart, and most of all countless nights poring beer and mixing liquor to a thousand curious locals.  The California license plates on her little black Jetta got her out of plenty of tickets and reminded her of the place she called “back home”. 

Mollie lived large in that far away land, but after a couple years of living the college life - those California license plates were parked right back at home in her mother’s driveway - ready to start yet another new chapter in her book worthy life. 

They say, “all good things come to an end”, but Mollie knows one day her children will be old enough to hear bits and pieces of that life she was blessed to experience.  One day Mollie hopes her children will find themselves in their own far away land to make memories and form friendships with people all over the world as she once did.

Good night life livers! Stay posted for the next installment of Two Truths & A Lie. : ) Now it's off to lay down this lap sleeping, teething baby girl.