Perhaps, if the Mayans were right...

Perhaps, if the Mayans were right, in 15 days the world will come to an end.

Maybe.

The only thing I know for sure is that tomorrow is my birthday.

My Sammy Hagar* Birthday.

(*I originally and erroneously had Van Halen. Edit credit goes solely to Small Town Me for her distinct and loyal devotion to the Red Rocker)

I Can't Drive 55.

In honor of that, and in case the world does come crashing to a halt, I do NOT want to regret a single thing. So I am throwing caution to the wind this year.

I am going to LIVE TWEET MY BIRTHDAY.

Yup. Hashtag and everything.

#Linda55

If any of you kids do "The Twitter," you can follow along and everything @Lindalla!

There will be pictures, and jokes, and questions, and activities, and guest tweets, and trivia, with special tweets at 5:55 and 11:11 am and pm.

I'm not quite sure how all this is going to work, but I have full assurance from my digital pal and co-hort @MaxKringen that this will be fun!

I'm going to promote this here, and on Facebook, and of course Twitter, just like I'm some kind of celebrity or something. Please respond, or comment, 'cause if the world does come to an end in 15 days, c'mon, what do ya have to lose?

The Cast of Characters - Chapter One

Every once in a while, I'll post some background info on a few of the colorful characters I get to hang out with. Today, I'll fill you in on the "stars" of this soap opera sitcom I am living.

I am married to Downtown Dad. We are head over heels, some would say annoyingly, in love with each other after almost 25 years of marriage. We live in a purple house in an impossibly nice town, in the upper midwestern frozen tundra plains. We do not hunt moose. We have three great kids, three noisy birds, two fuzzy dogs, four working cars, and one working shower.

Downtown Dad, in addition to being the world's best husband and father, is a politician, lobbyist, promoter, historian, and genealogist, with a dubious gift of gab. That man will talk to anyone… really, ANYone. He works… well… he works Downtown.

Bobby is our oldest son, he is a procrastinating photographer. He rents a house with some friends a few miles away and earns a living as a server at a local restaurant. He could be earning a living with his photography talent, making enough money to own a house instead of renting one, and he could be finishing those last few credits for his degree, but nooooo. We are working out some issues.

Kelsie, almost 20, as the first granddaughter in a long string of grandsons, is the Undisputed Princess on Downtown Dad's side of the family. She is an artist in every sense of the word, drawing, painting, sculpting, all seemingly effortlessly. She also sings, dances and performs in local theatre and works at a local restaurant.  She has taken a year off from college, but plans to start classes in the fall....

Jarrod, too, is an accomplished musical theatre performer, with a long list of lead and feature roles on his resume.  He turns 18 this year and is enrolled at American University in Washington DC.  He starts this fall.  He taught himself to play guitar and plays in a garage band - they made a CD, then they went on hiatus. He is very much like Downtown Dad in his love of history, and politics, and that whole gift of gab thing.

Me? After slogging around in the corporate world while my kids were at home, I am now working two part time jobs.  I'm the administrative assistant for our local symphony orchestra, and I also work for our local hospital in their digital marketing department.  I possess neither the gift of gab, nor the artistic talents so abundant in the other members of my family. I can throw together a wicked sentence or two though, and that to me is much more practical than all that singing and drawing stuff. And, well, somebody's got to write the Christmas Letter!

My name is Linda, but you can call me Lala.

I am starting over in my professional career, and in the Blogosphere, after several years of binge drinking the witness protection plan self discovery. You may be here because of a link from my creditors other blog, Straight Up and Slightly Dirty, wherein I recounted not-very-regularly, my adventures as a part-time Realtor, full-time wife and theatre mom. I wanted my blogging there to be brutally honest Straight Up and with a sarcastic twist Slightly Dirty, it was neither. Although, the title did bring me really interesting insane pornographic a lot of Google searches, and I met some really cool fellow bloggers, it wasn't the kind of place I felt comfortable sharing with people who didn't know I had a blog. Over the past year as I've been working with the homeless working on my masters degree trying to find gainful employment, I was lucky enough to make it to my 50th birthday rediscover the simple joy in doing things that I am really good at. This, as sappy as it sounds has changed my life and made me incredible happy, and I want to share my adventures in all of their syrupy goodness with you!

Welcome To LaLa Land!

The Urban Dictionary defines Lala Land as

1. Someone who is in their "own little world."
2. To be zoned out or spaced out, in a semi-conscious state.
3. The City of Los Angeles.
4. Enjoying a state of euphoria or nirvana.

With the exception of #3, in varying degrees, all of the above could apply to me at one time or another, vis a vis, this blog. (Yeah, I just used vis a vis in a sentence - you should be impressed.)

When I made the decision to start fresh with a new blog, I thought long and hard about what to name it and what it would look like. In the end, three facts rose to the top and basically made my decision for me. The fact that my best friend's son (who is also my son's best friend) calls me Lala, is key. The fact that Disneyland and I have shared a long and satisfying relationship, and are roughly the same age is another contributing factor, and the inspiration for the header design. But the fact that my initials really and truly are L A clinched it for me.

The next couple of posts will be some backstory on me, and an introduction to the cast of characters who I am lucky enough to spend my days with, and who's antics and thoughts provide me with the stories you will read here.

Welcome to my own little corner of the world. Relax, zone out, leave a comment if you'd like, and remember, you're welcome any time!