Jody Stlye, 101

I’mma do the things

That I wanna do

I ain’t got a thing

To prove to you

I’ll eat my candy

With the pork and beans

Excuse my manners

If I make a scene

I have never been much of a conformist.  I don’t follow the crowds.  I don’t buy the latest fads.  Growing up in Fort Worth, I never wore cowboy boots or hats, and I never, NEVER wore the clothes everyone else did.  I have always been the unique me that God created and embraced it fully (well, most of the time).  I think my mother secretly worried that I would never meet anyone to marry dressed the way I did.  That poor woman tried to pour me into dresses and pretty things until she finally gave up and bought Danskins for me because nothing with lace or frills survived on my body.  Danskins are made out of material that will be around long after we are all burned to ashes when the ozone dissolves from the hairspray abuse in Dallas.  My mom still does not like the way I dress, but has resolved that it is now Bill’s problem, because she did her best. LOL

I am pretty sure that that is one of the things that attracted Billy to me.    That and the fact that he takes great pleasure in my rambling stories (snark).  I remember vividly a smile plastered on his face on our first date while he watched me go on and on about something that I found of great importance.  The short skirt most likely didn’t hurt either, I suppose.  Anyhoo.  There is no doubt in my mind that he liked his girls interesting, and I fit the bill perfectly and was very entertaining.

Actually, when I think back, I wonder if that is what attracted the kind of guys that I went out with in college?  Maybe maybe not.  It was certainly that way for Bill.  I am a quirky and goofy chick, there is no doubt.  Just ask those who know me best.  I don’t fall in behind all the sheep……I tend to bolt from the herd.  I had to be me and love it or leave it, that is who I was and still am. You either appreciated it, or didn’t get it and buh bye.   Me?  I always focused in on the charming guys with vibrant personalities (blond too).  They shined from the crowd like diamonds and were just as valuable as the real deal.  The rest were easy to ignore, but the diamonds sparkled, danced and dazzled me.  There were not many of those…..those beautiful people who glowed from within…..the ones that were unique and so comfortable in their own skins.   I found them just so distractingly attractive.   I have to be honest and tell you that there were many fun times with guys for me, but there were only 2 diamonds in my life who took notice of me.  My husband is one of them (he blinds me with his brilliance, ladies and gents). The other knows who he is and came before Bill.  You know what that makes me?  It makes me very lucky.  2 fabulous guys, very different relationships, at different times in my life (swoon).  And if there is any confusion for past beaus out there reading……. if you didn’t surf, you are not who I am talking about.  :*()

Okay….where am I going with that?  Hang in there……

I don’t, and could never, ever consider myself a diamond.  I think I am more like one of those stones you rarely hear about.  Maybe  Tanzanite.  The description sure fits me:  Tanzanite in its rough state is usually a reddish brown color. It requires artificial heat treatment to 600 °C in a gemological oven to bring out the blue violet of the stone.  Yup.  I am plain Jane  until refined under extreme conditions.  It takes a hell of an effort to rough out the edges.  LOL!

This is a typical ensemble for me.  I have to laugh at the current fad of holey jeans.  Um, mine had holes naturally….from climbing rocks, scooting around on my knees looking for this or that creature hiding under logs or from just simply wearing out because I could not afford to buy new Levi’s in college.  The ones you see here had that worn look to them, and what I call starter holes….. but the holes you see come from me catching them on furniture, a reed on a photo shoot or the toes of my daughter curling in them for purchase so she could climb into my arms.

And I wear baseball caps.  Yup.  I probably have 5 of them, and I throw one on every morning. Welcome to Texas.   Before we moved to the coast, I used to go in every morning to the local coffee shop where we lived with a cap on my head.  One day I stopped in without one on, on my way to a luncheon, and the owner didn’t recognize me.  She said something like “Oh my, I didn’t recognize you!  You look so different! Pretty.”  (Sports caps should not be knocked.  Trust me on this.  One morning you will put one on when you are in a hurry, and it will transform your life.  Just don’t wear jammies to take your kids to school.  Ever.)

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love clothes.  There is a difference between not caring about what you wear, and dressing in your style.  I can’t handle anything preppy.  I just can’t dress all house-wifey.  Not happening.  I have friends that it works well for.  It is them.  I have to be me even with 4 kids.  I have a friend who dresses quirky, but very stylish and pretty.   Remember the jeans?  Yeah,  I will raid her closet any day.  She can also dress me up all she wants, because she gets me.  She has known me my whole life and is the sole person who can give me clothing advice.   With the exception of Pam, the thing I won’t do is dress the way anyone else tells me to dress.  Because it is what works for you, does not mean it is the law.   If I wear Converse shoes and holey jeans, it doesn’t make me less mature.  It makes me comfortable.  

Don’t try and change me, or fix me.  I am not broken. 

I have to tell you the story about when someone told me in all seriousness that I needed to cut my hair so I would look like a mother and more mature.  Huh?  So short hair will make me look like a mother?  I thought my sagging breasts, gray hair and wrinkles were doing a great job.  Oh, and the fact that I had 4 kids….that just might make me appear matronly.   Just ask my uterus.   I consider myself to be a mature woman, so I thought the comment was uncalled for.  When someone who is NOT mature gives me this advice, well, all I can say is maturity is as maturity does.  If you are immature and selfish, it doesn’t matter how short and stylish you cut your hair, you will still be immature and selfish.  Savvy?  Great. 

On a closing note, remember the Tanzanite.  I may not be all wrapped up in a perfect bow every day, all day…..but I clean up pretty damn good.

I ain’t gonna wear

The clothes that you like

I’m fine and dandy

With the me inside

One look in the mirror

And I’m tickled pink

I don’t give a hoot

About what you think!

~Wheezer

**I just completed a study by Beth Moore on Esther, and we dove into this whole concept of  “beauty” and what people expect from women etc.  It touches on scenarios that begin with the words “It’s tough being a woman….” and the one that rang so true to me was “It’s tough being a woman in a world where beauty is a treatment”.    One of the quotes that I think is very important for each and every one of us is this:  ” Beauty, in God’s realm, is destiny…..not a treatment.   In mans realm, time diminishes beauty…in God’s realm, time perfects beauty.”    To all my sweet readers…..Every one of you are gorgeous.  Don’t ever forget it, and don’t let the worlds view change who God made you to be.  Be yourselves!  Todo bueno.