WW: Dolly Parton

Oh!  My!  Goodness!

I loved Dolly Parton as a kid.  One year for Christmas, I even received as a gift a Dolly Parton barbie doll, anatomically correct!

So this week, THE Dolly Parton is featured as the inspiration behind WW....

1. "I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids." What was your worst year in school? Why?

I think sixth grade would have to be my worst year in school.  Half the year we lived in Alabama, so I attended a brand new school after coming stateside from Hawaii.  My dad was stationed in Alabama for only six months, so I didn't make many lasting friendships.  As I recall, those six months were also tumultuous in my family, so between home life and school life, I was pretty miserable.  Plus, it was so hot in Alabama! And that red clay it's so famous for is extremely hard to get out of clothes!

Academically, I "earned" my first C.  It was in math (never a strong subject for me).  I was terrified to go home and show my report card.  I had always be an all A or all A-B honor roll student until then.  To be honest, I don't clearly remember how my parents reacted to the report card.

After that six month Alabama stint, Dad was stationed in El Paso, Texas, where I entered yet another new school in the middle of the year.  Generally speaking, I adjusted well socially moving around, but entering any new school in the middle of the year is so anxiety-ridden!  I wore a dress the first day, and the girls made such fun of me for that.  I cut my long hair and started dressing tomboyishly, acting 'tough'.  I even got in a fight with another girl.  I had only one friend at that school:  Maria who loved to draw horses (and she was excellent at it, too!).

2. "I still close my eyes and go home - I can always draw from that." Tell us about YOUR home.

Well isn't this a tricky question for a military brat!

I think I've written about this before...too lazy to find the blog and hyperlink to it....so forgive me if I'm not exactly consistent (but I trust you will find that I am pretty consistent).

Anywhooooo...

Home is kind of two, well, maybe three places for me.  First place is always church, God's House is my house.  Second home is where my life is, which is here in Dallas with my husband and kiddos and all the silliness of our lives.  Thirdly is The Ranch.  One of my dad's sisters and her husband are ranchers of black angus catttle, mohair goats, and sprawling, lush, west Texas ranchland.  It's quiet.  It's country.  It's isolated.  It's a little slice o' Heaven on Earth.  Whenever we were stateside & could get there, my family went to that ranch at Christmas and during the summer.  And now, when I look back at what "home" is, I think of The Ranch because it's the one place I saw most growing up, where we returned to a same place. 

When my father passed away, my aunt invited me to come whenever I wanted.  I've been a couple of times in the approximate 10 years Daddy's been gone and I cry leaving.  A part of me so wishes I could have a little piece of that little piece of Heaven on Earth to call my own someday.  I will always have the memories, though, and that makes me smile.

3. "I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else." What have you been told that you couldn’t do, but proved them wrong?

This was in a different meme, as I recall.  Go fetch! (Again, feeling a little lazy tonight....)

4. "I'm old enough and cranky enough now that if someone tried to tell me what to do, I'd tell them where to put it." What was the last incident where you were told what to do and were insulted?

I don't recall anything recently, but one incident jumped right out at me!

I was married once before.  My ex-husband and I ran in a large social circle -- lots of couples -- mostly borne out of my ex-husband's job.  My ex and I were on our way to watch some Cowboys football at the home of a couple I'd not yet met.  Entering their yard from a gate (as opposed to going to the front door, knocking and going through the house to the backyard), we get there, and the guys are all outside drinking and the grill is billowing smoke, meat smell is floating through the air.  My ex introduces me to the Man of the House and he smiles and tells me, 'why don't you go inside with the rest of the ladies'.  It wasn't a question.  It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order. 

No one had ever treated me like that before!  No man had ever made me feel so female in an inferior way!  I looked at my ex and he knew that I wasn't happy about what was just said to me and in the way that it was said.  But, because I'm a polite girl, I didn't go crazy about it.  I smiled and stayed outside for a while.  Then, when *I* was ready to go in, I did. 

Over a period of years, the friendship with this couple was strong, fun and I really miss them a lot.  Whenever I think of them, I always have fond memories and smile.

5. "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one." Have you ever reinvented yourself? How?

Hmmm...."reinvented", in my mind, suggests something fairly dramatic such as if you're a guy, you cut off your penis and try your best to be a woman.  But, I guess if cutting long hair short counts, then yeah, I've done that.

6. "If you talk bad about country music, it's like saying bad things about my momma. Thems fightin' words." Is there a type of music that you hate?

I will try to listen to all music.  The music I stay away from will lyrically carry themes of violence, hate or disrespect

7. "It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen."  Have you ever crossed dressed for Halloween or just for the hell of it?

I've cross-dressed, sure.  One Halloween I was a soldier.  Growing up in the 80s it was en vogue to be androgynous or even look male as a female. 

8. "My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order." What are your weaknesses?

Dolly and I are cut from the same Coat of Many Colors.  Food and men. 



9. "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Tell us about something that you did that required patience, but was worth it.

Child birth. 

10. "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."  When was the last time you made a major change in your life?

I might be overdue for one, actually....

I guess when I attempted last year to break a sugar addiction and clean up my food a little bit by doing a month-long juice fast was pretty drastic.  My food's a lot cleaner, but I have a loooong way to go!  And I'm still loving sugar but not nearly as enslaved to it as I used to be.