The Sexiest Man Alive

I heard today that a popular magazine had named some celebrity The Sexiest Man Alive, as they do every year.  I had never, ever heard of this man.  I wouldn't know him if he walked into my office and handed me a dozen roses.

What does this say about me?  Obviously, I am not up on my pop culture, celebrity knowledge or who's who.  I think it could mean that I have squarely planted both feet in middle age.  I'm at that place where we used to say, 'if the music is too loud, you are too old.' 

Yep.  That's me.

I decided to pay tribute to my own selection of

The Sexiest Man Alive. 

MolliWorld style. 

And this year's

{and every year's}

 man is....

{drum roll, please}

...the amazing

Rocket Man! 

For myriad reasons...

...that winning smile...

...the look that accompanied the threat to disable the camera
on my phone if I took one more picture...only he didn't :)

 

...he bought me the camera, even though he doesn't like
having his picture taken...



...but was willing to ham for me when I'd had a full day of unpleasant
medical tests and was near tears....

...the man who displays patience with so many things...including launch delays...

...and this...THIS...sitting with me through thousands of miligrams of
solumedrol infusion, offering a smile, always watching over me...

...the way he loves our grandsons,
 not his by DNA, but his in love
and nurture...

...his varied interests, including old pocket and wrist watches...

...and Muscle Cars {he's inside the front of a
'65 Mustang that he is restoring}...

 

...who doesn't shave on vacation because he knows
I like the fuzzy look...

...the man of my dreams...

...who laughs with me and shares a thousand secrets...

...who genuinely loves spending time with my parents...

...who prays...

...who holds me...

...and lets me hold him...

...this man who said, 'I do' and he meant it...

...a man with deep faith, even though he doesn't always  express it in the same
ways as I express mine...

...this man, this Rocket Man who rocked my world...

...and after over a dozen years, still looks sat me with love...

This is the sexiest man alive!

~Mollianne

11.11.11

A grateful thanks today, given with humble heart at the

sacrifice of the men and women of our armed forces 

Today, I honor my family members who have served

To my Sweet Daddy, Bobbie Buster, who served in the Korean Conflict.

To my ex husband, Ken McFetridge who served in the Air Force over a span of 2 decades both on active duty and in the Air National Guard. Ken supported the no-fly zone over Bosnia as well as serving in dangerous durg interdiction in the continuing war against drugs. 

 To my son, J McFetridge, who served during the War in Iraq and is now a disabled vet. 

My brother, Terry Buster who served during Viet Nam. 

My brother, Rob Buster who saw action in Macedonia and who served as career soldier. 

 

To my former father-in-law, Jim Lambirth, who served in the Marine Corps during Korea. 

To my former father-in-law, H.D. McFetridge, who also served during Korea.

To my grandfather, Malcolm Younger, who served as a Chaplain in WWII.
To my cousin, Mike Spencer, who served in the USAF.

To my nephew, Sherman Buster, who also served during Iraq and lives with a disability.

My great-uncles, Bob and Gene Austin, who served in the Navy during WWII. 

To thier brother, my great-uncle, Charles Austin

who served in WWII and who served as a career sailor. 

To my,other great uncles; 

Uncle Dude, Uncle Ralph and Uncle Frank Younger
 all who served in WWI. 

To Rocket Man's grandfathers,

Robert L.Osteen and Ed Massey, Jr.

who served in WWII.

To his uncle, Jerry Massey, who served during Korea. 

To Annie Massey who served in the Navy. 

To all of these, my family members,

I am grateful for your service. 

Many are no longer with us,

but to those who are...a heartfelt thanks. 

Quietly 

Reverently 

From the bottom of my heart

Thank you for serving.

Thank you for leaving such an amazing legacy. 

 

It is my prayer that when the time comes,

The Boys Fantastic

will look back at your example

and be willing to serve

if our country needs their service.

To my many friends who have served,

thank you, as well.

It is a day to remember.

A day to be grateful.

And I am.

~Mollianne

Some things just don't jive

I'm finding myself in a funky mood today.Out of sorts with so many things. Nothing seem to jive.  You know this feeling?

I could give you a million reasons excuses, explanations. I won't bore you with them. Perhaps I ought to just go in a closet and stay until I'm all better. Not really a viable option.  Besides, our closet space in Camelot is not sufficient for all the things stuffed into the closets and me, too. 

This morning I read (and cried through) several blog posts from Compassion International.  You see, there is a group of bloggers on a trip to Ecuador and they are writing about the poverty there.  The pictures of the children are heart wrenching.  In a way I didn't expect.  They have such hope in their eyes.   And it takes so little from our abundance to help them.  Compassion is doing such good work for the Kingdom, but there are so many children who are waiting to be sponsored.  And those pictures tug at my heart.

That made me think about the child we sponsor in Kenya.  Our Grace who is 7 years old.  We received a letter from her yesterday and I was undone.  She thanked us for loving her.  For praying for her.  Asked that we pray she will do well in school and assured me that she is listening to her teachers.  She wants to be an accountant when she grows up.  Then she said she prays for us every day.  Imagine, a child named Grace in a village in Kenya praying for us. 

Then, I clicked on the news to see what was happening in the world.  And I saw one story marked urgent.  And it was a piece about whether or not a football coach at a university should resign now or retire at the end of the season. 

Seriously?  With children dying by the thousands daily around the world of diseases that are often preventable?  And this is the news piece marked URGENT!

I have a soundtrack which plays in my head. {You do that, too, don't you? Have a soundtrack and if you listen to it, you can figure out what sort of a mood you are in? Please don't tell me I'm the only one} After reading the blog posts and the news, I realized that my soundtrack was spinning away.  I was hearing a song from the 1960s, recorded by Simon and Garfunkel. 7:00 O'Clock News/ Silent Night.  It fits my mood today.

Do you know this piece?  I've linked it below.  Seems like it sort of fits the world today.  Protests, demonstrations, the world turned upside down...yet people going to help and live for a week among the poorest of the poor.  Bringing hope and stretching our ideas of love.

I pray that I never grow too content, too settled, too wrapped up in my own world that I fail to see what really matters. And I pray that these funky, unsettled moods prod me on to be open to giving to those in need. Whether it is a precious child in Kenya whose family needs our support just to exist, or a wealthy man who is in need of a smile. Everyone we meet has great and deep needs.  I pray that my notions of love never become rigid and unable to be stretched. 

I pray for grace.  And for Grace.  That, my friends...that jives!

~Mollianne

I Will Never Forget

Rocket Man and Ares I-X, October 26, 2009

Two years ago, we were at Cape Canaveral for the launch of Ares I-X.

Rocket Man and his team had a part in that historic launch.  Walking that journey with him was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. 

Mission Patch

The year before the launch, while they were building the Roll Control System (RoCS), he worked about 5 months straight, taking off only Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.  He worked long, long days and tossed and turned those short nights trying to solve problems.  I realized early on that if I wanted to see him, I needed to go to work with him on the weekends.

Thus began my involvement in the project.  Early every Saturday morning that fall, I got up and packed a bag of things to occupy myself and joined him as he headed toward the shop.  We'd stop for a biscuit and coffee on the way, and I would get my V-badge and settle into his office for the day.

I rearranged the pictures on the wall that fall.  I sorted through piles and piles of things. I walked the shop floor with him and learned to know the very talented machinists who actually made the parts that were going to fly.  They named me the shop mascot and were all so very kind to explain what they were doing and how the machines worked.  It was fascinating.

I suited up and followed him into the clean room to check progress.  I held pieces of history in my hand  I even handed over my debit card once so Rocket Man could order some bolts that needed to be shipped overnight.

 (come to think of it...I never got reimbursed for that. 

I had an investment of time and $100 in the project!)

In January of 2009, RoCS shipped to the Cape and Rocket Man went down to oversee the assembly of the unit to the rocket.  I felt like we'd sent a child off to college.

Then, the waiting began. 

 And the date slipped from spring to summer to fall. 

And we waited. 

And other projects were completed. 

And we waited.

Finally, the date of October 27 was set and we were going full-speed ahead.  Until I got the bad news that I needed to have surgery on my back.  You never saw anyone more determined to recover than I was.  4 weeks and 2 days post-surgery, I was on a flight headed to the Cape to meet up with Rocket Man for the launch.

Rocket Man waiting for the final countdown

It didn't launch on the 27th.  But, by golly...on October 28, 2009 at 11:30 in the morning, that rocket fired and launched!  She flew true.  Ares I-X did everything she was designed to do.  It was exhilirating and awesome.  As I write, remembering the emotion I felt, I'm in tears...again.

T minus four and holding

Two years later, we sit with a space program that seems to be lost.  The last Shuttle has been retired.  Constellation became Cancellation.  The current administration has put a choke hold on NASA and all the work that went into Ares I-X seems to be for naught. 

Receiving well-deserved thanks from very important people

 I am honored that the amazing Rocket Man has invited me to attend the Ares reunion with him today. Many of the team will assemble, raise their glasses in a toast to their accomplishment and talk about that glorious day that went mostly unnoticed by the general public.  That day when our pride exploded from the launch pad and flew high.  That day.  That glorious day.

I don't forget. 

I will never forget.

I will tell and retell to my children

and my nephews

and my nieces

 and my grandchildren.

I will tell the story to anyone who will listen.

It may never be more than a sentence in a book

 that someone writes

and a few read

 about space history.

To me, to many of us, it was a day that we experienced something

historic,

 larger than life

something bigger than any one person.

Something that was fashoned from a dream,

 designed, engineered, built, tested, assembled and finally launched.

And it worked!

.

I held the hand of one who helped make it possible.

And joined hands with many who were involved.

Sunset on that glorious day

The memories have become bittersweet, but I will not forget.

I will never forget.

~Mollianne

You can see the post I wrote the night before the launch here

Lift. Tone. Burn.

You remember I told you about my Pure Barre class? 

The one without the tutu?

Yeah, that one!

Hmph!

It is kicking my butt. 

 Big time.

And to add insult to injury...

yesterday, the 8 1/2 months pregnant woman in class was doing better than I was.

But I was there. 

That has to count for something. 

Especially since the class started at 6 a.m.

Before I had coffee.

Bleh!

I'm going back today after work. 

That ought to be a whole different experience. 

Wide awake and taking the class. 

Ouch!

In all  fairness, I am asking my muscles to do things they have not done--possibly ever. 

And I notice that Sally O'Slim and Fitness Barbie are leaving the classes winded as well. 

It is an intense workout.

Here is how I feel while I'm doing it.

Who knew that holding your leg in an unnatural position while on your tippy-toes and squeezing a hateful red ball high up between your thighs for {just} 20 more seconds could be such torture?

I didn't know before, but I sure do know now!

~Mollianne

You had me at Hershey Bar

Long ago and what now seems like in a galaxy far, far away…this man and I were sort of flirting with possibilities. A skittish friendship had evolved into long, soulful talks and clever emails. He was my Sunday School teacher in the Singles Class. He had been single again much longer than I, and our friendship began with his listening ear and calm encouragement.

His workplace was just across the street from mine and if we each looked out our windows, we could see the very same fountain. The Braves {his team} and The Cardinals {my team] were in the playoffs and there was much playful banter between us {Braves won that year, only to lose in the World Series}.

On Halloween, he sent me an email invitation to come and help hand out candy to the neighborhood children with him. 

I replied that I would be glad to…but only if he had good candy. He immediately responded that he had Twix, Reese’s Cups and Snickers.  My answer was mighty cheeky, for someone who thought she *might* actually be developing a crush. I reckoned that was sorta-kinda good candy.  If he wasn't going to have Hershey Bars with Almonds.

We agreed upon a time and I told him I would walk over to his house, which was about 5 blocks from mine. He met me at the door with a huge grin and one hand behind his back. He pulled that hand out and placed in my hand a Hershey Bar.

Then, he offered an apology. He had stopped several places on his way home and NONE of them had Hershey Bars with Almonds. Would a plain Hershey Bar do?

Do? Would it do?  I’ll say! Oh, yes sir!  It would do!

He had gone to remarkable effort to get me what I said I liked and then apologized that he had come up short. The rest of the night is somewhat of a blur.

I recall that I helped his 7 year old remove her costume makeup and she sat in my lap as we went through her stash of candy. I remember that ‘Rocky Horror’ was playing on the Comedy Channel {and I’d never seen it…quite the first movie to watch together with a 7 year old sitting in between you}.

I remember that his parents came in from Memphis about the time he put his girls to bed, so we had a different generation of chaperons. I think that they were very surprised to find a woman sitting on the couch with their firstborn. Who had said, by the way, that he would rather eat dirt than ever to be married again. Often and loudly, from what I am told.

I remember that at about 10:00 o’clock, he told his folks that he was going to drive me home and we sat on my front porch until 1:00 am, just talking. About all sorts of things. And nothing. Just talking.

When I told my best friend that I thought I could be falling in love…she cautioned me against falling for something as small as a candy bar. I think she said I ought to hold out for more. She was going through a nasty divorce and was perhaps a wee bit cynical.

Fast forward a decade and a half. That 7 year old is now in her 20s and is my hairdresser. The Candy Bar Man {aka Rocket Man} and I have been married for 13 years. And recently…he came in the house and handed me a plain Hershey Bar.

Which, he said, he had bought from a man who was selling them to try to have enough money to keep from being evicted.  The man had lost his job and was desperately trying to raise some funds to pay his rent. He’d bought a box of the chocolate bars and was asking for donations in exchange for a bar. My Rocket Man gave the man the $5 he had in his pocket and prayed for the man and brought me the sweetest Hershey Bar I have ever had.

You see, Rocket Man’s generosity to me in the form of a candy bar was just the tip of the ice burg. He is as frugal as anyone I have ever met {except maybe his mother} but he is generous and giving beyond belief. He is industrious and good at what he does in his Rocket World and he is compensated well for that. But he lives his life with eyes wide open to see the needs of others and is always willing to help. Always.

And while he had me and my heart at Hershey Bar…he continues to hold my heart with his amazing generosity of love, life, family, laughter, tears, trust, loyalty and yes…even the occasional Hershey Bar. 

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A Dream Come True...sort of

When I was a little girl, wanted to be a ballerina.

Or at least wear the leotard, tights and oh! my! A tutu.

That was long before there was a dance studio on every corner and it was considered a right...the same sort of right as public schooling and use of the highways...for every little girl to take dance.

I don't believe I knew a single, solitary person who 'took' dance when I was growing up.

That wasn't the point. I had paper dolls who had ballet costumes and I spent hours and hours and hours folding the paper tabs down to hold a Swan Lake costume that my mother had meticulously cut out onto this or that paper doll.

I loved my paper dolls and I played with them a lot.

I wanted to be as beautiful as those one dimensional, cardboard figures.

And graceful.

And wear a tutu.

Didn't happen.

 By the time I lived where dance lessons were possible, I was also the mother of two. And my daughter didn't care for the dance lessons I signed her up for. We only did that one semester. She tapped to "The Good Ship Lollipop" in her tap shoes, but let's just say it wasn't pretty. And she didn't really like it. She was much more into playing softball. *sigh*

While there are dance studios in my town that offer adult dance lessons, that dream has sort of faded over the years. I'm not the disciplined type. I'm short. I have a bad back. And, let's face it...I'm on the heavyweight side of chubby. And I'm not necessarily graceful.

However, this morning, I'm going to take my first class at Pure Barre. This is an exercise class that combines elements of ballet, yoga and pilates. I'm told it is very good for developing and strengthening core muscles. It is low impact (good for my back). I'm praying that it will help relieve some of the chronic back issues that I have been experiencing. Fervently praying.

Because one of the options on the table is spinal fusion
and I just don't want to go there.

So, I'm readying myself to go across the street and join a class (I'm not a joiner) where I will be in a mirrored room, holding onto a barre.

I'm sure I will be inflicting pain on my well rested muscles Although I walk 3 times a week, I doubt that my abs are aware that I consider this to be substantial exercise.

Unfortunately...there isn't a tutu involved.

~Mollianne

Update:
I finished the class and am proud to say that I tried to do everything they asked.  It was upbeat and INTENSE!  I'm talking major kicking of my butt.  And I'm going to go back.  However, I need to go back with the disclaimer that some of the muscles they wanted me to use left the premises back in...oh...1978 or so!  I think you can see pictures of those muscles on the back of milk cartons. 

~MBM