I've Moved

Since so many people could not pull this website up, I have moved. My new website is, http://nansviews.wordpress.com/. Please check it out and follow..........


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Laughter is the best medicine

I have always had a problem with outburst of laughter at the most inopportune time. I inherited this from my mother. I laugh loud and hard. I've never been one to chuckle or politely giggle. Mine are like convulsions with my head swinging back and sometimes the loss of bodily fluid. Sorry, just saying. 


I remember being in the 4th grade and my teacher,  Sr Charles moved my desk in the hall and made me sit there through the rest of the class because I couldn't stop laughing. No one else was but me. God only knows what was so funny. I was also sent to the principle's office in high school for the same thing. Thankfully my mother understood. And then I remember being at the funeral of our dear family friend and neighbor, Maury. My mom and I started laughing and eventually my brother Sean who was the alter boy did too and then so did the priest, Fr O'Donnell.  The whole service was laughing then and all interrupted. Speaking of funerals, at my dad's funeral this became an issue too. THE most heartbreaking event of my life, thus far. We were at St Roch's Church in St Louis and had the bagpipes playing as we walked in. So beautiful. All my family together. It meant so much. Sitting in the front pew and listening to the sermon and all of a sudden it hit me. Yes, a tremble. Oh no! This cannot happen. As I tried to stifle the tremor it began to grow. I looked over at my mom and she had a horrifying look on her face of knowing whats to come. My brother and sister began to smile and shake too. I grabbed a tissue and held it tight and my body began to rock. Everyone more than two rows back thought I was crying and having a really hard time. When I knew this was not going to stop, I had to exit the building fast before a complete outburst occurred. I moved quickly down the side isle and down the stairs to the restroom. I splashed water on my face and tried mightily to hold it together. I entered again and took my seat with my family. But this time I made a point of making no eye contact with any of my siblings or my mother for fear it would just start up again. My dad would of understood. 


This has been obviously an ongoing situation that I have tried to get a grip on but with no success. In 1995, I married my 2nd husband Greg. Very small wedding with no one but our immediate families there. When it was time for me to say my vows all I could do was laugh. Could not seem to form a word. As I was trying mightily to control my seizure on the alter I looked back @ my mother who was giggling in her seat too. My dad was used to this and just looked on with, oh here we go again, look on his face. The pastor had to stop and give me a break to get myself under control. Looking over at Greg and his family, they looked mortified. Finally, realizing I was pissing the whole Nichols family off so I somehow got it together.  No one would have believed it had I not gotten it all on video. Greg came to appreciate my disorder and often times provoked it. Whether we would be in an aisle in Wal Mart or anywhere else extremely public, he would push my buttons. And then next thing you know, I am doubled over and holding on for dear life with tears rolling down my face. 


If I am at my daughters home and she has friends over and I begin to laugh hard, she will do whatever she can in her power to stop me. She gets so embarrassed. Same thing if we are in a restaurant. There was some very memorable humiliating events that I'd love to share with you that I just cannot bring myself to repeat out loud. If you know me well enough then you most likely witnessed this. I am not proud of this. Below you will see a picture of my little sister Colleen and daughter Kari. As you can clearly see, its in the genes. Sorry girls. They say that laughter is the best medicine. If this is true then I should be one healthy woman. Or maybe it was, laughter is the best policy. 

The Ultimate Salesman

I know I'd probably be a great car salesman,  like my brother Barry, but its not really my style. But I have sold just about everything else. Looking back, my first sales venture was probably selling ink toner cartridges. Not sure the set up was all legal though. It was a shady company but I was young and stupid. It was the typical telemarketing scheme. I then moved on to Tybrisa Beach Resort timeshares. You would get a free camera for just doing a walk thru of the condo and listening to their speil.  Not bad. I sold so many things and can't remember all of them.

Most were just a part time gig, but were guaranteed to make me a millionaire.  There was Avon, Tupperware, BeautiControl, PartyGals, Premier Jewelry, Clever Container, long distance calling cards (back when people used them), Melaleuca, MonaVie, Life Insurance and Annuities, some kind of Home Interiors and so much more. I also was one of those chicks that stood in Sams Clubs and other stores wearing the black apron with a tray of samples trying to push one product or another.

Whether I am working or not, I am always so enthusiastic about whatever it is I am passionate about. "Oh my God! You have got to go to that new car wash place that opened up on Main St! They did a fabulous job", or "I just had THE best bagel of my life".
Maybe its the combination of being the town crier and being dramtic that makes a good salesman. Its just the follow through that I have problems with. I can close the sale but when things go slow or kind of boring then I move on to the next deal or just drop out all together.  I don't think I'm a sucker for any loser out there pushing me a good line. I am realistic but I do believe that if they can do it and make $10,000/ a month then I can too.  I have went to the cheesy National Conventions and met others and did the group cheers, walked on their run ways and received oh so many pins.But that is stuff that I would much rather not done or received. I never really cared about driving that pink Cadillac or having my name & picture in one of their quarterly newsletters under, Bronze Stars. I only cared about the money. Show me the money!!!

I don't have a back up plan right now. I can't say that I'll never sell again but I'm definitely not planning on it. I know my down falls. One of the things I hated about selling stuff was having to contact my family and friends. I would much rather do cold calling to strangers for 8 hrs a day then to bother my loved ones. Hopefully I will never be ringing your door bell again saying, "Avon's calling".

Mary Catherine

I remember being little and looking up to my older sister, KK like she was perfect. Her real name is Mary Catherine but for some reason we have all called her KK since I can remember. She was blonde, fit and never seemed to get in trouble be it @ school or home. She went to an all girls catholic high school for 4 years then went on to a big state university and ended up marrying her big brother from a fraternity she joined. They did the big wedding at our childhood parish church and reception at city hall. They had 3 kids, white picket fence and dog. But then I came along trying to follow in her foot steps and ended up in 4 different high schools, dyed my hair, got pregnant before marriage and got in trouble every where I went. I was given the same tools my sister was but ended up completely different. Why is that? Now @ age 44 and two divorces later I still look up to her as perfect. Kind of perfect. She did it right. I often joke with her about being Suzy Homemaker, Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart. She is the soccer mom, the mom who volunteers at the kids school, the mom who never forgets to send a special gift to the teacher, the mom who goes on all field trips. You know which mom I'm talking about....


We shared a bedroom for a while when we were little, and for a little while it was 3 of us girls in one room. We had a big home but with only four bedrooms and 7 kids, you have to make do with what you have. I used to try to tag along with her and her girlfriends as much as I could but I was a bother. I used to try to spy on her and sneek through her things. Growing up with her I don't remember being necessarily close with her. She was 5 yrs older than me, I think. It wasn't until I had a child that I think we began to bond. I remember hanging out with my brothers and I remember hanging with my little sister, but never with KK. My earliest memory of her was when she was in high school. I remember riding with her right after she got her drivers license. I remember when she had a party and my parents went out of town. She made me go to bed and not come out. I snuck to the landing on the stairway and watching from a distance as the house was full of high schoolers partying. 


Why is it that siblings can live in the same house with the same rules and up bringing and turn out so different. Don't get me wrong, we have our similarities. We don't favor each other, except maybe the chin. I think all kids should grow up having a wonderful example like I did. She was never arrested, no tattoos, no piercing, no knock down drag out fights with my parents and never flunked out of school. We both live out of state from where we grew up and both still and will always have a strong love for St Louis and the Cardinals.

My Leave it to Beaver childhood

I live in a small town in southern Georgia and have for 25 years. I moved here from St. Louis and no matter how long I've been gone from there I still feel like a Midwest girl. I believe most people feel that way about the places we call home. I can go there for a visit and see family and friends but am never quite comfortable being there. Isn't that strange? I feel like a Midwest girl and call St. Louis my home but still feel like a foreigner when I'm there. I guess when your a transplant you never really know where you belong. Growing up in St. Louis was so normal and I had a wonderful uneventful childhood. We did not have any alcoholics in the family or drug addicts or child molestation or knew any transgenders. I grew up in a typical Irish catholic neighborhood. I always referred to my home as a similar place to Leave it to Beaver's home. My mom stayed home and my dad wore a suit and went to work and all seven children went to nice catholic schools. We ate dinner together every night and all went to church on Sunday mornings. Most of the other families in the neighborhood were exactly the same. I don't think I even met someone that wasn't catholic until I was in the 11th grade. I wasn't allowed to hang around kids that came from a broken home, which was odd enough back then. My parents were always involved in the schools and community. They loved trying to make a difference and setting a good example. I very rarely remember hearing my parents argue. They never raised their vocies with each other and always backed each other up. My father was born in 1918 (which might explain a lot) and was respected by everyone in my family. He was madly in love with my mother until the day he died. It was these good examples and normal childhood that ruined me for the real world. 

I assumed life was like that which I knew. I thought couples got married and stayed married and very rarely fought. I thought wives could marry the man of their dreams and stay home waiting on their man. I thought everyone went to church and voted and was part of the PTA. HA. When I got in high school I began to rebel and test the limits. I drank, I smoked and did drugs. I flunked out of school and ranaway, briefly. I had to find out EVERYTHING life had to offer, especially the things I didn't learn @ home. To this date, there is very little I regret. I do regret worrying my family though. 

The friends I had were all from large families and their brothers and sisters went to school with my brothers and sisters. Everybody knew everybody in my neighborhood. I believed it was middle class America @ it's finest. We all played school soccor, basketball and volleyball. There were tons of neighborhood kids and on summer evenings it was easy to find 10-20 kids playing kick ball in the middle of the street. Everyone was active whether it was school goverment, sports or neighborhood block parties. A strange world we lived in back then. Times sure have changed. I now know no one who lives on my street and only know one other person in the whole city and have never been to her house. I don't know who the mayor is and am not happy with the federal goverment. I do still vote but rarely go to church. Everyone is so busy with their lives that we lost that normalicy that we all grew up with. Life happens. 

The greatest loss of my life

When I was 18 yrs old I started dating Ricky Groover. He was 25 yrs old and always the gentleman to me. I was introduced to him by a friend of mine named Karen. I called him the next weekend and asked him out. I didn't know anyone in town except a few people and really was considering him as a future friend and not a romantic interest. He picked me up from my parent's house and came to the door. He made small talk with my parents and then opened the car door for me. I was really impressed by his car, but later found out he borrowed it from his friend Steve for the night. The whole night I kept thinking to myself that I really am not interested in this guy in the boyfriend way. But he did and said everything right. At the end of the night he caught me off guard and pulled me into his lap and kissed me. Wow. I was shocked. And our relationship started from there.

We dated for two years and he treated me like a queen. The sweetest person to my family, friends and me. He was hard working and a great lover. What more could a girl ask for.  We started to plan a wedding and booked the church and ordered the invitations and other little details but began to get super stressed. In the end, we decided to trash all our plans and just elope. He asked Steve to be his best man and I asked Angie to be my maid of honor. We went to Ridgeland, SC and saw the justice of the peace. When we returned we went to my parents house and told them and we went to his parents house and did the same.

I had never had anyone cater to my every need the way Ricky did. He cooked, he cleaned and rubbed my feet. He spoiled me rotten. He also insisted on naming our baby Kari Lynn. After she was born, he proceeded to spoil her too. He was just one of those fellas that knew how to treat a girl right.

Realizing now that this blog could probably go on forever,  let me sum up the end. We divorced.  I couldn't take all the partying he was doing. I moved out. We remained close friends until the day he died. Continuing to celebrate birthdays & holidays together and talking on the phone almost daily.

He died of lung cancer when he was 44 yrs old. My whole world came crashing down when he was under Hospice care. He had always been there for me: mentally,  emotionally and financially.  And to top it off, I had to watch my daughter try to deal with her losing the love of her life. I don't think my daughter has ever recovered from this loss and might not ever.

Ricky Groover, 1961 - 2006

10 of my favorite things

I got this title from the Bravo TV series called, "10 Things that make me happy".  Of course I changed it a little. This is just some of my favorite things.

10 - Imos Pizza, THE best pizza on earth. Located in St Louis. Never ever tasted a pizza anything like it.

9 - My Samantha Brown luggage, my daughter gave it to me last Christmas. It is the coolest and spaciest suitcase I have ever used.

8 - DVR, This has taken over any life I may have had before.  All of my friends and lovers live in my DVR box.
7 - Heavenly Perfume, from Victoria Secrets.  Not sure how many years I've been using it but I wear it every time I leave the house.
6 - Eyelash Extensions,  haven't worn them since November I think but that is still my favorite luxury to have done.  I automatically feel so beautiful with them on.
5 - DROID,  one of my favorites just because I would be lost without it. All of my information is stored in it; contacts, list of meds, my alarm clock, kindle, all my passwords, bills information, pictures, everything.
4 - Books on CD, I spend so much time in my car that I have come to love listening to books. I still read a lot the old fashioned way but this makes driving so much more enjoyable.
3 - Electric blanket, I just started using one about 3 years ago and am amazed at this wonderful invention.  I will use it year round, mostly because my boyfriend keeps the air conditioning so cold. I find it very hard to sleep without it.
2 - This big flashlight that I do not know the name of. It is about the size of a pair of boots, maybe a little bigger. My boyfriend bought it from Auto Zone. It cost about $80 and I freaking love it. If the power goes out @ your house, it will light up several rooms at once. It has several settings so you can use it very dim too. It will also charge your cell phone. I will not ever try to live without it.

1 - fireworks! And not just small town fireworks or sparklers or snap, crackle or pops but full blow big ass fireworks. I love to watch fireworks. It doesn't matter who I'm with or where I'm at, this always seems to captivate me.

My dad

I guess most girls grow up thinking their daddy is the best. But mine really was. My dad, William Thomas, was born back in 1918. I don't know anyone that was around back then. Just to make you realize how long ago that was.........President was Woodrow Wilson and Billy Graham was born then too. WWI ends, and time zones were established. No kidding. So anyway, my point is that he's old. My dad was a real gentleman. I never heard him talk crude or disrespectful to anyone. He was born and raised in Illinois with one sister. He was a soldier in WWII and afterwards worked for the government in St Louis as a cartographer. This is where he met my mom. When they married he was in his 40's and then proceeded to raise 7 kids.

Looking back I don't recall my parents ever fighting. They may have had disagreements but it was never hostile. He was in love with my mom until the day he died. I never saw him look at another woman or speak out of line. He had a sense of humor like very few I have ever heard. It was never sarcastic but kind of dry. Maybe similar to Bill Crosby. He would have the whole family in stitches. He was not dramatic or loud. I wish I had more of his qualities. My father died in 1995 and I was rather relieved when he passed on. I say relieved because I did not want him to see some of the ways the world had become. Whether it was on TV, movies or radio; everything was turning rather raunchy. Watching my dad suffer with cancer, leading up to his death, was very hard for me. One of the hardest things I ever went through. He tried to be strong but could only hold up so long.

He insisted we went to church regularly, vote and become involved in our community. He was very strict and conservative but I don't believe he ever brought a gun in our home. None of his children, no matter what age, would ever be caught dead cursing in front of him, telling a dirty joke in front of him or smoking a cigarette in his view. It was just that kind of presence he radiated to us all. I think of him almost daily and miss him so badly. I always wonder what his life was like before he met my mom. He set such a good example for me and my brothers and sisters. Its no wonder I am single today, no one can measure up. Its just such a shame that they don't make men like him anymore.

My career of changing careers

Most children dream of what they want to be when they grow up. Little girls dream of being ballerinas, teachers, nurses, etc and boys dream of becoming a famous baseball player, fireman, doctor, etc. When I was a little girl, I dreamt of being thin, beautiful and most importantly a woman of leisure. Really. Is that wrong?? The only careers I seriously considered as a child was being a famous figure skater like Dorthy Hamill or being a TV newscaster. I never wanted to go to college and didn't plan on it. I don't know why my way of thinking was so distorted. I grew up in a middle class family in the Midwest and we had to work for what we had. The closer I got to age 18, I had come to realize I will have to work to survive but I would ONLY be working because I had to and not because I want to.


When I graduated high school with no plans of my future, I took a few odd and end part time jobs and just focused on my social life. After about 6 months of doing nothing and totally enjoying myself, my dad begged me to consider college, tech school, a course, anything! So, very reluctently, I started a 9 mos nursing assistant program with Draughans Community College, now South College. Being the follow through girl that I am, I quit just before I completed the course. I made it on their little Dean's List but school just wasn't for me. I then became a barber. Quit that when I was pregnant. Next full time thing I went to was working @ Candler Hospital as a registration clerk in the ER and admitting. Gosh, I really did love that. After about 6 mos there, I met the guy over registration @ Memorial while I was having drinks @ Cooky's bar. He offered me a job there doing the same thing but more money and better shift. So, in February of 1990 my career with Memorial began. Now this was a good time! After many years with Memorial, starting as registration clerk to ADT Coordinator, I got burned out and knew it was time to move on. I then went to work @ PaineWebber Mortgage and was their Branch Coordinator. My next move was Crawford & Co, where I met a lot of my friends I still have today. Went through a lot of life changes when I worked there. I was stalked, got married and lost my dad. After this company closed down their Savannah office and laid us all off, I went to Gulfstream. Wow, that place is really cool. But after 6 mos of working full time temporary and unable to get a permanent position with benefits, I had to change again. I then went to work as a receptionist @ Coastal Dialysis. Convinced to move up to a Dialysis tech. Very interesting and good learning experience. But after two dirty needle sticks, I knew it wasn't meant for me. I then went to work doing Physician Billing at this place called HealthPac. We did billing for 15 different doctors offices. But after I received my 12th bounced paycheck, I left there. And yes, I said, bounced paycheck. I then worked back for Memorial and then East Georgia Regional Medical Center in Statesboro in the OR. I also worked for a doctors office in Statesboro and on the ramp @ Delta Airlines. Not to forget being a certified nail tech and licensed insurance broker a long the way. Honestly, I think I could go on and on with previous jobs I've done. Its sad but I always had a good reason for moving on to the next. I worked many years for 911 and am now dispatching Fire and Ems in Savannah. This seems to work for me. 


At this point in my life, I really have little career goals. Or maybe I never have. I think I would enjoy being a travel agent (like my mother was) but never tried it. I have been told there is no money in that. I know I still dream of being thin and a woman of leisure. Maybe that really is what I am meant to be. All in all, I have had great experiences, met amazing people and learned different fields. Who knows where I will be in 10 years......

The grass is always greener ....

     
I just recently started working back in Savannah after hanging out in the country for a while. Being back in the City has brought back so many memories for me. Just driving around to and from work reminds me of all the different places I have lived there. All within about a ten year time, I moved around a lot.  I was under the "Grass is always greener on the other side" mentality. Glad I finally grew out of that. 
     I moved out of my parents house in Fairway Oaks, a nice little neighborhood in a central location in Savannah, probably around age 19.  My first place was renting a room from a new friend named Carol who had a great condo in Lotts Landing in Georgetown, the southside of Savannah. Somehow and someway it seemed like a good idea even though I had no car and no drivers license and was no where near my job or my boyfriend. Georgetown was on the outskirts of town back then. Now its built up so that its more in the City than it used to be. For obvious reasons that didn't last long.
      I then moved in with my boyfriend, Ricky and his roommate in a house on White Bluff, which went by the nickname of the Social Club by many people. The house was always trashed and was a party house. Great memories were made here. I would have died if my parents ever showed up. We had lots of parties there and it was in a very central location to everything.  We had happy hour almost daily and friends would stop by on their way home from work and have a drink. It was such a popular place. I was so carefree and happy back then. I didn't have a care in the world! That was a short stay.
     My next living situation was to rent out an old house on LaRoche with Sherry, a high school friend. That actually worked out great. The only negative thing I remember happening while we lived there was that we had a peeping tom and thankfully one of our guy friends had caught him and ran him off. From that point on, Sherry & I were a little creeped out. I was 20 yrs old at this time and we probably lived there about a year. I would of lived there longer had I not got pregnant & married to Ricky then.
     Ricky and I moved to Coastal Place Apartments.  Very unfortunately for me, I just wasn't happy in the marriage so I moved out. This started my move 13 times in one year saga.  I rented a room from my new hair dresser named Jo. She had a beautiful home in Mayfair. In fact, to this day, I have never seen a home decorated so exquisite as hers. Little did I know, this turned out to be a party house too. I met a lot of people while living with Jo and built some amazing friends through her. I then rented a home on 61st St with a girl named Karen, whom I met through Jo. This old house had no air conditioner and we didn't stay there long. The two of us moved then to Turtle Creek Apts on White Bluff.  
     It was now that I think I moved back in with Carol and her boyfriend Stevie. She was renting a house in a rather trashy neighborhood and the house was small and looked cheap. Not sure what she was thinking. I remember there was shrimpers who lived next door to us and they reminded me of a biker group and they liked to party all night. When I was living here we had to use a laundry mat. I had a routine of driving up to the laundromat around the corner at Skidaway and Bona Bella and I would throw all my clothes in the washer/ dryer and drive back home to wait. When they were done I'd run up there again and retrieve them. It was a system that I used several times. This one time I showed up to get them from the dryer and they were gone!  All my clothes stolen!  
     I think I then moved into an old garage apartment alone on Waters Ave. It was scary but also made me feel so independent. I was close to work at Memorial and close to my parents but right on the border of the hood. I enjoyed it there but the place became infested with termites. This is about the time I lose track of where I went next. I believe I rented another room from Carol again but she was now living in Holland Park Townhomes. Gosh, what a great place that was.
     I'm sure I have the order mixed up here but to make a long story short I moved back in with my parents house and also Sherry & I moved in together again, this time to River Crossing and The Commons. When I was living in the Commons I met and started dating Greg, who eventually turned into husband #2. I moved from the Commons to Moss Gate Apartments, a loft apartment alone. Greg and I married and then guess what? Yep, we moved. We moved to a house on Wilmington Island.  Then when our house got flooded we had to move to River Crossing Apts. From there we moved to the country.
     What a trip. No pun intended. And the weird thing is that this isn't even all the places I moved to. There was more. I was young and constantly trying to find my place and my way. I consider my self a city girl but ironically the place I lived at the longest as an adult was in the country. The 'oh so familiar' thing is that now I am renting (kind of) a room from someone in a city I know no one and have to drive an hour and half one way to work while everything I possess is in a storage unit. I would of never imagined in a million years my life would of turned out this way....

And so it begins

     I have considered blogging for some time now and now that it's here I realize it is so much harder than it looks. I have always wanted to be a writer or in the journalism field in some sort of fashion but lack the talent. I remember dreaming of becoming someone like Karen Foss, a newscaster in St Louis when I was in Elementary School. She was the local version of Katie Couric back in the 80's. Or was in my eyes anyway. This is my second go at blogging and we'll see how it goes. My first try was to be a Restaurant critic (I still love the idea) but I felt my one and only very short post was rather weak. Now I think I will just try and cover anything and everything that comes to mind. That is, of course any idea that will be at least 250 words or more. Hahaha. When I was in my late teens, it seems that I could write a hand written letter to my friend Laura Green and it would be dozens of pages and it would just flow like water without my even having to put much thought into it. Where are those creative juices now? Maybe with a little practice it will all start coming back.
     According to dictionary.com, blog means a Web site containing the writer's or group of writers'own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites. Good to know. Now I know I'm not doing this wrong. The word blog actually came from the word weblog. Sounds like 'water logged' to me. Whatever. There are millions of bloggers on-line now and I realize that I can pretty much make this into whatever I want. I'm not sure what you expect to see on here and I'm not sure exactly what I will put.
     I want to share some of my experiences with you but am hesitant to include anyone's name or places for fear of upsetting someone. Couldn't people sue if they don't like what you say about their company or person? Legally I'm not sure so I best keep somethings anonymous. It kind of takes the fun out of it but maybe someone will inform me of the legalities.