It came about when The Husband and I were driving around in The Vibe.  It’s The Husband’s car.  Well, actually, it used to be mine. But when I bought Betsy, The Beetle; The Husband inherited The Vibe – no it doesn’t have a name, but it should!  Anyway, The Vibe has a radio that displays the song title and band/artist of the song that’s playing at the time.  We were rockin’ out as we are wont to do and looked down at the display to see what was playing. and saw “Mellenca”.  We said to each other – This is strange.  Who is this new artist called Mellenca?  You know where this is going right?  Apparently the display only has a certain number of characters.  The song was by John Mellencamp.  So it showed Mellenca on one screen and “mp” on the next.  The Husband and I had a good laugh at ourselves since it took us a good 5 minutes to figure out who the heck Mellenca was!

So for the past couple of weeks, the whole family will look at each other and call out “Mellenca!”  We’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the name.  Should we create a new soft drink named Mellenca?  How about start a new garage band called Mellenca?  After much deliberation, The Girl Child, decided she wanted a website.  What a great name for a new Website!  See, when you turn 13 in our house, you get a website of your vary own (or 32 years old, in my case).   So, check out www.mellenca.com.You never know what will show up on there!

Now, I’m no tornado wimp.  I’ve  once been locked in Walmart during a code black (weather emergency).  Once it was determined no one was going to be allowed to leave the store since a tornado was touching down a mile away from the store, we were corralled back “Home Goods” by the pillows.  Did I freak out like my fellow shopping partner that night?  To borrow a phrase from when my little guy was even littler – Hecks no!  I calmly pulled down a bean bag chair and pillows and made myself a comfy little nest in the middle of isle 12.  My shopping partner, Patty, said claimed “We’re all going to die!”  I replied, “Well, if I’m gonna die, I”m gonna die comfortably in a bean bag chair.”  I don’t think she appreciated my humor that night.  Needless to say, we didn’t die and we’re both still alive and well today – and still friends in spite of my lack of compassion to other people’s fears.

All that to say that I’m not a weenie when it comes to inclement weather.  However, I do have a couple of things that freak me the “hecks” out.

A – The fear of getting sucked up in a tornado while taking a shower.

and

#2 – Having to go in a basment during a tornado.

A – Let’s start with getting sucked up into a tornado whilst taking a shower.  This morning, my morning routine was cut pretty short when I heard the wind whipping around outside and threatening to rip the tin room off of our 100 year old farm house.  Sorry Husband, the legs did not get shaved today.  I figured you’d rather deal with prickly legs than have to go pick up your naked and freaking out wife out of a cornfield somewhere.  Now, I know the odds of that actually happening are fairly slim.  But you know it’s happened to people.  But, knowing my luck, I’d totally be one of the unlucky ones and end up naked in in my father-in-law’s corn field.  Oh yeah, now that I’ve married into the farm mob, I’m surrounded by my in-laws on all sides.  They are everywhere.  The last thing I want is Uncle Keith finding me naked in his field.  I would NEVER live that down!  Never, ever.  I love my in-laws, but there are some things that don’t need to be shared

On to #2 – Taking shelter in a basement during a tornado.  Some people are lucky enough to have really nice finished basements that are more like an extension of their house.  No such luck here.  My 100 year old farm house has the creepiest basement second only to my in-laws basement.  I’ve only been down to ours twice to kick the furnace when The Husband wasn’t around to do it and I was freezing to death.  Other than that, that basement is off limits and is lovingly referred to by me as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Basement.”  Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear someone yell “Bring out the Gimp!” in reference to my basement.  Scary stuff.  Couple that with the fact that I HATE basements of any kind and it’s not a good combo.

My illogical fear of basements stems back from the creepy house we lived in from when I was born until age 5.  I was always freaked out by that house and didn’t know why.  It turns out, that someone had committed suicide in that house right before my parents bought it.  They got a good price on it because there were STILL BLOOD STAINS (and possibly brains) on the carpet!  So they had to do some do-it-yourself HAZMAT clean up before we moved in.  CRAZY!  Anyway, I didn’t find out about that until just a few years ago.  What really freaked me out was that we had a creepy basement there.  I didn’t have to go down there very often, but when I did, it was freaky.  My mom kept an old candle that used to be her father’s on the ledge going down the staircase.  The candle was right at eye level for little impressionable Angie and was in the shape of a skull and crossbones.  Talk about scarring a out a scardy-cat little 3 year old for life! I’ve never been able to think of a basement without thinking of that blasted candle freaking me the “hecks” out.

So there you go… just some insight into my little corner of the world.  Feel free to share your crazy fears with me so I don’t feel so alone!

So who the heck is Paradoxchica and where did you come up with that name?

Well, it all started about 7 years ago (wow, it doesn’t seem that long) when my (now ex) husband and I helped start a church plant in California.  That group was called Paradox.  As part of that group, I earned the nickname of Paradoxchica.  I’m not really sure how that came about.  It’s certainly better than some I’ve had in my lifetime (Angielady, Chickipoo, Bubbles – to name a few).  That nickname stuck and now I’m Paradoxchica.

I think it sums me up pretty well.  Check out the definition of a paradox.

par·a·dox

1. a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

That fits me pretty well.  I’m seem pretty mainstream but have a bit of an edge.  I look pretty conservative (I even was married to a Youth Minister for a seven years!).  However, I have 3 tattoos and recently colored my hair “punk rock red” as my 13 year old stepdaughter calls it.  I consider my self a Christian but don’t necessarily agree with everything Republicans say I should.  I love a good Rock Concert but also enjoy sitting at home working on my crafts and watching my 8 month old grandson (Nugget) explore the world around him.

I’m not sure what direction this blog will take.  I hope to use it as a place to showcase my crafts as well as just write about the various things that come up in life.  Believe me, my life is NOT boring.  With The Husband, 3 step-kids (17, 13, and 7), a grandbaby, and baby’s momma in our house; there is always something going on that is sure to make for good blog fodder.

Thanks for stopping by.  See  ya on the flip-flop!