Camelia Lady

I have stated earlier that I am seeing a family therapist to help me change the Knot into a Kitten (see earlier post) and deal with some health issues I am currently experiencing. She's helped me a lot and has convinced me that I am not crazy in the sense of certifiable, that I am worthy of love, (ex........sure beat me up on that one for years) and I am not a bad person. She says, and I quote, " You are very expressive."

Is that polite for crazy?

Next week, however, I am going to get her to help me figure out why..........Why am I a clothes whore? Seriously, there is some deep rooted, freakish, obsession I have regarding clothes.

Why am I bringing this up?

I just put away laundry.......my laundry. My mom brought some of my clothes back (I stashed some summer stuff in one of her closets hoping she wouldn't care and/or notice....wrong......) and I have been trying to make room in, get this; two dressers, an antique amoire (with a huge drawer) and a closet for all of my clothes. It took me forever but the positive? I am getting rid of a ton of stuff. I am going to try and find Camellia Lady tonight and pass her on a bunch of clothes. I will get to Camellia Lady in a moment.

But, this clothes thing seriously needs to be addressed. And the color scheme has me thinking as well. How many black skirts, pants, sweaters, t-shirts, sweats, undies, bras, shoes, whatever can one person own? If it's not black? Grey. Then a huge amount of red....my favorite color. I do have a few "splashes" of pink, blue and purple........but that is it, a handful. The only thing that saves me from getting pinched on St. Patrick's day is the color of my eyes. They're green. The only green I own. And seriously? Do I LOOK Irish? Not really. Please, don't explain the concept of "Black Irish". I have already heard it and know all about it. Spain raped virtually every country. Oh, I do have some pesto green looking, long sleeve shirt that I rarely wear.....green just isn't my color.

But, tonight? I think I will go find Camelia Lady and give her some "new" clothes.

Like everyother city in this country, we have a huge homeless situation. Many are certifiable crazy from years of substance abuse, others are vets, and some are just crazy.......period. And, it's both alarming and sad. You never know which one is going to go off.

But, I have somewhat befriended a woman that I call Camelia Lady. Her "scam" is that she steals camelias from yards and sells them. This city is littered with 2 zillion camelia bushes/shrubs and she has found a use for them. Steal them and sell them to make a few bucks. I am not condoning stealing...but, hey? it could be worse. She could be fencing stereos or worse? Handguns.

She hangs out in front of the Blues Club and hits up every guy to buy one of her flowers to give to his date, girlfriend, wife or whateve (the whatever part would usually apply to a gay couple, I live downtown). And they buy. They would look like a real cheap idiot in front of their SO if they didn't buy. The only one who NEVER buys is: Sweetie. He has known her for years and won't buy her flowers. It's not because he's being a cheap idiot, he just doesn't want stolen flowers that will soon die and be scattered all over my car. (He does, however, slip a her a few bucks when he thinks I am not looking).

It's fine that he doesn't BUY me one of her flowers because she GIVES me a few everytime she sees me along with a big hug. ...yeah, I know, I am a sucker.......I can get a little too involved in things that most people would just walk away from. I feel sorry for her and I really don't know why other than the fact she's homeless. She could be very happy but I can't get that because she's homeless. I seriously don't know.

She's this tiny, little, woman from Puerto Rico. Her "husband" is from Rome (Italy). One night, she came up to me speaking Spanish and he starts speaking Italian to me. I just shook my head and told them both to stop because they were confusing me. I told her I could understand her (4 years of Espanol and similar to Italian) but I could understand HIM more so. He felt as tho he he had won some prize or something for guessing correctly that I am Italian and not Mexican like his "wife" thought. Whatever, it was actually kinda funny, especially after a few glasses of wine.

Last week, Sweetie and I went there to listen to a few sets of blues and dance (basically to kick back and let him unwind....it's been a trying week with his mom's passing and all) and she was outside pushing her flowers and a broom. She was sweeping the sidewalk in front of the Blues Club and the Salsa Club next door. She was more interested in sweeping the Salsa's Club walk because she was really getting into the music. And? That girl can dance! Even if her dance partner was a broom...........she was getting down!

All of a sudden, her "husband" shows up and she's pissed. They must of had some fight or some other drama. She doesn't strike me as a drunk. I think he has a substance probelm of some sort, but not her. Well, I don't think she sold too many flowers that night because when he showed up, she started throwing them at him and cussing him out in Spanish.

So much for the clean sidewalk. Eh...let the city workers earn their keep, anyhoo.

I really wish I could figure out this woman's story because........she is too coherent to be on the streets. I don't think I am generalizing because, seriously, most of OUR homeless are INcoherent. I tried to get her in touch with a group of nuns I know that run several of the homeless programs in my city. She told me she was deathly afraid of nuns. The nuns in Puerto Rico were very mean. I told her we have some very mean nuns too, but this group is way different. If I was exposed to more nuns like them when I was growing up, I probably would not have done an about-face from the Church.

One of the nuns is a customer of mine and probably one of the most loveable human beings that I have ever met. She is the director of a major homeless program here and excepts people for who they are without passing judgement. She has very strong convictions and doesn't condone certain behavior, but she doesn't pass judgement. She is truely dedicated to her work and the "real" teachings of Christ. I have to always remind my kids or whomever else is in my caffe` when the nuns come in. No one would ever know they were nuns unless they were informed of the fact.

I am the one who really needs to pay attention and listen to her own lectures on how to behave in front of nuns. Because? Guess what? I was the one who slipped and cussed in front of her......ooops, my bad. She blew it off, at least for about ten minutes. Then kiddingly stated she heard me, forgave me and was thankful that I had only said "shit" instead of the normal GD that is uttered when I drop "shit". Hey we are all human.....including nuns and priests.

Wow.....reading this, I went from couseling, clothing, camelias, homelessness, nuns, ..............cussing.......anything else? And I say my ex suffers from A.D.D.? Hmmmmmmm there may be a problem here. Maybe I am crazy.....just a tad, but all is good.

I hope at least a few of these clothes fit her because, damn, that woman is tiny. I thought I was small? This woman is TINY!

Ciao! Angie