I have a funny reputation among my close friends. I don’t really know how to sum it up in a sentence but things happen to me or I happen upon things and my pals often laugh only you.
Hi. I trip and fall all the time and I like peonies.
Examples:
- I have missed more flights than I can count. Usually because I don’t want to leave a loved one and insist we have enough time. I usually miss it by minutes.
- I spill beverages all the time. Sometimes more than once in a meal.
- Stray dogs find me regularly. We are often boarding dogs until the Humane Society opens.
- I have driven away with the gas thingie in my tank more than once. One time it ripped from the pump and drug behind me for a good bit down Main Street in Red Lodge.
- I have left my wallet in shopping carts, on car roofs, at restaurants, on the street in downtown San Francisco. It is always returned to me with all the cash and credit cards in tact. The most remarkable being that one time it was run over by a semi truck on I-90 and an old Texan ran about the highway fetching rogue receipts and credit cards, googling my family name, finding my mom and phoning her to phone me for meet-up in Big Timber.
- I often get free stuff at restaurants, bumped to first class on planes or forgiven late fees.
- I lock myself out of our home all the time and climb through windows. One time I had to rip the frame off our tiny basement window and dive in head first (because my neighbor wouldn’t let me borrow his son to lower into my basement. Yes, I asked. He still doesn’t really look me in the eye.)
I suppose the overarching quality is that I am easily distracted but also really observant, present and resourceful. I see the stray dog panicking in traffic that others drive by. And when I am focusing on the dog, I am not thinking about what time it is or where I was heading. When I tell a story I don’t pay attention to glasses of wine.
Hi. I get away with a lot and I eat spring lettuce by the fistful.
Someone once said to me (dang wish I could remember who this was…) that when traveling it is important to approach every single situation with an openness because this will lead you to similarly-minded people and enriching experiences. I have found this to be so true.
I am curious and love adventure. I think these things direct funny, weird, random encounters my way. Also, I am just kind of impassioned and impulsive.
A few weeks ago I swore a small animal flew at my face and hit the windshield. But it was wasn’t an animal. And the story is one of those only you things, or so I am told. Read more in this week’s mama digs: if the shoe fits.
ps Kids in the Garden winner:
ell.uu said…I hear her on the wind. we live just east of the foothills south of Boulder. I wish I had known how darn windy it is here before buying this house. the wind howls, it is unsettling, makes me feel fragile.
The rest of you can email jess at blackdogonline dot com to get 40% off Kids in the Garden & Kids in the Wild Garden!
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all photos taken with a Canon Digital SLR from Vanns.com
love this – “to approach every single situation with an openness because this will lead you to similarly-minded people and enriching experiences.”
so true of traveling, and of life in general.
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Ahhhh the adventure and magic of small people. Love it!
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Truly hilarious story. How in the world did it manage to stay on the roof?!?! That is totally crazy! And only Margot would stick the shoe in the hubcap… that little firecracker.
like attract like… reason why i read you… have a great week.
Oh! Oh! And don’t forget the stolen (or, um…”missing”) cameras that are returned to your doorstep!! That was an amazing story too…”only you.” That’s why you have such adoring fans, in real life and otherwise!!
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Just read this out to Aunt Deb….we both had a good chuckle! Someday I would like to see a book filled with all of Margot’s saying and antics…it would be a best seller!
xoxo
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Oh Nici, this is hilarious. Your girls are such a team – just wait!
Sometimes my own kids are the best medicine for me when I’m flustered and grumpy about feeling like I have to rush us all along.
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That’s hilarious!
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This is awesome and it makes complete sense to me The wierdest stuff like that happens to me as well, so it seems completely logical!
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I drove from Vaughn to my house…a good 60 miles with my open wallet on the roof of my car. I found it when I got home. Crazy stuff!
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Thank goodness for warmer weather, because I am tired of returning to stores and backtracking on our walks for tiny baby socks. Baby feet were not made for baby socks or shoes. We will be spending all summer barefoot if I have my way.
Pictures of Ruby are GREAT! Thanks!
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how great to end my day with a grin – thanks for sharing!
I love that you get away with shit.
Dude, hilarious story.
PS. when it’s windy and Margot feels unsettled, try “heavy” foods. an ayrvedic concept, as in, the wind stirs up her already active (vata) self and she needs to ground–I actually have a similar reaction sometimes and find that eating red meat helps. . . now that i live in berkeley i should not feel so self-conscious about saying these things, right? (:
You are a funny girl there mama dig! or dig this chick or Nici Holt Cline…whatever name you go by…you’re just damn funny in my book. I love how good karma is slicing up big chunky chunks for you darlin’! I love the Texas trucker image of tryin to catch receipts flyin in the wind.
YES you are…all of the above and more…..!
ps….you come by rescuing dogs,( & other creatures), naturally…it’s in our blood!….pulled two turtles off the road yesterday
xoxo
I too get the “Only you” comment on a daily (hmm.. hourly, really) basis.
I am called everything from klutz to forgetful to lucky.
Lucky… like leaving my keys in my car, with the doors unlocked in the bad part of town. Overnight. And by fluke also leaving my lights on in the car and draining the battery, thus stopping the people who robbed me blind from also stealing my car. For the second time. Sheesh.
For lack of better words, this post was just plain CUTE! Love the first photo of you and how you introduced yourself….again, cute!!!
Hope you have a “lucky” day today
Kelly
In my family my brother in law is the “only you” guy, therefore making him one of my favorite people in the world because I look so forward to hearing his latest stories. Probs one of the reasons I like you so much too.
I agree that this post is adorable. You’re just so charming.
Charmed and Charming, I would say. I loved this post.
Nici – I love your blog, and diligently check in on Monday and Wednesday’s for new posts. I know I could get an update via email or RSS, but relentlessly refreshing the page is so much more fun
Anyway, your “only you” stories remind me of something my mother likes to call my “For a smart girl…” stories. On the whole I’m very organized, but I’m also a total loser…as in I lose things, important things, way too often. I also have a knack for locking myself out of the house. I did it three times last week!
I just use these things as opportunities to laugh at myself and tell funny stories at parties.
Take care,
Nikki
Bwahaha! I love this story so much! Those are some magic shoes!
Now I mean this in the nicest way possible but for some reason, learning that you are one of those “only you” people doesn’t surprise me in the least. Perhaps I had pieced together this impression of you already from all constant hilarious, witty, silly and sometimes unfortunate events that happen to you & yours.
I once left my wallet in a shopping cart, only to realize I had misplaced it when I got home. When I returned to the grocery store (it was 9:30pm) nobody had turned it in and it wasn’t in the shopping cart I KNEW I had used (bent corner, squeaky wheel). I came home and cried and cried while I was making all the necessary phone calls to cancel various cards, and just as I finished up there was a knock on the door and it was some sweet European lady returning it to me. I hugged her and laughed and cried and thanked her repeatedly, than tried to give her some money that she refused to take. It was really refreshing to know there are still people out there who do the right thing!
um. hello. i think we are soul sisters. for reals. this was seriously me writing this posting in your body. i love this posting so so much!
Ha! You seem to bounce through life and shit just works. It’s awesome. I knew this about you based on your career change alone!
I love your ‘only you’ examples. Hilarious.
BTW, I stumbled across your blog several months ago and have been reading ever since. Love it.
I also spill a lot of beverages, I often get accused of being drunk. LOL
I also leave my wallet places, the last one was on the roof of my car at the gas station, but it didn’t come off the roof until my car was in the middle of s busy road. Of course I didn’t notice for hours, when I needed it to pay for something. When I got back home there was a message on the voicemail. A local bartender was out for a bike ride, saw it, picked it up, searched the white pages for my number and called telling me I could pick it up at the bar. All contents were in it, yet a bit bent and smashed from getting run over by who knows how many cars.
We board the strays permanently.
My mom always tells people, “If you need a dog, if you give Angelika some notice, I am sure a stray will find her that needs a good home.”
I bet all the qualities you listed is why everyone in your life adores you! What fun is there in always getting everything right, catching every plane, and making it everyplace on time? Think of all the adventures you would miss!
Love the shoe story! One of the many mysteries of the universe.
And yeah, I get the “only you stuff too.
Hi, I’m Honey, and while dancing professionally I had a tendency to fall up stairs. Because dancers are graceful. *nods*
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*laughing*…love it!
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Oh, what a great story to tell over uncounted glasses of wine!
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LMAO! Awesome!
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,,,had a good giggle!,,,never a dull moment in the cline household,,,
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that. is. amazing.
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Only you….
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Also, just read the shared quote on the leftside column from Margot Bea — I love this kid!
“Mama. Please chill out. (when asked to stop playing with a steak knife)” – Margot Bea, 2 1/2
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You have the best stories…thanks so much for sharing!