It all started with a Happy Meal . . .

For those wondering, the introspective Kpinion will return in the near future. There are some things afoot (don't you just love that word) but need a bit more simmering and pondering. It comes in ebbs and flows people and right now I'm ebbing. In the meantime I submit for your viewing pleasure a humorous tale.

Jes and I use to be roomies, actually double roomies (meaning that we lived together twice but separated by three years) but this story occurred on our second run of being roommates (it only lasted about 5 months because she moved to Dallas and left me all ALONE).

So one day we went to McDonalds and I got a Happy Meal (they really don’t make you that happy so I think I may bring a class action suit for false advertisement) and it came with a toy tie-in for the Country Bears (an animatronics movie by Disney). It was a small stuffed bear wearing a brown coat. It was UGLY (and I mean U G L Y you ain’t got no alibi, you ugly yeah yeah you ugly).

I tried to give it to Jes but she didn’t want it. So what do you do with an ugly bear? You hide it in your roommate’s room on occasion. And so began the great Country Bear hand off. First it started with me hiding it in Jes’s room (in her bed I think) and then she hid it in my drawer. And throughout the five months we lived together the Country Bear would sneak back and forth between us.

Well Jes moved out on me (don’t worry I’ve dealt with the feelings of abandonment) and I could not just let her leave without a little piece of me. So Country Bear found his way into her boxes and made the trip to Big D. Many moons passed and Country Bear became a long lost memory for me. I would often sit and reminisce about the good times we had, the long cries we shared, the laughter, the secrets confided, but he had found a new home and I was happy for him. Little did I know that Country Bear would come back into my life.

So fast-forward many months and Jes and I are both in the wedding of a mutual friend. As we leave the rehearsal at the church to make out way to dinner, the younger sister of the bride (who was riding with Jes) jumps out of the car and races up to my door. I rolled down my window expecting her to tell me something and got hit upside the head with none other than Country Bear. He was back in my life, though not for good.

Well my dear Jes got married not much later and I was invited to her personal shower. I knew this was the opportunity for Country Bear to make an appearance but he needed something new, something to set him apart. So Country Bear got in the mood for a personal shower and showed up in a couture under-thingies set made of beads. He was quite a sight to see and presented to the bride-to-be as a gift.

Well, I don’t have to tell you that he was a HIT. In fact, Roger (Jes’s husband) was quite impressed with Country Bear and his new outfit. There was even some talk about Country Bear accompanying the newlyweds on their forthcoming travels but he thought it better to allow the couple to have some time to themselves. See Country Bear is quite a prankster and is the life of the party anywhere he goes, so crashing someone’s honeymoon would be a bit selfish on his part and he is sensitive to things of that nature.

So Country Bear now had a new mission in life, to change his look each time he appeared on the scene. The next great emergence of Country Bear was at a game night. He was disguised as a late birthday gift for me from Jes, but what a gift he was. Sporting a new blue jean halter dress, Country Bear was stylin and profilin.

Now, I’m not one to just sit on my laurels (do girls have laurels?). The challenge was on me to really take Country Bear to the next level. A complete make-over was in store for our little bear. A nip here a tuck there, facials, hair extensions, new threads, and some counseling later, Country Bear had transformed for a very special occasion. See it was now Jessica’s birthday and she deserved the best (even though Roger told me I couldn’t get her a gift). Country Bear isn’t a gift, he is a life companion, a friend, a coveted part of the fabric of our lives (and he’s made of cotton so that fits perfectly). And so Country Bear was presented with the grandeur that only he deserves and feasted with us on yummy fondue in celebration of Jes’s birthday.




Now Country Bear, in the care of Jes and Roger, is on his first trip overseas. If you go HERE, you will see he is being presented to the Philippines. Who knows, maybe he will come back with some native wear or at least a really good tan and some souvenirs.