03/25/10: I wasn't gonna but here it is

I wasn't going to name my band but figured if something came to me, then I'd go with it.

Something just came to me.

"My Lady"

After my mom!

When I went in the Navy my mom was faced with life adjustments.  Prior to enlisting, my mom and I would shop 2-3 times a week.  When I'd see something I wanted her to see, I could hold it up and say "Mom" and I'd have her attention.  She'd look, comment, and I'd put the "thing" back down.  Back down either in the cart or back on the shelf.  Most of the time these shopping trips were for groceries or household items.  Once or twice a month it would be for clothes and in those cases, she let me be me.

Anywho.

After enlisting and going through boot camp I then went to my training school.  School shut down for 2 weeks at Christmas at which time we all were told to "get off base".  I flew home for the first time since enlisting that Christmas.  And as my mom and I always did, we went shopping.

The first time we went shopping, "Mom" didn't work.  The second time we went shopping, "Mom" didn't work.  The third time I finally said "Hey, why are you ignoring me?"  She laughed.  She said that after I left, she'd go shopping by herself.  And she'd hear someone say "Mom" and she'd turn to look certain she was going to see me.  But I was nowhere to be found.  So she retrained herself to not respond to the word "Mom" anymore.  So I said fine, I'll call you Lady.

My mom's name was Elaine.  Her brothers and sisters called her "Lainey".  So I was calling her something similar to her name but not her name.  I'm one of those that doesn't think you should call your parents by their real name.  But Lady worked.  It took awhile for it to really take but by the time I was out of the Navy, she was Lady.

Sometimes calling her "Lady" got us in trouble.  Like one time, going to get haircuts.  She had a cut that was particularly attractive on her and she loved it.  But my step-dad hated it.  She wanted to keep the cut, I wanted her to keep the cut, but he wanted something else.  We debated this until we were blue in the face but she wanted to make him happy.  We debated this until the stylist called her back.  And as she was walking back I shouted out "Hey, Lady, cut it right".  The stylist thought I was talking to her.  My mom and I were instantly mortified and did our best to explain...but the stylist didn't believe us.

Anywho.  My Lady.

My Lady was strong and had an attitude as forceful as a bull when pushed too far.  My Lady was intelligent and had opinions about everything.  My Lady would always listen to your story and sometimes it made her opinion change but mostly she stuck to her guns.  My Lady was fair and honest.  My Lady could not be trumped.  My Lady enjoyed life and tried to make life as interesting as possible.  My Lady believed in moderation and control.  My Lady believed in hard work equals great rewards.  My Lady wanted what is best for me even when I had no idea what it was.

This band is a lot like My Lady.  So my band will be called Lady.