Last Christmas

This Christmas week, has been very merry indeed. Its been filled with family, friends, food, laughter, presents and love. But, its also been bitter sweet.

I've spent nearly 30 Christmas' in this home, and this year is the last one I ever will. My parents are retiring in 2015, and they are moving to another town to be closer to family, which is wonderful and exciting. But these past few days, as we've helped my parents clean out the attic and sort through the stuff, there have been moments where I felt nearly paralyzed with sadness as I was overcome with memories and emotions. 

My parents close on their new house on January 9th, but won't retire until the summer. But, that weekend in January, they plan to begin moving things to their new house each month, to make the final move easier. The next time I step foot in this home, there will not be a bed in my room, or things in my closet. The end is very near. 

Last night, Christmas eve, we went to our final Christmas service at church. The church were I was baptized, where I met Jesus, and went to Sunday school. The church where I made friends, played on the lawn, spent countless hours. During our final song, I stood quietly looking at the alter, taking it all in, just wanting to remember the church, because its been exactly the same since I was a child. 

And last night, I woke up after everyone went to bed, and wondered the quite rooms of this house.  A lot of life happened between these four walls. Good things and bad. Memories and moments that we treasure, and a million others that we have long since forgotten. Dreams came true, hearts were broken, fights and make up's occurred. First kisses, slow dances, parties. They all happened here. It is just a house, just brick and drywall, but somewhere along the way, it became home. A refuge from the storm, a place where love always prevailed. 

We leave tomorrow afternoon to head back to Dallas. So this, my final night, in my home before everything changes, before everything is different, before normal is no more, I will take a moment to thank this house. Thank it for always being warm and inviting. For always keeping me safe from the storm, and for being more than just a house. 

In these last few hours and days of the only "normal" I've ever known, I'm reminded of the quote by Steven Rogers. "Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but its whats in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will."

Today was a Good Day

Today was a good day.

Scratch that, today was a wonderful day.  A day filled with hard work, frustrations, and finally, some sweet tears, and a precious moment that I will hold dear in my heart, forever.

Today started like most others. I arrived at work and hit the ground running. Emails, projects, meetings, repeat. I don't talk about work much on the blog, but I work in commercial real estate and I am the manager of several assets that are worth millions of dollars each.

I am fortunate to have a great team that works hard, plays hard, and are some of the best in the business. They work their backsides off, and I am so grateful for them.

A few weeks ago, I was able to approve and send out bonuses to the professionals on my team. While everyone was excited and grateful, there were a few grumbles, but for most everyone, they expected their bonus.

Today, however, I was able to give out a bonus to the housekeeping folks who take care of the buildings. They are on their feet all day, doing the work that no one wants to do. They take out trash, clean the bathrooms, and do a lot of the dirty work. Around 4:30, I walked into the lobby of one of my properties, and met one of my housekeepers. He is the newest member of the team, and has only been working with me for about 6 months. This afternoon, I was able to hand him his bonus, and when he looked up, there were tears in his eyes.

He is an immigrant from Mexico. He works 2 jobs, and comes in everyday with a smile on his face.  I told him how thankful I was to have him on my team, and how impressed I have been with his work. Still with tears in his eyes, he said thank you. He explained how much the money meant to him because he has been wanting to buy a Christmas present for his little boy, but he didn't have the money. He also said he has been wanting a Christmas tree, and he was so excited because he could take his family to buy one.

As I watched this grown man cry over his bonus, tears filled my eyes. His bonus was $250.00. For many of us, that is a lot of money, but it is not life changing. Many of us drop that much over the course of a weekend on clothes, dinners, and events with friends.

With tears in my eyes, I told him how thankful I am to have him on my team, and how much I appreciate him. Before I left, I leaned in to give him a hug, and he kissed my cheek and squeezed me tight, and again, in his accented English, whispered "thank you so much, you have such a big heart" in my ear.

That moment, that hug, that interaction is my Christmas present. That moment is all I need this year. Not because he paid me a compliment, but because I was able to do something for someone else who really did need it. He made my day, he made my week, and he made my Christmas.

Tales from My iPhone

Happy Tuesday everyone. I hope that y'all all had a great Monday. I was making space on my phone to download the new IOS, and I thought I would share some random photos from last week. 

A CVS shopping trip haul. This was about $40.00 worth of products that I paid $4.00 for after coupons. 

This is my office. I like to stand and work, so I grabbed some boxes from storage and stand most of the day.

Why do we still get phone books?

Zac Brown concert Friday night! 

A few weeks ago my little alma mater McNeese State University almost beat Nebraska. 

Tell Me: Where did you go to college? What was the last concert you went to? Any Zac Brown fans out there??

You Never Know

I don't talk about work much here on the old blog, but I really enjoy my job. I am in commercial real estate, and I manage a portfolio worth hundreds of millions of dollars. My job is is control expenses, manage a team, budgeting, keep operating systems functioning, ensure the assets look beautiful at all times, and many many other things. Its a high stress job, with lots of responsibilities, but I do enjoy it.

Sometimes, when things get really busy, I go to a place where I am not leading with love and kindness, rather, I am legalistic, demanding, and task oriented.

Given that I office at one of my assets, I see anything and everything wrong with the building. (Much to the chagrin of my team).  One thing that angers me is smokers who through their butts in the grass or in the flower beds rather than the ash trays. It is something that annoys me to no end, and I look for them every time I am outside.

For the past few weeks, there I noticed a gentleman at the building who rarely used the ash tray's. He threw his used butts in the drive way, in the grass, and in the flower beds that I paid thousands of dollars to install, and pay hundreds of dollars and month to upkeep. I watched him do this time and time again, and each time, I became more and more angry.

I sent memo's out to the entire building reminding them of the smoking policy and procedure. I emailed him company directly asking them to be cognizant of this, and still nothing changed. At one point, I went and picked up one of his used cigarette butts, put it in an plastic bag, and was ready to march up to his office and let him know he left something behind.

But then, I spoke with a man on my team who knew his story. It turns out, this man had been living in a hotel for the past 3 months. He wears the same clothes all week, because he does not have anything else to wear. He does not have a car, so he walks to work every day. Currently, he is going through a nasty divorce, and his wife cleaned out the bank account, locked him out of the house, and left him with almost nothing.

After hearing that, my heart dropped to my stomach. Was he doing something wrong? Yes. Was it making me mad? Yes. Had I stopped for moment to consider him and his situation? No.

Does he need to stop throwing those cigarette butts all over my property? Yes. Does he need to be dealt with? Yes.

But, I was reminded in that moment, that attitude begets attitude. Problems escalate, people get mad, upset, and hurt feelings when they perceive they have been wronged.

The problem with my situation was not my smoker friend, it was me. It was my attitude toward him and my approach to the problem. If I want a positive outcome, perhaps it would be better for me to tone down my attitude and lead with kindness rather than bitchiness.

Ultimately, it was more about me than him. I need to stop and think about others, not just myself. I have to think about how I want to hear news and information. Getting mad is easy, managing that anger, presenting it in a way that is more appealing is the challenge.

You never know what someone is going through. We have the choice to be a blessing or a curse to people. We can be the reason they smile that day, the reason they laugh, or the reason they feel even a glimmer of hope. We can build up rather than tear down. We can be the change we want to see.

Sometimes, its the small things

Last week, like most day's, I was up well before the sun, and ready to work out. I walked out the door, and was "warming up" which means I walk to the end of my street before I start running.

Mornings are my favorite time of day. Its dark, its quiet, and it holds the promise of a new day. A day for fun, laughter, love. For me, the best day's begin early with me sweating profusely. I love working out hard, and coming back to the house a sweaty mess. It makes me feel like I earned my shower. I like to know that most mornings, I will see the same few souls gutting out mile after mile. Training and pushing themselves for whatever goal that lies ahead.

There is a man that I've noticed in the mornings. He is not a runner. He is not athletic. But, every morning, he is up, taking a slow stroll up and down our street. Each morning, he stops in front of the homes that subscribe to the newspaper. He picks the paper up from the sidewalk, and drops it on their door step. Then, he slowly walk away and makes his way again down the street.

I've seen him do this many times, but for some reason, last week, it really struck me. It is such a small act of kindness, of courteousness, of love. It costs him nothing. It gains him nothing. Yet, every morning, he is out on the street doing this.

Maybe its because there is so many terrible things going on in the world right now. Maybe its because everyday we hear about people hurting or killing one another. I see images of parents and children being forced from their homes and running for their lives in the desert a half a world away. I see unarmed kids being shot. I see rioting and looting. Or, worst of all, seeing a reporter being brutally killed, with the video flying all over the internet. There is so much anger, so much hate, so much darkness.

But, once in a while, you see something kind. Something loving. No matter how small, no matter how little, it helps. I had so much trouble sleeping last night as the images of what I have seen raced through my head. Its so easy to forget there is good in the world.

This week, I want to be a blessing. There is only one way I know how to defeat darkness, and that is with love. Light will always over come darkness.

How I'm Working today.

My to do list is getting longer, but don't care.

USA!!!


Are y'all watching????

Desperate Times Call for Acts of Stupidity

We have had some wicked and wild weather down here in Texas these past few days. Its been so cold. There has been lots of ice and sleet on the road, something that none of us are used to down here. This storm has literally shut down Dallas. Everyone left work early on Thursday, no one worked on Friday, and about 1/2 of the city went back to work on Monday. You Northerners may call this "a light dusting" but to us Southerners, its been ARCTIC BLAST 2013.

Now that you know the scene, lets talk about the crime, and what my dumb butt self did.
I normally park my car in the driveway rather than the garage because the garage is detached and behind the house. It is a tight fit to get the car through the gate, and so I rarely park back there. Thursday, because of the weather, I backed my car up the driveway and into the garage. It took me nearly 15 minutes. (I am not the worlds best driver, and I fear hitting the house or the garage with the car).

Because I am the cheapest person alive, my goal was to keep the heater off as long as I could. I took a hot shower, was dressed in about 6 layers and shivering. I looked at the thermostat and the house was down to 54 degrees inside.

I started craving hot chocolate in a bad way. We didn't have any, but the gas station about 1/2 a mile down the road has really good hot chocolate. In my mind, I had 2 options--go to the gas station or don't. The problem was, it was already dark, P was at his work Christmas party, and I was not going to take my car out of the garage as it was already sleeting, ice was forming quickly on the streets, and it was pitch black. Frustrated, I piddled around the house but literally could not stop thinking about hot chocolate. Suddenly, the insane portion of my brain formulated a plan--I said to myself "self, you can ride your bike to the gas station, and that way you don't have to take the car out of the garage." I really tried to tap into my uncrazy side, but the need for ho cho won.

So I tucked my pajama bottoms into my socks, slipped on my sperrys, grabbed by bike and hit the very slick, and newly iced roads. Don't be jealous of my sexyness.

Sleet was coming down, and hail was hitting me in the eye, but I was determined to get my ho cho. I rode as fast as I could through the Buddhist Temple parking lot, past the Indywood Grocery and CD Store, across from Pashmina Imports, and in front of Karishan's Sari Shoppe (Have I mentioned that we live in an ethnically diverse area?) and arrived at the gas station. I didn't want to leave my very expensive bike outside in the dark, so I just wheeled her into the station and grabbed the 1st cup I could find and filled it to the brim with that dark, hot, and delicious liquid gold.

I should probably mention at this point that in a rush to leave I neglected to wear gloves and nothing on my body was dry fit, so I was pretty much soaked to the bone.

I also kind of forgot about riding home.
In the sleet.
Holding hot chocolate.
With one hand.

By the time I got home, my ho cho was only luke warm. But, I didn't care. I rushed inside turned on hot water and held my hands under the faucet to un-numb them. I drank my 1/2 drink in about 2 gulps, turned toward the bike and actually thought about going back.

Fortunately, my uncrazy side kicked in and I didn't, but I sure thought about it.

Would you have ridden to the store? Please tell me yes.
Whats the weather like where you are? Are you experiencing this arctic blast?

A World That Is Unrecognizable

As you may or may not have heard, we are having some pretty severe weather down here in Texas. We have gone from 70's and sunny to 20's with ice and sleet falling for 3 days. 

Its been a bit treacherous around here. 

Yesterday, I was driving home, the had pretty much cleared and things have been returning back to normal. I was stuck behind an old Lincoln town car that was  had its blinker on for 3 blocks, and was straddling two lanes, on a busy street, and I was getting more and more annoyed. For some reason, driving brings out the worst in me, and I was about to lay on the horn and throw my hands up. But, the car finally turned and as I drove by, I saw that it was an elderly woman and she looked terrified. 

Insert feelings of guilt and shame here. 

As I continued to drive home, I thought about her and what life must be like for her now. Is she a widow? Has she moved into a retirement home? Does she still live in her house but does not have the strength to do any projects anymore?

Honestly, I don't know. Chances are she could also have been a real jerk too. But, I started to wonder---does she live in a world that she even recognizes anymore?

Judging by the 3 seconds it took me to pass her, she had to be slightly younger than my grandmother, so I would put her in her 70's or 80's. 

80 years ago, there were no home computers or cell phones. No one listened to rap while grinding on the dance floor. There were no t.v.'s in the homes, and life was certainly slower than it is today.

The mass consumption and culture of excess did not exist, and she probably rarely if ever traveled more than 20-30 miles from home. 

Today, we can literally buy a ticket in the morning, and be in the air flying half way around the world by this afternoon. We can "friend" thousands of people, and a rumor can spread through Twitter and Facebook in a matter for moments. 

Maybe she looked scared because everyone is flying by at 90 mph, while she is only comfortable going 30. Maybe she looked around this morning and wondered what happened to the world she knew. The world that was slower, quieter, and smaller. 

I was fortunate to be born just around the time of the digital revolution, so I am what they call a digital native. I grew up always having a computer in my home and a phone in my car. I can pick up most any new device and figure out how to use it. Juxtapose that with my mother who "still has not found time to  sit down and figure out her iPhone" that she got last Christmas. I am not slamming her, just recognizing  that she and others from her generation are digital immigrants. 

Sometimes, it scares me a little to think about the future. Where will life be in 50 years? Things are changing so rapidly that I don't think any of us know what to expect in the next year or 5 years.

So, lady in the car with the blinker on going really slowly--I am sorry for being a massive tool yesterday.  I am sorry for my anger and that I was tailgating you, you don't deserve that kind of treatment from a stranger. 

What changes have you seen over your life?

Intentional Living

This year has flown by. I cannot believe that it is December, and that Thanksgiving has already come and gone.

 

This year has been one of the busiest of my life. I was promoted, and given quite a bit more to do at work. We have been making more and more social commitments, and have had a lot of family obligations. Everything has been fun, but its made my days long, and I found that I am often booked from the moment I wake up at 4:20 to when I crash into bed at 9:30....lately, its actually been around 8:30.

 

It seems that these days, every moment is planned down the the minute. Often, when I am at work, I am doing one task, while mentally working on something else. Or, I am in the kitchen cooking 3 things, folding the laundry, and cleaning all at the same time. I also find that when P and I are talking, I rarely just sit and talk. I am always talking and doing something else. When I get ready in the morning, I am drying my hair, brushing my teeth, stretching, and attempting to read all at the same time.

 

Yesterday flew by, and I honestly can hardly remember it. I do know that I worked out, cleaned, and watched football, but other than that, the details are a bit fuzzy.

 

From now, until the end of the year, I really need to make a concerted effort to be more present, to be in the moment right now, not the next moment. I need to stop trying to pencil in down time to watch t.v., or just hang out. Because, I know I can't keep going at this speed, I will eventually burn out. I also know that I need to let go of things. Our house does not need to be spotless all the time. The laundry does not all have to be folded and put away right away. If the bed doesn't get made, who is going to get hurt? If I miss a work out, its not the end of the world. If I don't get to shop and miss out on redeeming some coupons, its not worth stressing out.

This is also a time of year that we all start spending a lot of money. I know how easily it is to swipe the debit card multiple times, all of which are unplanned, and those can be major budget busters. 

 

Every day, I have multiple to do lists, and they are never all completed. I need to relax more, focus on people rather than lists, and enjoy the season. I don't need to give THE PERFECT GIFT to everyone in my life. And I sure as heck don't need to GET THE PERFECT GIFT from family and friends, because I know their feelings towards do not correlate directly to how much money they spent on me. 

 

I will be more present, I will take time to look at the sky, I will take time out to relax, have fun, and live intentionally.

It's all relative

Hello out there in bloggy land! I have been a terrible blogger I know. Perhaps its the late summer blues, perhaps its that I have been super busy with life and work, which is the lamest excuse ever, I know. But, I'm pretty lame like that. Or perhaps its that I am just plain lazy. (It's probably the latter)

For some of you, fall is here, and you are eating your pumpkin pancakes, drinking pumpkin lattes, and pulling out your tall boots and scarves. Yea, I don't really like you that much any more. Even though its cool where y'all are, its still HOT as heck down here in Texas. I have pretty much abandon the idea of wearing pants until we are no longer in the triple digits. For the record, this was the temperature when I was driving the other day. Yes, I was at a stop light when I took the photo, and yes, I just changed my oil--look at that 100% oil life. Yep, you read that right 107.

Surprisingly enough, there is a big difference when its 107 outside and only 100. Today we topped off near 100 degrees, and I actually told my assistant, "Wow, its kind of cool outside." Thats when I realized that these hot summer days have officially fried my brain.

Below is a picture of a candle. It sat in the house all day, and when I got home, it had actually started to melt because its so hot. Thats all I have to say about that.

Summer is over for some of you, while for the rest of us, we are still tanning and walking on the surface of the sun. NBD, because when y'all are under 100 feet of snow, we will be be wearing shorts on Christmas day. While some dream of a white Christmas, I dream of Christmas in tank tops and flip flops, but its mostly because I have never experienced a white Christmas.

So take your photos of you bundled up, sipping hot chocolate, walking through the colored leaves of fall. I will just stick my tongue out at you and show you photos of heat waves that I see every afternoon. 

Hows the weather where you are? Global warming changing the climate up there? 

Finding Silence

Sometimes, I crave quiet. I crave solitude, silence. Yet, so often its so hard to find.

So much of my day is bombarded with noise. The computer, the radio, the clicking of the keyboard, the ringing of phones, the hum of the engines, the voices in the office.

Silence is so simple, yet so fleeting, so hard to find.

The problem with all of this sound, is that it drowns out the soft whispers speaking truth. It drowns out my inner voice, my instinct, my soul. It is so easy to give into the sound, to go numb, to ignore the gentle sounds of our own voice.

This week, I am going to consciously seek out silence. I need to tap into that inner sanctum that I often ignore, that I allow the external to overwhelm.

I hope you find silence this week, a chance to listen to yourself, to hear your own voice, to reconnect with your own soul.

Spreading Hate

Sometimes, this thing called the Internet is awesome, and sometimes, this thing called the Internet really makes me angry.
It has become far to easy to sit behind a screen and spew hate, rage, and meanness.

Earlier this week, one of my favorite bloggers made a hard announcement. I have never met her, but we have emailed a few times, and I comment on her site daily. She is a runner, she is lightning fast, super positive, and seems like a great girl. Basically, I want to be best friends with her in real life. I have been reading her blog for years, and she inspires me, pushes me, and reminds me to look for the good in life. I don't think I have ever read her blog without smiling.

After she made her announcement, I was surfing the web, and stumbled across a site that mentioned her news, and as I scanned the comments, I found myself becoming more and more angry. There were some of the most vile, mean, and nasty comments. Commenter's were bashing her for things that had nothing to do with the news, they just bashed her personality. Then, they started talking about other blogs, and bashing some other healthy living women as well. The first few comments were nice, but all it took was one mean comment to start the snowball effect. People followed suit and negativity spread way too quickly.

What happened to the days of "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

So often, we sit behind these screens, with our made up user names, and troll the Internet for things to comment on. When hiding behind a screen these people are brave, brazen, and let their dark side out.
They give into jealousy and envy, and show their true colors. Because so much of our internet activity is anonymous, there is little accountability.

There are blogs out there that I cannot stand, and rather than comment on their site, I just don't read them. I want to read blogs that inspire me, that make me laugh, make me cry, and make me better.

This week, I want to focus on spreading joy rather than negativity. Negativity can be triumphed by positivity.

Lets do something nice for someone. Comment on a blog, and say something nice. Pay for Starbucks for the guy in line behind you. Send a quick note to your grandmother letting her know you are thinking of her. Smile at a stranger. Help someone with their hands full. Just try and make someone smile this week.

Making Friends

Growing up, it was easy to make friends. All you had to do was look at the person next to you, smile, share your fruit snacks at lunch, and boom, you have yourself a best friend for life.

Then you grow up, graduate from college, move once, move twice, move a third time, and it makes it hard to meet friends, and develop friendships. I think because of all of our moves over the past few years, I became a bit gun shy in making friends and joining groups. We always had one foot in, one foot out, ready to head the other way at a moments notice.

P and I realized earlier this year, that Dallas, well it ain't so bad. It is not our first choice, but its not as bad as we thought it would be. Not everyone has big hair, oil money, or a luxury SUV. There are artsy, down to earth, hippyish, sportyish, and great people.

I have realized in order to make friends, you have to put yourself out there. Out into the community, out into groups, out into organizations that interest you. For a lot of my life, I have always acted as a consumer, rather than a contributor. An observer, more than an actor.

I have never been one to have a large number of acquaintances, I have always had a small, but close group of friends. Friends that know me well, and friends whom I know like the back of my own hand. As an adult, I have become much more quiet, and more introspective. I have become more apt to allow others to take the stage and have the staring roll. I am more content now to be in the background, to ask the questions, to divert the attention from myself.

Lately, things have been changing for us. We have started to plant some roots, seek out friends, take chances, and develop a community for ourselves here. No one gives you a game plan. No one tells you how to operate, how to create a community for yourself when you are not sitting in a classroom with 20 other kids.

I am realizing to make friends, you have to open yourself up, allow yourself to be vulnerable, to give a little piece of yourself, and that is what I am doing. I have found myself creating relationships with women from all walks of life. Women that I don't necessarily have a ton on common with, but women who make me laugh, who challenge me, and inspire me.

What about you? Do you make friends easily? How did you come to be a part of your social group?

Are we ready, Part 3; The Meet Up

For more information, you can read part one here, or part two here.

The third component of our evacuation plan is a meet up spot. In the event of a disaster, natural or man made, we have picked two places to meet up as quickly as possible.

If we were to lose power, or to lose Internet and cell service and we could not get a hold of one another, we have picked two places to meet up. One is relatively close, and the other is a bit further.

If I am being truthful, I think this is probably the hardest part of the plan for me to swallow. If I were not able to find P, I don't know that I would want to leave the city. Trying to make my way to our rondevu on my own, not knowing if P was headed that way, or if he was even alive or well, that would be hard. My instinct would tell me to stay in place and search for him, but that is the reason we have a plan. We have these procedures set in place to protect us, and get us to safety as soon as possible.

Do you have a spot to meet up if your family is separated? How do you think you would respond if you were seperated? How would you get there? Do you think you would be ready and willing to leave the city on your own without your spouse or kids?

Are we Ready, Part 2, Cash on Hand

In light of all that has transpired these past few weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss emergency preparedness. This is something that P and I have thought about and discussed at length these past few months.

After yesterday's post, you guys brought up some great points. While acknowledging that we don't have control, most of you agreed that we should do something, that we should prepare, while not allowing this type of situation to consume us. Lets be honest, when the sh&t hits the fan, we are not going to simply care for ourselves, but our neghibors, family, and friends. Cell and internet(technology)service could go down at a moments notice, and we will need to be prepared to help ourselves, and our community.This was a great reminder, especially for someone like me. I know myself, and if I were to go down that road, I know that preparation could consume me.

 In the event of a natural disaster, the Federal government suggests we be prepared to care for ourselves for a minimum of three days. Given the state of our government and how inept many of our politicians are, it is my belief that we need to be prepared for longer than three days. The people who were in the path of hurricanes Katrina and Sandy had to wait for help for much longer than three days. P was actually in New Jersey after Sandy, and saw first hand the choas, destruction, and need in the following days. If it were a man made disaster, I fear that response time could be even longer.

The first step in our emergency preparedness plan is to have a cash reserve at our disposal. If or when something happens, we don't believe that paypal, bitcoin, or our debit cards are going to get us anything, especially if power is lost for several days.

We have a steady amount of cash on hand. We feel like it is enough to see us through several weeks. It could pay for a hotel room, food, gas, or supplies if necessary. Just enough to provide the bare minimum.

Please know, that we are not going down the path of Armageddon here. We are simply trying to take precautions to ensure that if a disaster occurred, that we would be able to provide for ourselves if necessary.

How much cash do y'all think a family should have on hand in case of an emergency? Do you think cash will buy anything in an emergency situation?

Still here and my obsession

Hi, my name is Allison, and I am a bad blogger. Besides my Friday Confessions, that I have to admit we're pretty half as@, I have not blogged in over two weeks.

Sorry y'all. I will be better. Even though I was not writing I was still reading all of your bliggity bliggity blogs.

For now.......our newest obsession....

Downton Abbey

I know that everyone and their grandma has watched this show since it first premiered. Being the trend setter that I am, I jumped on the bandwagon, 3 years late.

I don't even know where to begin letting you know how much we like this show. The best part of watching it is that it was P 's idea. He asked me if I wanted to see watch it on Netflix, and I said sure.

Many many episodes later, I found that I wasted the majority of my day. Every time I had to use the restroom, get a drink, or walk out of the room, I made P pause it so I wouldn't miss a thing. I,of course did not offer him the same courtesy.

This morning I was tempted to call in sick, change into my pj's and watch more episodes. Don't worry, I didn't.

Watching this show brings out my history major geek inside. I want to wear hats, drink tea, and speak with a British accent.

Please tell me some of you watch this show too because I need someone to geek out with.

Do you watch Downton Abbey? What do you think?

What show are you obsessed with?

Posted with Blogsy

Rudeness

What do you do when you see rudeness? Do you say something to the person? Do you look down and act like you didn't see it? Do you apologize to the victim? Most of the time, I just look down and don't say anything. Color me embarrassed.

Monday morning I was at the gym by 5:00 AM ready to work out. At my gym, you enter your phone number into a key pad, and scan your finger.  Mr. Man in line in front of me entered the number twice, and as he tried to scan his finger, it did not work. Rather than do it a third time, Mr. Man looked at the girl and said "this is broken." The girl  tried to reset the program for him, and asked him to try again. He looked at her, and in a really harsh voice said "I'm not entering my number again. You sign me in." The young girl behind the counter looked a little taken aback by Mr. Man. She asked for his licence and he let out the biggest sigh, then Mr. Man went into a verbal rant underneath his breath. You could hear the words "dumb, stupid, f'ing ridiculous."

Mr. Man was not happy to say the least. The young girl behind the counter got him signed in, and he stormed off to light weights.

As I stepped up to the counter, I looked at the girl and she was red in the face, and I could tell she was really flustered. I simply signed in, and went on my way.

I really wish I would have said something to her. I should have apologized to her for his behavior and given her a hug. I should have said something to Mr. Man about being nice and patient. It took all of an extra 45 seconds for the whole process to take place, but he acted like it was the biggest inconvenience he had ever experienced.

It really made me realize just how spoiled we are as Americans. We are or used to getting what we want when we want it right away. We don't have patience, we are short with others and we so often want to issue judgment towards others while demanding grace and mercy for ourselves.

Ultimately, it is not about being "nicer" to one another. It is about love, respect, and honor for our fellow man. It is about caring for others more than we care for ourselves. It is about spreading something other than hate. Look at us right now, as a people, as a species, we are horrible to each other. We walk into schools, malls, or theaters and massacre each other. We drop bombs that kill hundreds of people at a time. We torture, maim, and humiliate each other.

Have we lost respect for each other? We no longer recognize the dignity in work, the dignity in respect. It seems as if we no longer recognize the value in humans. We treat each other like they are machines. We love computers and machinery b/c of what it can do for us, what we can pull out of it, how much it can accomplish for us. Have we become so desensitized to one another that we are now users rather than givers?

How often do you see that happen around you? How often do you act like that? How often do you treat others like that?

Is it too late for us? Do you think we can change,or is it too late? Are we too far gone?

I hope not pray not.

The remainder of this week is going to be different for me. I need to stand up for love and respect. I need to show everyone around me that it is not too late. My vow is to live intentionally for the rest of this week. I vow to stop blowing others off, to stop making others the victims of my rage, the recipient of my annoyance. I vow to change.

Complete

I have achieved quite an accomplishment today. It took a long time, but, with a great deal of effort on my part, I finished. Today, I successful finished watching the entire series of The Gilmore Girls. Again.

Thank you so much for all of your praise. Yes, I agree it was very hard and it took months of dedication and perserverence. But, I started this, and I needed to finish it. I needed to tough it out, see it through, and I did. Way to go me, way to go.

A few months ago, I was looking through all of our DVD's and I pulled out the first season of Gilmore Girls. I watched the first disk, and remembered how much I liked this show. I used to watch it every single week when it was on t.v. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think.

I watched it when I was alone at school, and I always remember wishing I had a best friend like Loreali. She was smart, funny, witty, a risk taker, and had a great sense of style.

Now that I have watched it through grown up eyes, I still wish I had a friend like Loreali. But, more than that, I wish I lived in Stars Hollow, the fictional town where the show was filmed. It is a town full of character, charm, and quirky residents. There were beautiful homes, historic buildings, and you could walk anywhere.

This is the first television series I started watching in my late teens, and into my college years. Certain episodes remind me of exactly where I was when I saw it the first time. I remember laughing my tail off with my mom when we watched the episode where Rory goes to her first boy girl dance. I remember sitting on our old couch, wrapped in blankets enjoying time together. We were able to watch a show that showed characters totally different from us, but made us laugh and gave us something to look forward to each week.


Have you ever seen the Gilmore Girls? Do you like it?

Is there a t.v. show, or series that you watch all the time? What is it?

I have no Friday Confessions, today I stand on my soapbox

Normally I write my confessions every Friday. I tell you all that I did wrong, all the mistakes I made, and all of the stupid things I said and did.

I don't have it in me today to confess. I don't have it in me today to laugh. My heart is breaking because there was another school shooting. My heart is breaking because more families lives have been ripped apart.

What the HELL is wrong with us? What the HELL is going on in our society today? I just want to scream and cry. I just want this madness to stop.

Clearly, there is something broken in our society, something is broken in us. When you have kids that are so hurt, so confused, or so mentally disabled that they walk into a school and commit these horrible acts, this is clearly an indication that we have veered way off course.

After the shootings in Connecticut, I kept my mouth shut. I got on my knees, prayed for the families, and watched with horror the recounting of the events. I can't keep my mouth shut any more. I can't as an American sit by and watch my fellow country men destroy each other.

We are broken, we need a solution, and we are looking for it in the wrong way.

I will come right out and say it, I am a gun owner. Right now there is a ton of talk about gun control. In my opinion, we don't need more gun control, we don't need more laws, what we need is connection. This is not a gun problem. This is not a problem that the government can solve. This is a problem with people. No amount of laws are going to fix the problem. This is not a policy issue, this is not a legal issue, this is a people issue.

We need to connect to one another again. We need to seek out the lost, the broken, the lonely, and we need to love them. We need to listen to each other. We need to talk, really talk to one another. We need to turn of the television, throw away those damn violent video games, and connect to each other, on a deep, real, and personal level.

How many hours a day do we sit at our computers and blog, or tweet, or play games. When was the last time you sat across from someone on a plane or bus and had a conversation? For me, its been way too long. I pop in my headphones, put my nose in a book and zone out and ignore everyone around me.

What do we do about? How do we help each other, and ourselves.

I commit to you, that I am going to pray for this country every single day. I am going to pray for our people. I will connect with strangers, I will open up rather than keep myself closed off.

What can you do? What will you do?

I just got so annoyed

Have you been getting more credit card offers in the mail lately? Me too. We have gotten at least one offer per day for the past 2 weeks. It is really annoying. P and I have not purchased anything on credit in at least 5 years. In all of that time, we have only purchased one item with borrowed money, our house. Other than that, everything we have purchased has been with cash. 

Every time I get one of those blasted offers in the mail I get even more annoyed. I know it is really petty, but I have started to take justice into my own hands.

Step 1, open the credit card offer, and remove all paper work with our names on it.

 Step 2: Rip up all the pages, and the envelope said offer came in.

 Step 3: Put all pieces into the prepaid envelope

 Step 4: Mail prepaid envelope back to the credit card company.

I know it is petty. I know it is childish. But, I figure, I am taking up a little bit of their time, I am helping to support the US postal system, and I am annoying the credit card companies. Plus, these companies charge insanely high rates to their clients. They often often unethical and have horrible business practices. 

This is my little form of protest. It is how I am sticking it to the man. 

Have you been getting more credit card offers? What do you do with offers that you don't want?