They Don't Know You

My first grade teacher, Mrs. Jabblow, was a petite brunette with white horn rimmed glasses and a pointy nose to match her pointy toe pumps. Once when I left my workbook at home my Dad brought it to school on his lunch break. (This was before parents needed a DNA screening to enter the building; back when they could walk right up to the class room door and knock.)

When she opened the door my father a husky truck driving sort of guy at six feet four inches filled most of the door way dwarfing my teacher in the process. A boy named Bobby whispered in awe "wow, is that your Dad? He's a giant." For a moment I was the star of the class as the teacher called my name and I walked bravely to this giant of a man who had entered the room.

I had the inside scoop, this wasn't a scary giant, this was my Daddy a big teddy bear with huge callused hands stained with diesel grease and stiff from years of gripping a truck steering wheel. And I was his fishing buddy who scuttled out of bed before sun up to play with the worms and "talk quiet so we don't wake the fish" about important things like monkeys and puppies and why Bobby pulls my hair at school. I was his "go to" girl the next year when my Mom would spend two months in the hospital fighting liver cancer and I was his co-pilot who could fall asleep sitting straight up in the passenger seat of his 18-wheeler within the first ten miles of a trip. To others he was a scary giant and I was a forgetful blond (I started early). But they didn't know us and they were wrong.

It's been 33 years since my fishing buddy and hero passed away. The kindest man I ever knew until I met the Hubs. He is a husky truck driving sort of guy a little over six feet tall who has a scowl that makes those up to no good head in the opposite direction (remember? Shrek "stay out of my swamp"?). But he also has a smile that lights up a room and certainly my heart. And I am his camping buddy who scuttles away every chance I get to sit around a camp fire and talk about important things like our dreams, our future and how blessed we are to have found each other. Some thought we were crazy for getting married after seven weeks and one date. But they didn't know us and they were wrong.

People are often quick to judge by what they see and what they think they know. When surrounded by doubters and critics remind yourself "THEY DON'T KNOW YOU!" and prove them wrong!

Need a Recharge? Gather the Girls....

Guys have always seemed to be pretty good at socializing - they have that whole hunting, fishing, team sport thing going for them so that interacting with other guys is pretty natural. For girls not so much.

Tonight was GNO (girls night out). I have the good fortune to be able to associate with some amazing women on a regular basis. (You might be thinking so what?) This is a big deal for me; when I was young I believed all girls were little catty witches who grew up to become great big ___(rhymes with witches). I believed this for the first four decades of my life and consequently had very few female friends (imagine that).

What I have discovered is that there are a number of women like myself who eschew the drama and pettiness. These women are smart, kind, creative, confident, exciting and going places! I call them women of purpose. Gather a few of these big-girl-panty-wearing get-it-done type of ladies and it is powerful! That doesn't mean you won't run into a few test pilots for the broom company every once in awhile but they stick out and don't seem to stick around.

You never know who you can help, who can help you or what fantastic friendship might be waiting just around the corner - and you never will if you don't turn the corner. If you have a friend who has invited you to a girls night out, luncheon or some other type of "ladies only" function I encourage you to go; it's a great way to recharge your batteries, realize you're not alone and where to find the best margaritas!

It's Kind of Like "GLEE" but with Old People...

I love the show GLEE, (FOX) each week brings the trials and tribulations of the hot and the not set to music. The pilot featured songs from the 80's so I was hooked from the start.

My class reunion is this fall. The Hubs would rather have root canals without Novocain than attend his own class reunion. Because he is a wonderful guy he has offered to go with me to mine but I let him off the hook. He doesn't know these people and would be bored to death. You see the Hubs and SHREK are a lot alike all he wants is for everyone to "stay out of his swamp" so why put the guy through my class reunion. (Luckily for me and Callie - we have lifetime passes to the swamp.)

Maybe the reason people shy away from reunions is that they don't want to have to be the person they were in high school. Who does? Hell I didn't know anything and was afraid of everything. I had low self-esteem and kept to myself a lot. I never went to a homecoming dance, prom, or even had a boy friend. I was editor of the school paper and marched in the band. The nice girl with such a pretty face.

That was then, This is now and NOW I am a 40 something rip roaring my way into becoming 50 something. I figure as long as I am not dead, in jail or "on the lamb" I have something to celebrate. I am really looking forward to my class reunion, I am on the reunion committee and am excited for every new email address we get in. I am excited to spend time with the men and women from all walks of life and all corners of the country who trudged the halls, marched on the field, and sat in the classrooms with me back in "Scotts-Vegas" circa 1977-1981.

Think back to high school and how much you have grown, overcome, accomplished, and changed to become the person reading this blog today. Congratulations! Take a moment to celebrate, you deserve it! And if you are like me and have a class reunion this fall enjoy it...it's kind of like GLEE (in a good way) but with old people who happen to ROCK!
(GLEE - FOX.com)

Being

If you've ever heard Zig Ziglar speak you've heard him say "you have to be before you can do and you have to do before you can have."

Be, Do, Have - sounds reasonable; for example you have to BE trained medically to DO the work of a doctor and HAVE the career/rewards/etc. of a doctor. But what about the less obvious applications?

Forget DO & HAVE for the moment, I can only handle one thing at a time; so let's start with BE. Did you know "be" has 31 entries in the dictionary (www.dictionary.com)? The first definition is to exist or live. Yesterday it was a fabulously beautiful May day here in the Southeastern United States. The sun was shining, a cool breeze danced across the blades of grass and since the humidity has not yet reached the customary 150% the temperature was lovely as well.

Throughout the morning I had been watering the lawn strategically.
This means I was moving the sprinkler from one dead patch of grass to another and Callie, my furry child, was supervising. After a few trips she had the routine figured out. She had about five minutes to enjoy the weather while I turned the water off, moved the sprinkler, turned the water back on, and repeated the process until I was satisfied that the next patch of dead grass would receive sufficient water fall.

As soon as I opened the door Callie would bolt to a yet unsprinkled patch of dead grass in the sun. She would stretch out, take a few rolls and collapse lying there enjoying the sun and being. It didn't matter that in a few moments I would finally get the sprinkler situated and she would be called back into the house; just being able to roll in the grass and enjoy the day for a few moments was enough.

The Hubs (short for my wonderful husband and the love of my life!) enjoys BEING when we are camping. You can see the cares just slip away as we settle into a camp site. Yesterday, I decided to do a little BEING and joined Callie on the grass. I sat cross-legged Indian style, closed my eyes and faced the sun allowing the breeze to blow my hair. Remember as a kid when you used to lie in the sun with your eyes closed and you could see colors of pinks, oranges, purples,etc. as the sun shined on your eyelids? I did that, just sat there. It was amazing!

After about ten minutes my neighbor came out of his house and walked through the yard (I think he was checking to see if I was okay - my side yard is visible from their kitchen window). For good measure I did it again two more times later in the day. Sometimes I get too busy DOING and too worried about HAVING that I go for long periods of time without actually just BEING.

When is the last time you took time to exist, live, BE? Try it even if it's just for a few moments each day; take it from me and Callie, it's amazing!