Girl at the Gym

This is really funny. 

http://soundcloud.com/strange-battery/girl-at-the-gym

Feeling Good Monday Morning!

I had such a productive (and exhausting) weekend. 

First, I celebrated the week coming to a close by taking my 11-year-old son, Logan, to a movie.  I asked him what he wanted to see and he said "Lincoln".  This kid is so cool.  He loves reading and history and honestly, I have been so busy, I didn't even know it was out.  He said that it was nominated for 7 Golden Globes and that Daniel Day Lewis is getting great reviews....he did his homework.  He's so cute.  Anyway, we got something to eat at Chili's and then went to a 10:00 showing.  It really was good, but I know that he must have been confused during parts of it because it was all politics and a lot of talking.  He liked it though and asked questions when we left 1:00 in the morning.  The movie was long!  I was cold and curled up into a ball the whole time and wishing that the movie theatres had beds.  Although, that would be disgusting.  I wouldn’t want to sit on them.

We worked really hard on Saturday and Sunday.  We took plenty of breaks, but we wore ourselves out.  We switched his and the boys' bedrooms.  The little ones are getting the bigger room now that they are older.  I moved furniture, hung some pictures, organized closets and drawers, disassembled the bunk beds and reassembled them to stand on the ground, took down cribs, got stuff out of the attic, moved stuff up to the attic, took stuff to the garage and the car, went to Goodwill, cleaned the whole house and started stripping and painting my bathroom vanity.  (I just tested this.  I never finished.)  Basically, I shouldn't be able to move.  Thank goodness I work out because I really should be flat out on the floor. 

By the way, I have a new tool kit and everything I need is in it.  I don't know what any of the tools are called, except for the hammer, but I love it anyway!  I carried it around all weekend; it is one of my new favorite things.  It's purple and cute and opens like a doctor's bag.  My hands are sore from this one tool though.  It's shaped like an L and it gets screws out, but it isn't a screwdriver.  My phalanges are sore from using it so much.

Anyway, I am very busy lately at the house.  I have several projects I am working on.  I have a to-do list that will keep me busy for the next 20 years.

I know that I should be feeling more sore, especially since my back and hamstrings were already sore from my painful workout on Friday night, but I feel good!  I got up really early today and got some reading done, wrote in my journal, and ate a good breakfast.  I am good!  I hope you have a great Monday!

The Real Reason Not to Break the Law

My sister has an airline voucher that she planned on using to visit me this month, but it isn't going to work out for her and rather than keeping it for herself, she suggested that I use it with her ID.  Before I tell you the reasons that I will not be doing this, especially now that I have published the idea online, I have to mention that we look alike and that we could totally get away with it.   I once told one of my friends that someone at a bar had asked us if we were sisters.  He replied "Did you ask him if he was retarded?"  So you get it.  We look alike.  Not only would using her ID work, but if I were going to steal someone's identity, I could totally steal my sister's.  I know everything about her and therefore could answer key questions quickly and without hesitation.

With that said, I will not be using this voucher for two reasons.

1.      If I got caught, I would be considered a terrorist under the Patriot Act and I would go to jail.  No one would feel sorry for me because they would consider me to be cheap and stupid for risking my freedom in order to save a couple hundred bucks.  In other words, there wouldn't be activists fighting the man on CNN.  Nope, not for me.  Everyone else bought their tickets and had to pay $25 per bag.  Why should I get a free trip?  No one would care.  I would rot in prison for being a terrorist. 

2.      If I did get through security, the plane would crash and everyone would think Ashli was dead.  Everyone would cry and blabber about losing her, when it was really my body at the bottom of Lake Michigan.  Then when the truth came out, everyone would have to then mourn me.  Then, it would become a national scandal and the airline would get sued and everyone would fight on CNN about beefing up security.  Then those who would oppose tighter security would fight back and call me an idiot for doing it in the first place.  I would go down in history as a cheap idiot who wouldn't spend $200 on her own airline ticket.  Not to mention, the only reason the plane would crash in the first place would be BECAUSE I lied, and therefore, all of the lives on the plane would be lost just because I had to save a couple hundred bucks. 

That's the way things unfold in my mind anyway. 

When I was nine I had a babysitter named Jennifer who told me to always wear cute underwear.  The reason being, when she was a little girl, she was struck by lightning while climbing a tree.  She had embarrassing red, white and blue underwear on....these underwear were all she could think about in the ambulance after they had cut her clothes off.   I've never forgotten that and I often think about that when I choose my negligee. 

It's like dying with a messy house.  Don't leave those dishes in the sink even once, because the one time you do, you may die and everyone will think you're a disgusting slob who lived in filth.

I prefer not to die known as a cheap idiot who lived in filth and wore hideous granny panties.

Flashback Friday-When I Grow Up



You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.  I hope some day you'll
join us and the world will be as one-John Lennon


I wanted to be a news anchor/field reporter, a writer, an actress and a musician when I grew up.  I never wanted to be anything that wasn't of the creative nature and my mother said that was just fine.  She always knew that I was never going to want to work for NASA or become a Math professor.  She saw what I loved and she threw me into things that would make me happy.  She signed me up for drama camps and lessons, I played violin for a large percentage of my life, I took dance lessons, she bought me books so that I could devour them one at a time....these are all things that I am thankful for.  She bought me journals and told me that I had a voice and that I should use it, and this was probably the most important thing that she did.  She's always known that I was a writer and that I wouldn't ever give it up because it’s like air to me.  I thank my mother for believing in me and never telling me to go after something that I didn't absolutely love. 

Here comes the inevitable "but".  But I have recently been very upset about the way the world works.  Money is the root of all evil, yet it makes the world go 'round, so therefore the world is evil?  If this were an Algebraic problem, it would look like this: X+Y=XY, right?  Well, I don't know if that's what it would look like because I hate math and I couldn't care less about making ideas and concepts look like numbers and formulas because it seems like a stupid and pointless thing to do in the first place.  And why do I hate math?  Because it's stale, it's boring, I’m bad at it, and it's the NUMBER ONE damn reason that I can't make decent money doing what I love.  Number crunching is always more important than eloquent speech and creative ideas in this world and I am sick about it. 

Let me ask a question.  What would the world look like without writers, actors, dancers, artists, and musicians?  What would the world look like without movies, plays, music, books....what would everyone do on a Saturday night?  Sit and look at each other?  What would everyone talk about?  Why don't we respect that some minds are creative and that they add color to the world?  Why are the Arts the first to go in schools?  Why are so many jobs becoming obsolete?  Why are writers paid even less than teachers?  And I am sorry, don't even get me started on how we treat teachers.  I am so angry about this.  Yes, I realize that this has been going on for years and that it's already been talked about, but sometimes I am reminded of how ridiculous it is and how much I despise money and the rich man who only cares about making a profit.

I have gone online to look for freelance work and there exist people who post the following: Will pay 25 cents for each blog, each blog should take about 30 minutes to write.  What crack were they smoking because I’m sure it was good, and WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?  Sickening.  Absolutely sickening to think that someone values writing so little when I have mounds of student loans to pay off.  If it’s so easy, why don’t they do it themselves?

I am not a socialist because I am not ready to give 60% of my earnings to the government, but I probably would if I knew that everyone were on board with it.  Bear with me.  Honestly, if we all chose what we love to do for a living, and if we could actually survive doing it, don't you think that it would all work out?  Doctors who go to school to be doctors because they love it, versus the money, are probably going to enjoy going to school and learning about the human body, just as I loved reading Greek plays and contemporary fiction.  I realize that we would have to work out the whole tuition thing and I realize that you are in school a long time to become a doctor, but if it were me, I would say “YAY!  I love school because I am learning about what I love!”  We could all afford to be happy and do what we love across the board, so why would it matter in the end?  I realize that I am an idealist, and a dreamer, and a silly heart sometimes.  But is this world better off without people who dream?  HELL NO! 

I am thankful for those who are awesome with numbers and science, and I am even more thankful for those types who dream.  Look at Steve Jobs.  That’s the perfect brain: creative and scientifically driven.  Science is the Universe's reminder that we CAN dream big, because it's even more mystical than we have ever imagined ourselves.  I am thankful for my dad, who can do my taxes and that I don't have to manage a national budget. I have an appreciation for all of us, and all of our gifts and talents, which is the reason I am writing this today. 

I played violin for a large portion of my life, I am a bookworm, and I chose Journalism and English for my degree, even though I knew I would probably always struggle keeping it from becoming a hobby.  When am I going to see that following your heart and your passion will pay off?  Is it true that if you follow what you love the money will follow?  Or is that just something that a rich person says when he's had good luck and a lot of people to help him make his fortune? 

I love that kid who is twiddling her thumbs in class, gazing out the window imagining what she would do if she could actually sit on a cloud.  That kid was me, and she's just as important in the world as the kid in the front, paying attention and answering all of the questions about cross multiplication.  Everyone needs a place in this world, even the artistic.

Check out this video and tell me that cutting out artistic programs is a good idea.  People have a yearning for the arts.  What about the kids who aren't good at number crunching and who don't give a crap about money and making a profit?  What are we telling them about their place in the world and about who they are?  The world would be colorless without these kids, so let's start appreciating them and let’s start compensating them when they grow up.  We should probably stop stealing their intellectual property as well.  That would be the respectful thing to do.  But let's not open THAT can of worms.  That's for another day.....

Watch this:


 http://youtu.be/2lXh2n0aPyw

The Storytelling Animal

Very interesting....story telling serving a biological function?  I believe it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/books/review/the-storytelling-animal-by-jonathan-gottschall.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Top 10-Healthiest Resolutions

I looked up some New Year's Resolutions online, since I don't choose them for myself.  I think these are pretty good goals to set for yourself this year if you haven't already chosen one.

1. Lose weight

2. Get more sleep (I definitely need to fix this in my life.)

3. Travel (Uhhh I wish)

4. Eat a healthier diet (I'm seriously considering cutting out dairy altogether)

5. Quit smoking

6. Cut stress (the only thing I can do to improve this is to die. I already do everything I can. I have 4 kids. There's no way around it at this juncture in my life.)

7. Volunteer (I definitely think I need to do this)

8. Stay in touch

9. Cut back on alcohol

10. Go back to school

Happy New Year!

This is the best New Year's Eve movie scene ever....I mean, this is the best movie, like ever.


Harry Burns: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

http://youtu.be/QCqiHZdDnZI