Lessons Learned in 2008: Here's to 2009

Okay, so I have been a negligent blogger the last few weeks, months. How long has it been? Things have been crazy with holiday parties, work, school finals, children, etc. Anyway, for the last part of the year I thought I would summarize a few things I have learned. Well, other than the obvious things like politics make people mean, people don't really research who they vote for, politicians are all seedy swindlers anyway, and wow, our government really doesn't have as big of a clue about what is truly going on with things like, well, the economy and other such matters as one might think. I guess Harrison Ford and James Bond movies have given me an unrealistic idea of how smooth these people actually are, anyway...

1) Even a five-year-old can pick up on the psychotic nature of others and they can be resourceful in helping someone cope with said psychotic disorder.

• I was driving my daughter to meet my husband for lunch when I got a block away from the house and realized I was unsure if I closed the garage door. My OCD kicked in and I was driven by some unseen force to turn the car around and double check my absentminded oversight. My daughter then suggested that in the future I use my cell phone camera to take a picture of the garage door every time I leave the house so that I know for a fact I closed it and then I will not inconvenience anyone with a less than scenic and repetitive return trip just to look at a garage door. Of course, she didn't say these exact words, but I knew.... In all fairness to me, this is not something I do a lot... maybe once every six months... Is that a lot? Maybe it is... Anyway, I have learned through the years that I am not alone with this mental condition as I now have a mini club of people with garage door closure obsessions. Now, a normal person might ask "Would it be that big of a deal if the garage door was up? I mean, what would really happen in the couple of hours you were away?" I am, however, not normal as one might have gathered through these blogs. Ever since I was pregnant with my daughter I have had this obsession with the garage door. I was really forgetful when I was pregnant, so I often found myself turning the car around to see if I had closed the garage door, which brings me to another revelation on my part...

2) I am annoyingly visual.

• In the garage door instance, my issues begin with the mere thought of a garage door being left open and then move into visions of my cute, but really clueless black labs getting out through the inside door leading to the garage that didn't close quite right that has been blown open by the rampant winds in my state and then the dogs getting out of the door at just the right moment where the wind shoves the door open and then running through the streets of my neighborhood like the many other dogs I have stumbled upon through the years . You know, the kind of dogs that actually walk down the middle of the road and are completely oblivious that your ginormous car is right behind them on their heels... So the minute I think of that I just have to go back and check. It's not just the dogs though. My sister and I were talking about our overactive imaginations the other day. Little things set me off: If someone just mentions lasik eye surgery I want to gag or the whole Sarah Palin turkey incident was enough to make me sick. I mean, I know they blurred out the whole slaughter thing, but that doesn't help me think of the poor little turkey who is probably thinking "Hey lady, why don't you stop rambling and get over here and help me! What the heck are you rambling on about anyway???"

3) Something minor I have learned this year: Just because someone has the title "Master" at a hair salon doesn't mean you will get a good haircut. Additionally, just because you pay a lot of money for a haircut doesn't mean it will be good, nor does it mean they will treat you well.

4) The "bee people" video reference from the old Blind Melon song actually comes up more than one would think in normal conversation. Plus, sadly, I still have not discovered mine despite my new grad school affiliation (a reference only my sister and few others may actually comprehend, but it's still a lesson nonetheless!).

5) I am a sympathetic crier and even games that depict the nature of clicks and segregation in schools make me feel bad, even when I am not the one that had to wear the single pick dot on my forehead.

• This one I will explain: There was a demonstration in one of my classes where a girl had us stand in a circle and close our eyes. She preceded to give us each a colored dot on our foreheads and then told us to open our eyes and "Find where we belong." Everyone paired with their groups despite not knowing which color we actually had on our forehead, leaving the single pink dot lady out on her own. : ( Sad day... Anyway, one girl from another group embraced her and brought her in, but I couldn't help thinking how totally hurt I would feel if that had been me! The whole point of the exercise was to show how ostracizing people can feel and to show that we naturally put people in groups even though no one told us to separate by color. She simply said "Find where you belong." My friend "J" had a similar demonstration in one of her classes only they had "titles" or something and one girl's said "Ignore me" or something similar. I guess the girl got really upset, which would totally be me if I were there! This all reminded me of his kid in junior high that was mentally handicapped who would believe anything anyone said. These one boys in gym one time told him it was Christmas and he was so excited! He went around telling everyone "Merry Christmas!" I just felt so bad for him and always had a tendency to sympathize with the outcasts, maybe because I was one myself I guess. I mean, my parents weren't exactly June and Ward Cleaver. Anyway... I have learned this year that being oversensitive is really inhibiting.

6) Cats are not as easy as everyone says they are.

• What's the deal with that anyway? I mean, they need food, water, brushing, and an amazing amount of attention, just like dogs do. So why does everyone say cats are easy, but you never hear people say dogs are easy. Maybe because they are self-sufficient cleaners of themselves? What's the deal with that though? So they clean themselves with their own spit and that makes them easier? Uhhhh, no. Yucky. Anyway... We got a kitten for my daughter and it attacks me every night in my sleep because she wants to "play" but I really just want to, uh, sleep. My daughter is in 7th heaven though, so I will not rock the boat by putting a damper on her "easy pet" dreams.

...and finally:

7) New Year's Eve is only fun when you are with people who actually want to be out on the town, otherwise it is mostly a hostage situation where you are forcing your victims to watch dancers, listen to bag pipes, watch fireworks, yell, and take late night carriage rides through a sparkling city, while you ring in the new year at home by 11:00 and toasting a sleeping kid and a husband who keeps asking "Can we go to bed yet?"

There's more, but I will leave it at this for now...

Learning new things:

I guess recently Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, used the word "uppity" to describe Obama. Olbermann, from MSNBC Countdown asked Obama about this comment on his show Monday, but Obama seems to avoid bad mouthing people, which is nice but also really frustrating when you want a guy to stand up for himself once in awhile. Now before I go on, I have to admit that I am a bit naive because I have not heard of this comment in terms of racial stereotypes; however, after reading the definition, it does make sense that this would be considered to be an offensive comment... Uppity: "Taking liberties or assuming airs beyond one's place in a social hierarchy" from UrbanDictionary.com. Okay, so what Davis is stating is that he feels Obama is stepping out of line? So, even still, I had a hard time believing that someone in this day and age would actually say this; yet, when asked, I guess Davis essentially said "No, that's what I meant." Uh, seriously? Even without bringing race into the conversation and assuming he meant to say "elitist" or something else, it's still an interesting concept to use in regard to a person who went to school on scholarships and in the mean time the comment is coming from a campaign team devoted to a man that doesn't know how many houses he has (I actually saw this video where he said this) and who's wife said the only way to get around Arizona is by private jets (also from Countdown). Is Obama "uppity" because he isn't out killing his dinner with his bare hands like McCain's running mate? Some of us just prefer to go to the grocery store. Hmmm...


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Also, it's been a few days, but I wanted to talk about a concert I went to last weekend with my family and my friend's kids. My friend's daughter is the most amazing singer, so I thought she might enjoy someone else with a killer voice and guitar skills. We went to see Katie Herzig and Tifah. Katie is a friend of mine's sister, so I was introduced to her music through her, but i always hesitate to say that because I feel like people will think I am plugging her because she is my friend's sister, but she is seriously amazing! Tifah has the most amazing voice as well and was an incredible "live" performer, but for some reason it didn't translate that well to the CD my husband bought. Katie however has a voice that works in both respects. She is on several television show soundtracks, as well as the up and coming Sex and the City soundtrack (?). My friend also pointed out a way that I could get her CD for free by passing the word about her onto three friends through NoiseTrade.com, although I am not sure it is still up there. Anyway, she was really, really great. :)

Great song of Katie's (on YouTube)

Katie Herzig review from Billboard

More about hiking with kids...

I have a cold. :( So I am going to just post a letter I wrote to my pastor at church for an assignment he gave us. He told us to "Take a hike" and tell him about it:

Last weekend we took your advice and took the family on a hike. We agreed to meet my sister and her kids in at Golden Ponds Park. The park has paved trails, but is still feels like you are in the wilderness; with waterfalls, cacti, mysterious noises coming from the forest, and more! Although there were paved trails, the hike did not feel any easier than a typical hike due to the heat, the children, and my husband who is apparently not into nature as I am. My sister and I used to hike every weekend before we had kids. She has three children that are six and under and I have one very high-maintenance four-year-old. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter so, so much, but she started whining 20 feet in and never stopped. So, while the trails we used to hike were grueling and steep, this well paved road was as challenging mentally as those other trails were physically.

Before we even left our house we had to get all the gear together, find a time that was agreeable to everyone involved, change the times a millions times, and round everyone up (which was like herding cats). When we left the house our dogs decided they wanted to come, so escaped when we opened the door. They then did that things Black Labs do best when they don't want to budge - laid on their backs with sad puppy eyes. So after everyone was in their correct places, we drove to the trail. Although all of the kids were hot and tired, all four of them had different attitudes. My niece was ambitious, my nephew seemed bored, my daughter complained, and my other nephew has a fantastic disposition and just enjoyed the scenery. Oh, and my husband was convinced that our 1.5 mile hike was six miles and told us that people are smarter in New Mexico (where he is from) because when it is too hot they stay home. My sister and I were content to enjoy nature, but were definitely held back by the 9 million stops between the kids and my husband, so we spent a lot of time waiting on others. In the end we only traveled 1.5 miles for a couple hours, but it felt like a long journey by the time we returned.

To make a long story short, this is what I have learned: Getting started on a journey takes preparation - both mentally and physically. Convincing others to go on the journey with you is not always easy, or even possible. We all travel at our own rate. We all travel with a different attitude. Other people's attitudes can definitely impact the attitude of the people on the same path, but they can also impact the length of time it takes others to reach their destinations. Sometimes we get lost along the way, but generally end up on track. Sometimes you have to carry others who don't have the strength to do it themselves. Usually the journey is worth the effort, despite setbacks. Most importantly: At the end of the day, we tend to enjoy the success of completion when we have had someone along to share in our success.

Therefore, despite the incessant complaining, I am glad I was able to share the experience with my family because I love them!