To party or not to party...that is the question...

Those of you who know me know that I like to play Devil's Advocate. I honestly believe that there are two sides to every story and each side needs to be considered in order to avoid ignorance. It is ignorance that I dislike more than anything. I believe that ignorance has caused many of the terrible happenings in the world, past and present. Therefore, when I heard that Osama was dead I weighed both sides before deciding to write this blog. A note to those who refuse to hear both sides of any story STOP READING NOW PLEASE!
Initial reaction: My instant reaction was a smile that spread quickly across my face. Then the facebook posts came in stating that they would not rejoice over a life lost, so I though "OK my initial reaction was one of rejoice, so what am I missing?"
Considering my opposing view: I decided to ponder each side during the day to avoid ignorance. I read over people's posts and my Christian beliefs did agree that Jesus would not want me to rejoice over a life lost, bad or good. A friend posted this verse Proverbs 24: 17-18 "Don't rejoice when your enemies fall: don't be happy when they stumble. For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn His anger away from them. I really liked this verse and sat and thought about it for awhile. This verse really rang true with my Christian beliefs so why was I still feeling so strongly the opposite way? Do I want to have a Death to Osama party? No...Do I think what happened was justice? Yes! In regards to those having huge parties in the streets..is that how I am choosing to celebrate, if you can call it celebrate, No.
My view on Osama's death: Do I wish that this world could exist with out war: Yes. Will it: No! Why?...Evil! Evil will always be a part of this world. None of us on this earth will understand why that is but unfortunately some people are born evil, others are bread to be evil. Education is the only way to stop those who are being bread that way but nothing can be done to those born this way. No amount of talk therapy or Prozac will cure those who are truly evil. Osama was truly evil. And truthfully he scared the crap out of me. I remember the night after the September 11th attack I woke up from a dead sleep convinced that I heard a bomb go off. I thought the terrorists were taking over our wonderful country and woke my parents up sobbing uncontrollably. I lived with a sense of fear somewhere in my mind ever since. I now can sleep a little easier knowing that someone that terrible is gone from the face of this earth. Since I have come to terms with the fact that our world will not exist without war I choose to support the brave men and women who fight for our freedom. I am positive that if you could talk to one of the soldiers who died to put an end to terrorism they would rejoice in Osama's death. I can't help but feel that opposing this death is a disrespect to those fallen soldiers. I am not rejoicing in their death, although I do wonder if they would rejoice in their own. Many soldiers would be beyond proud to die for their country. I end with this note...A few years ago I had a good friend of mine lose a family member to someone who was truly evil. This senseless death horrified myself and brought pain and anguish to many people. Maybe it is because I have seen first hand what evil can do that I smile over Osama's death. Maybe it is because I would not want one cent of my tax paying money to go to keeping him alive. And maybe it is because I owe my own safety and freedom to those who fight everyday to make this country an amazing place to live in. I will ask for forgiveness because I understand that my God may not agree with my view on the matter. Thank-you soldiers who fought and died and who continue to fight to rid this world of the evil that is born into it. Thank-you to the teachers who educate about racism in order to rid the world of those bread that way.

"Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself"...To be or not to be 16 again...

Well those of you who are also followers of my facebook (I sound so famous when I say this) know that I wrecked my almost 30 year old body last week at a special little place called H%LL...I mean SkyHigh. SkyHigh is the new, ultra cool trampoline warehouse near the GU district. I had been wanting to try this place out for a few weeks so when a friend..I won't name names (Matt) asked me to go, I decided that it was time to show off my fancy trampoline moves. At first I declined the invitation since I had been battling a chest cold for a few days but instead I packed up my inhaler, put on my sporting attire, and headed for SkyHigh. That was mistake number 1!!!! Mistake number two came when I signed my life away 2 TIMES stating that I wouldn't sue this establishment upon injury. Mistake number 3 came when I watched two employees escort 2 injured jumpers off the trampoline before I even stepped onto it. And finally, MISTAKE NUMBER 4....Do not show off thinking you are a teenager when you haven't been on a trampoline for over 10 years!!! It all began with a beautiful toe touch..I thought I would warm up with this before trying a single front flip. Back in the day I used to be able to pull off a double front flip. I jumped until I felt the right height was achieved and then flew into the air, pointed my toes, and executed the most perfect toe touch, Annika quoted it as an EPIC toe touch. Upon landing I felt my leg go sideways and snap all the way up into my hip. When I looked at my leg I thought for sure I would see a bone sticking out...instead I saw my knee cap flipped over to the side of my knee, where no knee cap should be. I then decided to roll over in agony where the knee cap decided to return home in another earth shattering snap. I then became "one" with the trampoline writhing in pain as some employees came over to make the 100th injury report of the day. After a few minutes I decided that I was done with everyone staring and pointing at the hurt lady on the trampoline that had tried to show off her EPIC moves. This is where I would like to bring up Olympic gymnast Keri Strug. This is the gymnast who landed the EPIC vault move on a hurt leg back in 1996. My question to her is this...Were you on CRACK?! There is no way that I would have tried another epic toe touch after my injury. In fact instead of leaving the trampolines gracefully I crawled off...yes I said CRAWLED! In fact after I made it to the platform I decided to put a little weight on my leg (what mistake are we on?) and it popped out AGAIN! This one almost made me cry. I saved the tear though for the 3rd time it popped out about a half hour later. That time I could no longer hold them back. I was broken. Matt said I didn't check myself and therefore I wrecked myself and he was correct. So instead of looking all cute and victorious like the picture below, I left SkyHigh using two good friends as crutches, blubbering like an idiot. So my friends...the next time you decide to show off your old moves..check yourself before you wreck yourself!




P.S....I looked nothing like this!!!

Family Tradition

Since as long as I can remember I have been attending the Auto Boat Speed Show with my father. When I was young we would make it a family affair. My brothers and I would squish into the backseat of the car (these were the days before third row seating) and head off. In my younger years my first attraction was always the color of the car. Now that I have many years under my belt I can appreciate other more sophisticated attributes of these custom automobiles. The picture above is of a Model T done by a friend of my brothers. This brings me to another aspect of these car shows...we literally can't walk more than 3 steps with out my Dad knowing someone. This usually leads to AT LEAST a 5 minute conversation about the cars at the show and daily life. Realistically it's more like a 10 to 15 minute conversation. So as you can imagine we are at the show pretty much all day.
In my teenage years my brothers were usually off doing something "more important" so I would go with my Dad alone. These memories will be some of my favorites with my dad. These are also the years that I learned the most about the custom cars. Yesterday I noticed my young nieces asking my Dad and their own Dad some of the same questions I use to ask. It was really fun to see them learning about cars the way that I did.
Now that I am an adult the Auto Boat Speed Show is once again a family affair. Both of my brothers, their kids, and both sets of grandparents piled into 3 cars and enjoyed the show together. The days of my brothers and I squished into the backseat are now over. It is nice that our city still hosts shows like this to allow families to spend the day together over something they enjoy. For my family, cars are something that we enjoy and to the day I die I will always love the smell of a greasy garage.

Abigail's first sleepover

Well this weekend I decided to lay low. Since I wasn't going out I asked if I could have my 3 year old niece Abigail over to spend the night. This would be her first time spending the night at my house. My other nieces stay over all the time and now that Abigail was potty trained it was her turn. Don't get me wrong... I have nothing against changing diapers, I have changed her too many times to count but we thought this might help her motivation to use the big girl potty. Last weekend I received the phone call from Abigail telling me that she now goes poop in the potty so I knew it was time. That is a message I will save for her rehearsal dinner one day!

We started off the night by going to a movie. Most people would think I was crazy for taking a 3 year old to a movie, but Abigail has always been really good at focusing on a movie from start to finish. Most kids get bored right away and go play something else, but not Abs. She sat perfectly through Rango which was not as entertaining as I had hoped. We laughed a few times but nothing side splitting. It was during the movie that I noticed that I was really the one getting taken care of. When we walked into the movie theater Abigail reminded me that we needed to be quiet or we were going to get into "big trouble." Then during the movie she started feeding me popcorn and making me take drinks of her soda. I say making because she pretty much shoved the straw down my throat so I didn't have much choice. After the movie we went to the grocery store where she picked out the food and tried to hold it all. She eventually grew tired of this and put the food in the basket, which I was thankful about. When we got back to my apartment she insisted on walking the dog and watching him poop. She informed me that she didn't need to go poop because she already went that day. It's amazing how much you talk about bowel movements when a child is potty training! Then we cooked dinner and played until bed time. Abs slept in my bed and I offered to pat her back to get her to sleep. After about a minute she wanted to return the favor, and I never turn down a back rub so I obliged. It was not long before I was asleep. I woke up a few minutes later and she was asleep herself. In the morning she woke me up by staring at me and saying "Hi Auntie, you are squishing me." Later in the morning I gave her a bath and she talked me into bathing with her where she proceeded to wash my hair compete with a rinse that just about drown me. After she dressed herself it was time to drop her back off. She gave me lots of loves and asked how long it would be until she got to stay the night again and get taken care of by me. When I left I questioned if I was really taking care of her, or if she was taking care of me :)

Luck of the Irish

As St. Patrick's Day draws near I can't help but think of the day that I found a four leaf clover. Every March 17th I think of this most lucky day. I thought I might share this story with you. I was in the 5th grade. School was coming to an end for the year and I was over the idea of playing four square or swinging on the swings during recess. Our playgound had massive clover patches, so a few of the girls in class would sit and try to find a four leaf clover. Christina was successful. I will never forget the scream of joy when her hard work paid off. She took the clover home and pressed it between some wax paper. The next day at school she taped the clover to her desk and everyone was envious. I decided to try my hand at the clover hunt. For weeks I spent my recess careful examining every clover hoping to find one with four leaves. Finally I found one!!! I am sure that I looked like one of those crazy women that finally gets picked for the Price is Right. I screamed, jumped up and down, and then fainted. Ok, maybe not fainted.... but the other part is true. I kept my clover safe all day and once I got home I called my mother and asked her to pick up some wax paper. I HAD to have my clover on my desk! When my mother came home she did her best to preserve my precious clover but to my dismay a leaf became separated in the process. My four leaf clover was now a plain old three leaf clover and I quickly made more of a hissy fit then when I found the thing in the first place. I cried, stamped my feet, and pouted for the whole night. I have never again found a four leaf clover. Of course I don't usually find the time to pour over a clover field in order to find one but I can't help but hope that maybe I will once again find the luck of the Irish!

There's a first for EVERYTHING!

Hello! As the title of this entry states...there's a first time for everything. This is my first blog. I decided to start this blog after numerous people urged me to write about the crazy events that go on in my life. The title of this blog was created, with some help from friends, as a reflection of these events. When Sunday evening comes and I reflect on my weekend events, I often say... "you can't make this up." One of these events occured just yesterday at work. About a month ago I was approached by a middle aged man while I was looking at Target art. Now lets be honest, we all know that Target art is not really art, but I often find myself looking at this "art" and buying said "art" for my homestead. This man started our encounter off by wishing me a Happy New Year. This confused me a bit considering the New Year was well on it's way. Then he told me I was beautiful, which sort of made up for the crazy New Year's comment. Finally he told me that he had a gift for me. I gave him "the look." You know "the look" that says...you are totally nuts dude and if you take one step towards me I will quickly poke your eyes out and knee you where the sun don't shine! I asked him what the gift was with as much disdain as I could muster, and he handed me a letter. I folded it up, said thank-you (my momma did raise me with some manners) put it in my pocket, and walked away. I walked to the shoe department and opened the letter. The letter was written in VERY broken english and was a marriage proposal. I laughed so hard that people were walking away from me as quickly as I walked away from the man who gave me the note. I shared the letter with many friends and we all had a great laugh about it. Some people felt bad for him, some laughed, and others figured that he was probably looking for a green card. Last night a fellow co-worker came into the classroom and asked if we could contact the security guard as there was a man outside that was approaching women and giving them letters. I instantly thought about my proposal at Target and had to go see if this was the same man. Sure enough, it WAS! The security guard quickly took a report and escorted the man off the property. This man was so desperate that he was stopping traffic to hand out these photocopied proposals. Now, I knew that when I recieved a photocopied proposal that there were other women recieving the same note but now I was seeing it with my own eyes. He also gave a student of mine a container of cheescake glaze. Yes I did say cheescake glaze! I'm not sure what this sort of gift means, maybe this is the way they do things where this man was from. I did feel a bit of jealously over this gift. Where was my cheescake glaze? Oh well, I'm over it now. I still think it's totally crazy that I saw him yet again! And yes friends..you can't make this up!