Not Going Down Without a FIGHT

About a week or so ago, I 'took one for the team' and watched a UFC fight for the first time. Chris gets together occasionally with his friends from the gym and they watch UFC fights at Humperdinks in Arlington.

Well, this time he asked me to join him. I wanted to meet his friends and spend time with him, so I agreed to go. Chris knew that I would probably have to cover my eyes for a good portion of the fight, but appreciated that I would go with him anyway.

Well, on that particular night, there was a Cowboys pre-season game going on (and ironically, it was being played at the brand new Cowboys Stadium right across the street, basically!). So for the most part, I was trying to concentrate on the game and not the barbaric fighting that was on the TV right above our table.

But, when the game was over, it also happened to be time for 'the main event' - the BIG fight of the night. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be in some aspects, but then there were predictably some moments where I just cringed and had to look away. When the mat started to have blood spatter, then I knew I was just about done with this whole dog-and-pony show!

I made it through, but barely.

PS - Now THIS is the kind of 'fighter' I'm TALKIN' ABOUT!!

And a sidenote: Chris and TJ decided it was time for TJ to get a haircut, so they both decided that a mohawk was the best choice. Doesn't he look so tough?? LOL

Spare No Expense for Cowboys!

OK, this picture has taken the "Texas cowboy" thing to a whole new level, hasn't it? My friend Erin sent it to me - it's a real picture and hasn't been doctored or photoshopped....and I think it's FABULOUS!

I don't think I have ever seen the 'logo' for handicapped parking altered in any way until I saw this one. I'm sure the government would have a hayday with it, but who cares! It gets the point across AND it's fun. Afterall, there is "expectant mother" parking, "Curbside-To-Go" parking, why not handicapped parking for cowboys??

Silence is Golden

I'm sure everyone has heard the story about the guy who recently 'shut someone's kid up' in Walmart by grabbing the child and smacking them repeatedly. I am pretty opinionated about this topic, but not to that extreme.

While I absolutely do NOT believe in touching someone else's child or yelling at them, I DO believe that kids need more discipline or consequences and many many parents are not doing their job (at least in public anyway). I have been in stores where kids run into me without saying they are sorry or 'excuse me'.....and the Mom is standing right there and does NOTHING! WHAAATT??? How about teach your child how to have manners and show respect by saying you're sorry?!
And don't even get me started on screaming, obnoxious kids in restaurants.....It's one thing to have obnoxious, loud kids going crazy at Chuck-E-Cheese or somewhere like that. If you are going to that restaurant, you should expect that. However, if I am going to drop $50+ on dinner at a sit-down restaurant and you think it's "cute" to have your kid wailing, screaming, throwing things, running around, etc. and/or are just trying to 'ignore' them until they stop as a clever parenting tactic, you should be taken out back and...........(fill in the blank).

Why do these parents think that the world revolves around them and their loud children?? What if the couple next to them is having their first 'date night' after having a child and were looking for a peaceful dinner out of the house? Then they get stuck next to your traveling circus of a family who is so wildly rude that you don't even take your misbehaving, crying, screaming, rude child out of the restaurant to discipline them or quiet them - or better yet - LEAVE if they get too out of hand.

It's as if parents think that 'the general public' is their free babysitter when they leave the house. Cashiers, store employees, waitstaff and other patrons are NOT your babysitters, so be a PARENT and keep your child in line!

The End....Or Is It?

It's all going to be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.

I found this quote recently and I just love it! Sometimes we feel like it's 'the end of the world' and that there is no solution, no relief or no solution in sight.....but that is just not the case. Now, it's easy for me to get all philosophical about it right at this moment, because I'm actually really happy and things are going pretty well for me. But there were times where I was in total despair and those times weren't long ago. I remember thinking that my life was over and things would never be the same. I was half right.

Things most certainly were never going to be the same, but my life was far from over. Why is it SO difficult to see that when you're in the midst of the pain or hardship?? I liken it to the concept of hills and valleys across a landscape. When you're at the top of a hill, things look majestic and beautiful, you feel powerful and in control of your destiny.....and then for one reason or another, you find yourself in the valley right in front of that hill and the scenery has most certainly changed.....and NOT for the better!

You no longer feel like you are in control of your life, you feel powerless, the next hill looks daunting and insurmountable. You often feel alone in that valley, even though there are tons of people around you. I've definitely been there.

Now, I feel like I am at the top of another hill in life - I'm enjoying Texas, my new relationship, hope and excitement for the future and happiness.

However, I'm not naive enough to think that I will always stay right at the tippy-top of that hill. I know there will be more valleys in life and I will suffer setbacks, hurts, losses and endure some not-so-great things. But that's just part of the landscape of life and with each valley I manage to climb out of, I learn more skills that will help me get out of the next valley sooner, easier and stronger. So while we would all like to curse the valleys and avoid them like the plague, we should really be thankful that God gave us the tools to get out of them if we just trust that He is in control and that there's a way out!

Living Heirlooms

When my Mom was visiting in April (on her way back up to Minnesota for the summer), she helped me plant some aloe plants that she gave me from south Texas near the Mexico border. They have big aloe fields and she got some of the plants.

She definitely has a green thumb (I do not, typically) and so she told me what to do in order to keep them alive. All but one are still alive!

It reminded me of when my Mom told me that the tiger lilies in the garden at our house in New Hope, Minnesota (that I grew up in) were actually transplants from my Mom's farm that SHE grew up on in Rosemount, Minnesota. It's almost as if the tiger lilies were a family heirloom! And when my parents retired and sold the New Hope house to move up north, she took those tiger lilies with her and planted them along the garage up at their new house in Crosslake. As far as I know, they are still blooming each year - they are SO OLD! HA!

I have many items that I plan to keep as heirlooms, but how fun is it to have an actual LIVING heirloom that is passed from one generation to the next?! I think I might ask my Mom to give me some of the tiger lily seeds so I can plant them down here and see if they grow. Then it would be 3 generations that are enjoying the same tiger lilies! Love it!

Spell My Name!

Something happened the other day that really bugged me....but it's something that hasn't really bugged me in a while - a person who sees my name OFTEN (emails, Facebook, co-worker) spelled my name "Laurie" in an email. I know, I know - NOT the end of the world or really something to get all worked up over, but it just irritated me that day.

To me, it's like talking to someone name John and calling them Jack right to their face - just a total lack of attention to detail. I can understand it when you are just getting to know someone and they don't know how you spell your name, or if it's the kind of relationship with someone where they would rarely or never see your name in print - totally understandable and that doesn't bother me. It's when the person SHOULD know better and they are just lazy or don't care - it just says that you don't value details and that's not cool.

OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.....

A Case Of POP & A Pair Of Choppers

My friend Holly sent me this picture and I think it's hilarious since I am constantly in the battle of "pop" versus "coke" down here - and then you throw in those that call it "soda" and you have a real beverage debate! I have NO idea why I think regional vocabulary is so interesting, but I'm absolutely intrigued by it - as well as regional accents. LOVE it!

I'm having a hayday with Chris since he was born and raised until age 10 or so in Pennsylvania (YANKEE!!) and then moved to Alabama to live out the rest of his childhood and college years. So he has an east coast-ish accent with southern habits and vocabulary. He also lived in Wisconsin and Michigan for a while, so he 'gets' the northern/midwest thing too. He has experienced the hellishly cold temps in Wisconsin, but also thinks that the sun rises and sets with sweet tea! haha! Gotta love it.

I guess I've made it one of my hobbies to find out where people are from and then talk about the similarities/differences in accent, culture and language!

Keepin' The Faith

Faith is not necessary when you know how things are going to work out, - that's knowledge. It's in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side.

Faith is what gives you strength. Faith is that light in your heart that keeps on shining even when it's all darkness outside. Now is the time to keep that faith alive!

People In Your Life

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.'

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence...

'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

Who matters,

Who never did,

Who won't anymore...

And who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

Instant Kharma

I have one more creature to introduce to the blog-world......it's Miss Kharma, Chris' mastiff puppy. He calls her "Kharma Puppy" and I call her "Big Sweetie" (said in Chick McGee's voice - that was for you, Iris!) or just Kharma. She is about 8 months old and still growing - hard to believe since she's already almost 100 pounds! It is quite hilarious to watch Kharma and 12-pound Maggie play. Kharma puts Maggie's whole head in her mouth and kind of gnaws on it....Maggie doesn't seem to mind, so I guess that's how they show affection??

I will fully admit, I have never been a big-dog-person....they kind of scare me with their size, big teeth and killing power...so you can imagine how apprehensive I was when I met Kharma who is huge, even as a puppy! But she has really been growing on me lately and she really is such a big sweetheart - and her ears are so soft and floppy!

Chris and I joke because Maggie has really taken to Chris, and Kharma has really taken to me - so much so that I think Maggie likes him more than me and now Kharma is starting to come over to me rather than Chris! Amazingly, we all get along and TJ (Chris' son) really likes Maggie too. He plays "house" with her and makes her sit in a chair (and she actually does it!) - very funny.

Goodbye, Vince

Last week, I said a sad goodbye to my Mazda 6 named Vince. It was a 4-year lease, and it was up - time to make a change and move on, I guess. As much as it was a big pain in the rear to find a new car and deal with Vince's lease inspection, returning the car, etc........I was actually very sad to see him go.

Vince and I have been through a lot together - trips to Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Minnesota (twice), Chicago, South Bend, Columbus, Wheeling (WV) and many more places! Vince was also the car that brought me to the 'new' motherland - Texas! Maggie, Vince and I made the trek down (stopping in Memphis), not knowing what we would find here....but we did it together and Vince has been very good to me. No major problems whatsoever - not even a flat tire!

It seems crazy to be emotional about getting rid of a car for a newer one, but I really was sad when I dropped him off at the car auction place. I know that I have sort of a problem with getting attached to things and people and being very emotional about those connections, but it was kind of a symbolic goodbye too. I got Vince right after my divorce was final, so this was a big goodbye to that stage of my life and something that puts more space between me and that misery! So I suppose this should make me feel happy to get rid of Vince, but it just doesn't. I am already bonding with my Ruby and I know her and I will have lots of fun adventures in the years to come, but I do miss Vince and wish him well with his next owner. I hope they appreciate him!

Here are pics of Maggie in Vince, waiting (im)patiently for her ice cream cone at McDonald's!

Women of Faith!

This past weekend, I attended the Women of Faith conference at the American Airlines Center in Dallas (where the Stars play hockey and the Mavericks play basketball). It was great! The speakers really hit home on a lot of things and had very relevant topics....and the music was fabulous.

The main conference was Friday evening and then all day on Saturday, but we took the day off on Friday and attended the pre-conference as well. It was general admission to the pre-conference, so we got great seats in the lower section (allowing these great photo ops below), but our real seats were on the 3rd level for the rest of the weekend. Really, though, there isn't a bad seat in that place, in my opinion....

The production was very well done and they had 3 layers of viewing - the actual person on the stage, the rigged screens for Women of Faith, and then the permanent screens that are used for basketball/hockey. They really did a nice job! Here's a view of all 3 levels of viewing!

Here's a shot of the arena from our upper seats on Friday night:

Even though I don't particularly like 'heart-shaped' things, the stage was really pretty! That is the Women of Faith logo...

And I think this picture turned out cool - when they had the lights turned down:

And one of the speakers this year was Lisa Welchel (Blair on The Facts of Life!) - she was AWESOME! And we even got to sing the theme song!

It was a pretty full house - so glad that they converted the mens bathrooms into womens. The lines were still a mile long at every break!

It was a really fun two days and a great opportunity to re-focus and evaluate what is truly important in my life.

Public Offenders

I thought this article about Facebook "offenders" was hilarious! We all know these 'types'! Enjoy!
(CNN) -- Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers.

There are lots of fun, interesting people you're happy to talk to when they stroll up. Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people.

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, the 160-character message that users post in response to the question, "What's on your mind?" An artful, witty or newsy status update is a pleasure -- a real-time, tiny window into a friend's life.

But far more posts read like navel-gazing diary entries, or worse, spam. A recent study categorized 40 percent of Twitter tweets as "pointless babble," and it wouldn't be surprising if updates on Facebook, still a fast-growing social network, break down in a similar way.

Combine dull status updates with shameless self-promoters, "friend-padders" and that friend of a friend who sends you quizzes every day, and Facebook becomes a daily reminder of why some people can get on your nerves.

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"

You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don't care what president I am -- can't we simply be friends? Now excuse me while I go post the link to this story on my Facebook page.

Wrinkle in Time

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been." Mark Twain
I saw that quote recently and it just struck me. Too often these days, people (especially women) are doing anything and everything to get rid of wrinkles, but to me that is just trying to erase your life! The ups, the downs, the in-betweens - each of those wrinkles is EARNED, in my opinion. Either they were earned by smiling and laughing a lot, or by enduring some very hard times with grace. They represent the sleepless nights, the extreme joy, worrying, celebrating, laughing, crying - ALL of it. And by pumping them full of botox or collagen, you are just denying those experiences that helped form you into the person you are! I think the most interesting people are the ones who have been through some really tough stuff and have lived a life to be proud of IN SPITE of those hard times. Cheers to well-earned wrinkles!