Skidding Cars...Bo or Luke Duke

I remember seeing kids – mostly boys – intentionally skidding their car in the snow while taking a simple turn on a street corner or a little more brazenly in a wide open parking lot, and thinking to myself, “silly kids…”

Well, I don’t know if it’s because the snow is there...on the ground...every. single. day for me to look at, or if I’m tired of driving so stinkin’ carefully every time I back at of my garage and drive down the road, that I just want to let loose a little, but I’ve been finding myself tempted to let my car spin out of control just a teeny tiny bit like those boys used to do.

I’ll be in a parking lot with a bunch of open space, see the slushy snow, and just want to punch it, hit the brakes, turn the wheel, and “weeeeeee!” - go for a ride. But I don’t. When I turn onto my street I just want to take it a little too fast and feel my car freak out and try to recover. But I don’t.

Until today. Today I was leaving work and I just couldn’t help myself. I made sure I was in a controlled environment – big open space – as I turned the wheel quickly and touched the brakes, then “weeee” my car did a little skid. And by little, I mean very small – petite, really. But big enough to get my rebellious juices flowing. A few minutes later, when I turned onto my street, I intentionally took a sloppy turn and felt my car slide, “Errrrrrrk!” It was fun!

I felt like the boys from Dukes of Hazard as I drove into my garage – except that I exit my car through the door, not the window. I miss Bo and Luke Duke. I remember thinking Luke was the cutey of the two, but as I look back now, I think I was blinded by the dark hair and dark eyes. For reasons I can’t rationally explain, until I was twenty one, I wouldn’t even give a blond guy a second look. Well, except for Jeff. “How did he get through?” He was like a dark blond really. No matter. He’s married with triplets now. Anyway, I only dated guys with dark hair and dark eyes. Don’t ask me why. I’m over it now.

No offense to Tom Wopat, but I need to take back the Hottie Award I gave him twenty odd years ago and give it to the cute blond one – Bo – because I was wrong, so wrong to judge them on their hair color alone. Plus, Kudos goes to Blond Bo for aging so well – sorry again, Tom Wopat!

Anyway, I sure hope the snow melts soon before I get myself into trouble. You never know when Boss Hogg or Rosco P. Coltrane will be coming around the corner….

No 'Snow Angels' Today

It has become painfully obvious to me that snow falling from the sky is going to be a regular thing around here for awhile. Here in Ohio, we’re used to getting an inch or two overnight, the sun comes out the next day, and then – poof – it’s gone. A couple weeks later, the same cycle repeats itself.

This month of January – the longest month I have ever experienced in my lifetime – has been full of snow days and nights with very little sun to melt it away. And just when I’m about to pat myself on the back for maintaining a positive attitude through it all, I experience a teeny tiny mini-meltdown when I wake up to more snow and ice.

This last Sunday, I had been working feverishly on some creative projects and lost track of time. When I walked downstairs to get myself an apple and another shot of tequila (kidding) I noticed huge, monstrous snowflakes falling fast and accumulating even faster. I ran to the sliding glass doors, pressed my nose up to the glass, and verbally rejected the snowfall – “Nooooooooo!” I had been given no warning about snow today– I never saw it coming!

I decided right then and there that I would not let these simple white flakes ( that were actually quite pretty ) deter me from getting to my spinning class. I reasoned that I would go to my class, warm up my muscles, then come home and deal with shoveling the drive and sidewalks.

Fast forward an hour and I’m returning home from the gym. As I get closer and closer to my house I realize that my sidewalk has been cleared. “What?!” I can’t believe my eyes! I live on a large corner, so there is a good long sidewalk to shovel and nobody has ever shoveled my walk but me. I slowly turned onto my street and there, in my driveway, I saw two gentlemen shoveling the snow. I pulled into my garage and hopped out of my car. It was my neighbor from across the way and his teenage son. You would have thought I had won the lottery, I was so stinkin’ happy. They said they wanted to show their appreciation for me always letting them play catch with their football in my side yard, since their yard is too small. Even though I didn’t think the two favors were comparable, I didn’t argue with the boys. I considered them my very own ‘snow angels’ and I was so excited and grateful for their kindness.

Well, this morning when I woke up at 5:00 am for my Wednesday spinning class, I peered out my window to see all the snow and ice on the ground that the newsman had predicted would fall and knew right away that my class would be cancelled. I jumped right back into bed, set alarm number two for 7:00 am, and snuggled under my covers. I drifted back to sleep, dreaming about my ‘snow angels’ coming back to magically make the snow disappear once again. It was a very good dream.

As the second alarm sounded, the first thing I thought about was my ‘snow angels’. I jumped out of bed all excited, rushed out of my room and into the guest room to peer out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of my angels. Even though I knew it was ridiculous to think that they would show up at 6:00 am to shovel my drive, I couldn’t help but feel a little droopy as I realized the truth….it was going to be Me and my shovel doing all the work today.

But then again, at least I have a shovel and two legs and two arms to use it. At least I have a warm house waiting for me when I’m done, with a fridge stocked with food to fill my belly. A small prayer goes out to all those who don’t have a warm place to call home this cold, wintery day….

President Obama

So, the Inauguration Party for President Obama was yesterday and Wow, what a spectacle! It’s very hard for me to miss out on a party and I always like to be where the optimism and hope is, but I felt conflicted about the whole thing.

I did not vote for President Obama, but the people have spoken and I respect that. As I watched all the hoopla, I found myself excited for the black community and can only imagine the excitement and pride they were feeling. The hysteria was not limited to the black community - there were people of all races and class screaming for joy as if Jesus himself, had come back to save us from the fires of hell.

I, myself stand back with guarded optimism. He projects himself as seemingly the perfect father, the perfect husband, the perfect man to solve all our problems, but so far, all he has done is get himself elected. He is a true poet and words roll off his tongue like honey, but words are words and action is action.

It’s good to see the country so excited and engaged again, but I would like to hold some of the applause and idolization until after he has actually done something. President Obama has not proven himself a great man with great accomplishments yet – he’s still just a man with inspiring words. Maybe, it shows just how desperate Americans are for a hero and he’s the one who stood up and put on the cape.

I disagree with him on some of the issues, but I hope that he surprises me and proves me wrong. I hope that all this Beatle mania is warranted and we can look back one day and see how he made important and significant changes that benefited and strengthened our country.

I pray that yesterday’s parties were not in vain. I pray that he makes us all proud.
I pray that he lives up to and beyond all the hype. But most of all, I pray that he has a change of heart where a change of heart is most crucial.

I will be praying for you, President Obama, with an optimistic heart…..

Don't Cry...

When I saw this quote, I had to laugh, because many times throughout my work day, I have patients who are sad when their appointment is over. I find myself smiling at them and saying, “All good things must come to an end…” The moment I read this particular quote, I knew it had to become a new fixture in my office. I think it’s a much better sentiment than “all good things must come to an end.”

As I read it over and over again, I realize they are words I should take to heart myself. I am the type of person who lives for the next big exciting event. Whether it’s a grand vacation, an exciting holiday, a birthday, a good friend’s visit, or the eating of a magnificent ice cream cone, I usually find myself just a little devastated inside when it’s all over.

Last year, after having a magical adventure in Italy, I boarded a plane in Rome, took my seat, plugged in my MP3 and decided to let the great Frank Sinatra and legendary Tony Bennett serenade me all the way home. As I sat on the plane for nearly twelve hours, I tried not to cry, but I just couldn’t believe my grand adventure was actually over.

Heck, just two months before, I had made myself a green, red, and white paper chain – just like an eight year old would do – and had started counting down the days until I met the Pope. Every day as I ripped one of the links from the chain I would imagine all the different flavors of gelato I would taste-test and all the handsome Italian men who would spoon feed them to me.

And then when I had my fill of gelato ( if that is even possible) I would have found a different group of handsome Italian men – just to keep things interesting – to make me pizza, pizza, pizza...then pasta….“Oh, and I’ll have a glass OR three of wine, please. Thank You!”

Of course, I could only try and imagine the breathtaking beauty that was in store for me in Italy - from Assisi, where the beauty is found simplistically in nature, to Florence and Rome, where men over many centuries have created the magnificence that would leave me awe-inspired.

Even though my trip did not turn out as my daydreams had exaggerated, the experience was phenomenal, nonetheless. I did cry on that plane ride home though, and that’s okay, because darnit, not ONE Italian man spoon fed me anything! That was disappointing. Add to that, my grand adventure that I had dreamed of for so long was officially over.

But I’m not gonna cry anymore just because it’s over. I'm not. Instead, I’m gonna put on my happy face and smile because I feel completely blessed that it happened in the first place! Annnnnd….the Pope said a special prayer for me in German, which I didn’t understand but it was a prayer, so that’s gotta be good. Of course, there were thousands of people there with me, but I’m pretty sure that somewhere in the midst of his German speak, I heard him say my name. I could be wrong. But my version of the story makes me happy inside, so that’s the version I‘m going with. Me Smiling – No Tears!

Ciao!

Yuuuum!

It’s a New Year, which means new resolutions, new philosophies, and new ideas on how to improve the life we currently live. I always hate to follow the obvious trend, but every year, I find myself looking at the new year just like everybody else.

Let’s be honest, it’s impossible to stay on course with a healthy diet during the holidays, when every time you turn around some sweet soul has made you a special batch of feetless turtles
(without the pecans), or their grandma’s sugar cookies, or God forbid, FUDGE! What earthly human possesses the willpower to pass all that up? When someone bakes me something and offers it to me, if I say “No thank you” it’s like saying no to Love – I’m not doing that – not at Christmas anyway!

So, I eat the fudge and the cookies and the turtles with no nuts, knowing that I will do better in the New Year – just like everybody else – yuk! But it’s true. And as much as love the holidays, it always feels good to reinstate the carrots and apples as my official bedtime snack and save the processed sugar for special occasions only. I think I speak for my body when I say that it prefers to feel the fiber moving through instead of the sugar settling in.

So the carrots and apples are winning the race again and the gym is back at the top of my list for favorite places to visit. I had some pain issues that slowed me down towards the end of last year and also served as a perfect excuse not to go to the gym altogether, but the pain is gone and so is my excuse, so back to the gym I went.

Each year I think I grow more and more as a person. I am proud of the woman I have become. Yet today at the gym I found myself a little embarrassed by my juvenile thoughts. Let me explain. I like to do my cardio workout – which I hate – in the movie theatre room at my gym. I had, of course, originally made fun of the idea of doing cardio in a dark theatre, but eventually found it quite fun. I don’t really listen to the movie so much, because I have a Cardio Coach in my ear telling me when to sprint and when to jog and how out of breath I should be, but I find the visual distraction very helpful.

Sometimes the visual distraction for the day is not so enticing – like "Joe Dirt" – someone needs to burn that movie. But today, as I started climbing the eliptical, I looked up to see Matthew McConaughey on screen. Which movie it was is completely irrelevant – he was in it – enough said. Call me a teenager or call me a dork, but there is no better distraction I can think of than to see that man smile and watch that man move. I consider myself evolved as a woman and I certainly don’t consider him my dream guy, but there’s still that tiny piece of teenage girl left in me that thinks to myself, “Yum!”

Here I am, a woman who’s waiting for thee right guy to walk into my life – a man who God put on this earth just for me – getting giddy over some hunk on the screen. I truly wouldn’t want him if I could have him, (seriously!) because he is not the kind of man I really want, but boy oh boy……”Yuuuum!”

I had a good long workout, thanks to Matthew, and I have this feeling that 2009 is going to be just fine!