Ponder This...The Older I Get

A friend of mine just celebrated his upcoming birthday with a blogathon, and the topic is Most Memorable Birthday. Begging his pardon for not being able to attend, I hope I'm not too late to chime in.

My most memorable birthday was my 30th. Many people dread this milestone, and some even get downright depressed about it. I had looked forward to it for years. You see, I spent most of my youth wanting to be taken seriously. I didn't want people to think I was foolish or frivolous because of my age (or for any other reason, frankly). But I had made up my mind that when I turned 30, people would see me as a grown up, as someone who had it all together, and I couldn't wait to get to that magical place in my life.

Then something ridiculous happened. The moment I started to believe people would finally validate my decisions and my life because I was "grown", I started running around like a kid. I completely stopped caring what people thought of my decisions, and what they thought about ME in general. I discovered that I had this really playful and whimsical side that I had been keeping mostly secret from the world, lest they think me a fool. But I was not about to keep it inside any longer. I went with my best friend from high school and did Glamour shots JUST FOR FUN. (Makeovers are hysterical if you get them with the right friend/s.) I started watching Harry Potter movies, and then became completely obsessed with the books. I started listening to music written ABOUT the characters, and went to concerts with other HP fans. I went to theme parks, and let myself be just as excited and wide eyed as my daughter. I made friends of all ages to share common interests with. To put it bluntly...I stopped being a stick-in-the-mud.

My 30's have been THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE, and I wouldn't go back for anything. I've found that the older I get, the more youthful my spirit feels...even if my aching back doesn't. ;0)

Ponder This...The Most Powerful Weapon for Good AND Evil

My fellow blogger and new friend, Ben wrote a great blog about the most powerful weapon in the world, in which he discusses the tongue and it's power to wound and heal others. (You should read it here: http://www.benbtl.com/2011/06/most-powerful-weapon-in-world.html) I would like to expand on that and talk about the tongue, and what it can do to YOU.

Did you know that our words about ourselves create our truth? Let me give you an example: I know people who say out loud that they are worthless (or insert any other derogatory phrase such as stupid). Somehow, they usually manage to produce very little of worth in their lives, and also VALUE very little in their lives, be it relationships or material possesions. They don't take care of things, and so they are usually in some kind of stressful mess. They have created a grim reality with harmful words.

Now, let me give you another example: I know people who say out loud that they are blessed. These people go through pain, loss, and hard times, but they always seem to come out ok. They tend to have all their needs met, and they value and care for people they are close to, and take care of the material things they have. By saying they are blessed, they are bringing about this reality in their daily lives.

I think it is easier for most people to build others up with kind words than to build themselves up. But it's important to remember that we can't have others lean on us unless we have a strong footing. God did not create his children "worthless". He created us in His image, and he wants us to be blessed and to fulfill all the potential he created in us. So, the next time you start to think, or even worse, to SAY something evil against yourself, stop! Use the most powerful weapon you have for GOOD, so that you can build up yourself, AND be a strong support for others against evil.

Ponder This...Involuntary Shimmying

Most of my blogs so far have been on more of a serious note, but I'm going to lighten the mood for a bit with a frivolous topic...pedicures. For Mother's Day I received a gift certificate for a pedi and a massage, and I decided to do the pedi first. I should tell you that I have never had a pedi in my life. In fact, I have not had paint on my toenails in roughly 12 years. Though I consider myself a fashionable person, I am a pretty low mantainence kind of girl. My nails grow nicely, and I don't really mess with them other than to shine them up with coconut oil now and then.

So, on to the "experience". I arrive at the spa (Be Renued), and I'm greeted by a nice girl who appears to be 14, and is wearing shorts and cowboy boots. (I really don't understand this trend, but that is for another blog.) My pedicureist (is that a word?) leads me to a chair where I put my feet into a heavenly warm bubbly tub. She's got to go get something, so she hastily explains the chair remote to me, switches it "on" and disappears. Now this chair starts massaging my back, and it feels pretty nice. I'm starting to really relax, when suddenly, the chair starts the shihatsu portion of the massage. I am forced into the most violent involuntary shimmy you can imagine. I mean, parts that should not ever be moving are about to shake OFF! Aside from being slightly embarassing, it is a little too much on my back, then it calms down again, but not for long... I text a friend and tell her that I am in the midst of involuntary shimmying, and in her helpful wisdom, she texts back, "Go with it.". What choice do I have? I'm alone and I'm pushing every button on the remote, most of which actually cause the shimmy to INCREASE in strength. Finally, the timer stops the machine and I am not about to restart it.

Now comes the real foot action. The lady doing my pedi is really cute and sweet, and not a glamourpuss. She's very pleasant, and she buffs my feet with some kind of loofah on steroids. It doesn't hurt, but there were a couple of times where I nearly peed because it TICKLED. I should tell you that I am actually NOT ticklish, so this was quite unexpected. Next, she starts yanking my cuticles, or pushing them back, or whatever they do. This is uncomfortable, and makes me think of POWs, but she's not actually hurting me, so we press on. Now she grabs some green and gritty goo (I'm sure the proper name is exfoliant), and rubs it on my lower legs and feet, and we rinse it off in the heavenly warm tub. Nice, and barely even awkward having a stranger rub my legs and feet, since she's so friendly and professional.

Now to the polish. My favorite color is purple, so I picked an irridecent lilac shade, and she applied it with amazing speed and accuracy. I did not watch the process because I was too busy looking at a magazine (Elle), which turned out to be an entire book of nothing but advertisements featuring 14 year old girls in shorts and cowboy boots. Finally, we reach the end of the pedi and I look down at my feet...only they are NOT my feet. My feet look natural and pleasantly inconspicuous. The feet I am looking at are screaming, "LOOK AT MEEEEE! I'M PURPLE AND FLASHY!". I politely ignore them, thinking maybe they won't be so loud the next time I look. When I get home, my daughter immediately pronounces that they look like ogre toes. I think she was trying to kindly tell me that the look isn't "me". I take a glance at them and I have to agree. A few hours pass, and my feet are starting to showboat just a little less. My daughter tells me that they'll be ok..it's growing on her. I'm still not sure what I think.

I've decided to leave the polish on for a few days, and when it starts to chip, I'll remove it and go back to my coconut oil...but I may shimmy just a little for fun. ;0)

Ponder This...Frozen in Time

For those of you who read my blog post, "Not-so-instant Gratification", you know that I've been hankering to dig out my old school "film" camera. Well, I did it! I saved the first roll for last weekend, and took some shots of my hubby, my kiddo, and some of my friends during the Blog-a-thon. It was a lot of fun! That camera had not been turned on in over 7 years. The zoom was even a little "sticky" from sitting closed for so long! The first thing anyone did after they took a photo with it was look to see how the photo turned out, which of course was not going to happen. You see, whatever happens when you click that shutter is permanent. ALL of the action, the good, the bad, and the occasional closed eye shot, are going to live on forever...frozen in time.

For all the shots I'm posting, visit: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1748676078363.2087484.1282664827&l=897d0e68ad

Ponder This...Things I've learned from the blogathon.

So, this blogathon has been a lot of fun for me. Part of that is due to the fact that I have seen some of my best friends as a result of this gathering. Another part is due to meeting new people. Here are some things I've learned so far

1. It is best to meet a "Burleigh boy" by having some sort of extremely awkward comment to start it off. (Anyone can make said comment.)

2. Art can make people uncomfortable. (Only those who were there can really know what I mean.)

3. Smoothies are a great pick-me-up for tired bloggers. Also, tired bloggers make lots of really funny expressions while drinking them.

4. It's hard to keep your facts straight after you've been up for more than 17 hours.

More to come.... :0)