2%er and a bit of a hypochondriac

I'll freely admit that sometimes when I get illnesses, I tend to take them to the extreme. For example....I've recently been experiencing what can be chopped up to an allergic reaction. To what? We don't know. But because my mind is so briliant, I of course have googled every possible answer to my insane itchiness and what might be going on with my body.

here are the top choices:

• allergic reaction
• anemia
• liver disease
• kidney disease
• pregnancy

The average person would probably see allergic reaction and move on. Or maybe they'd skip to anemia and think "I could use some more iron in my life" and then move on.

Me? What do I do? I immediately start looking into liver disease and kidney disease. Why? Because the general rule of thumb with my body is that I fall into that 2% category. You know, when you get a medicine and it says 2% of people will experience anxiety, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, loss of hair growth, etc, etc? Yeah, that's me folks. I generally fall into the 2% category of people who are going to experience XYZ symtpoms. It's really more of a curse than anything else.

For fun, let me run down some of the things that have happened to me since this time last year:

• Shingles
• Strep throat
• Bronchitis
• Chronic sinusitis
• Allergic reaction to medicine
• anxiety
• stress
• sinus infection x 4
• rash on arm
• allergic reaction to who knows what
• ear infection
• sinus infection
• stabbed by umbrella in thumb

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but let's just say that my doctor bills are long and numerous at the end of the year. Oh joy.

So the next time I tell you that I think I have liver disease, maybe you'll see why for me, it's a real possibility!

The best cure for hypochondria is to forget about your own body and get interested in someone else’s.

Goodman Ace

Taking a step outside your box...

So before you read my post, you should read this post. It's excellent and it deserves your time. Trust me.

I think the ideas proposed in that post are dead on. Would we be reacting the same way to a LOT of things that have been going on lately if the people committing the acts were of different ethnic background? Or would we feel differently about healthcare and the other things that our president has suggested if he weren't African American? It's worth taking a second to take a step back and think about. What would we think or do if things were slightly different than they are now?

I've been writing a research paper on physician assisted suicide these past few weeks. Typically, I'm fairly liberal when it comes to my ideas about politics, etc. I found that to be true during my research as well, but I also found myself thinking "what would I want to do if it were me" and "how would I feel if my family member chose this?"
For the most part, my opinion on the matter wouldn't change; we all have the right to decide what kind of treatment we want and whether or not we're ready to end our own pain and suffering. But it also made me think that if some people would simply take a step outside of their own boxes and narrowmindedness, they might find that the other side isn't as evil as they thought it was and that sometimes, people should be able to decide for themselves the best course of action. Also, they might find that they're being prejudiced against a certain race or type of people .

Can you imagine a world where we all take a second to step outside of our boxes and take a minute to understand where someone else is coming from? I imagine there'd be a lot less hate and mumbled disapproval.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
-Thomas Jefferson

The truth hurts sometimes....

So my friend Janet wrote a pretty good post about how sometimes you just need to dust yourself off and move forward.

I hate how sometimes someone can say something you weren't expecting and it makes you realize that they're probably right and maybe you should heed their advice. For example, if you read my last post, then you know that last Friday wasn't the most exciting day of my life. During all of that, one of my dear friends told me "sometimes, people are just not going to like you. They may not really have a reason other than you're just not their type of person". Hmm...good point. Up until this point in my life, I've probably had an unhealthy obsession with making sure that everyone liked me. I didn't want to be the kid that didn't get picked for red rover or any of that jazz, so I probably worked too hard to get people to like me. But it was because I never really took a step back and thought "You know, it's totally okay if someone doesn't like you. It doesn't make you any less of a person or less likable". Lesson number one. 

Lesson number two came by way of Janet's post. I have to admit, these past two weeks, I've definitely taken the words of others a little bit more seriously than I should or normally do. The thing is, it doesn't matter what people think about me. The people that I care about and the people that I want in my life, like me for me. And they're my friend because they respect me and want me in their life too. The people who don't like me aren't people that I need in my life any way. If they're not going to add something positive to my life, then there is no reason for me to stress over whether or not they like me! So, I'm going to dust myself off and remember that just because not everyone is jumping to grab me off the shelf, it doesn't make me any less of a person or make me a bad person. Other people's opinions are just that...opinions. And the majority of opinions that I know, are that I'm loved. So, why fret over something I can't control?

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. 
~Agnes Repplier

The problem with assumptions and misconceptions...

The problem with misconceptions and assumptions is that often times, you're wrong. Wrong about what you're thinking or assuming and wrong about the person that you're thinking or assuming those things about.

Example:
I'm at work last Friday and a group of us are playing Taboo in a conference room for our lunch break. The group has met before and it's not a big deal, but this was my first time to join for a game day. I was pretty stoked about it to say the least because a lot of my favorite co-workers are in this lunch group. This particular day, we were all kind of ragging on each other extra hard and it definitely was not the type of day where you could bring your sensitivities with you.

We're sitting around harping on each other and after a few comments are made by me towards one person (not really towards, I merely repeated things she said) I get yelled at for "being a bitch".
Here are my thoughts about this person:

1. She is jealous of my relationship with another person at our office
2. She doesn't like me and therefore assumed I was picking on her because she had preconceived notions about who I was and what my personality is really like

After much deliberation, I finally ask her to join me in a conference room so we can discuss the situation. Of course it is littered with defensiveness and it was probably not as useful as I would have hoped. But I did make the point that I expect her to at least show me respect while we're in the office and that I didn't appreciate her actions or what she said to me.

Example number 2:
I have a really good friend who is currently at war with a significant other of a family member. For whatever reason, this girl has decided to publicly berate my friend and basically call her out for things that I think are far from the truth.

My friend has tried on numerous occasions to talk to the girl about these instances, but she refuses to think that she is doing anything wrong. She uses her blog to talk poorly of my friend and to make assumptions about my friend. Instead of trying to talk to my friend and figure out the truth about whatever sparked her hate in the first place, she just continues to talk badly about her. It's funny because in some of her posts she talks about God and how God will provide for her. I find it hard to believe that God is going to want to do anything for you when you are being such a poor example of a good human being...but I digress.

It pisses me off because the things she is saying about my friend are false on almost all accounts. For one, she claims that my friend hates her. I find that hard to believe since my friend is severely open minded and has compassion for just about everyone. And for two, she thinks that for whatever reason my friend is trying to make her life miserable. If you understand reason number one, you understand why reason number two cannot be true.

I've been compelled to call this girl out several times, but out of respect for my friend, I have refrained from saying anything. In the future, if she breaks up with my friend's family member, I think all gloves are off and I will send hate mail to this girl until I have nothing left to say.

Personally, I think she's battling some serious inner demons if she's going to pick on my friend.

SO my point in this long ramble is that if you're assuming something about someone that you don't know very well, maybe you should try to get to know them before you let yourself blow up publicly. And it's highly likely that your assumption is wrong. The thing about assumptions and misconceptions is sometimes people take them to far and they push sweet, intelligent girls like my friend an I to the brink and we unleash a hell the likes of which you've never seen.

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength:"
 ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

girls just wanna have FUUUUUNNNN!

I love my hubs. I'm going to say that first and foremost so tht there is no confusion!

And while I love my hubs and think he is AMAZING......I also love my girlfriends and being able to get away for a weekend to just have fun and relax! And that's exactly what my friends and I did last weekend. We took a mini roadtrip down to Austin and just had the best time possible. It was so much fun. I can't wait to plan somewhere for the next time we go out of town because with these two girls, there's never a dull moment! (Even napping turned out to be hilarious).

Here are some of the best pictures......they're funnier if you know what's going on....but hey, everyone can probably laugh at them....

some of the ones get a little bit more sober...and then we go back to crazy night. Hilarity.

chugging monkey, home of Brad Womackbeing respectful with Jenn

we'll have some tacos and beer...yeah, let ourselves go

 we were taking extra bottles of lotion....they were just lounging in the halll

Political Differences...and Ricky Martin is gay???

So if you know me or my husband, then you know that there is one fundamental difference about us....which side of the political spectrum we land on. He tends to fall pretty far to the right (in crazyville) and I tend to fall pretty close to the left (in pleasantville).

Generally our differences aren't enough to set us too far apart on anything major and so far we've managed pretty well. Last night however, we were sitting at dinner and the TV was set to Fox News (liars) and I had no control because we were at a pizza place, so I forced to listen to Sean Hannity. What a complete mistake..the hubs should have pulled me out of that restaurant faster than he put me in there! I couldn't believe the words coming out of that guys mouth! It was insane....and they pay him to be on TV! SERIOUSLY!

Needless to say it sparked a small debate with the hubs who has yet to respond to my totally unbiased, factual email. (Ha). I asked him simply to present me with facts that I can research and read more about....we shall see how well that comes out.

I sure hope that our politics do not cause a civil war within our very young family. It would be hard to survive. Here's hoping that there are other marriages out there with people on different ends of the spectrum!

And thank God Ricky Martin finally came out of the closet.....none of us were really surprised, were we?