Mean People

Okay, I may be a little biased, but I think I'm a pretty nice person. I don't like to hurt other people's feelings & if I do, I try and apologize for it right away and I most likely didn't intend to. It doesn't make me feel good to know I'm making someone else feel bad. I believe in the golden-rule and try to abide by it. With that being said, let's talk about those people out there who are not so nice. Let's talk about mean people.

I just need to vent...so here goes: do mean people grow up being taught that it's okay to make other people feel bad; do they consider how they would feel if someone made them look like a fool; is there any remorse later, for knowing they made someone question themself; have they been hurt so deeply that they want to hurt other people; are they just so stupid that they think it makes them look smart to have a sarcastic comeback for everything you say; are they so arrogant & think they are so cool, that you are 'lucky' to be talking to them and think they are tricking you into making fun of yourself??????

Okay, the fact that I started out in the 3rd person and ended up, well, not in the 3rd person anymore...is just coincidence. Anyway, being mean is just wrong. As your mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher or anyone older than you always told you, you kill more flies with honey than vinegar. If someone ticks you off, or offends you...walk away. Don't get into a (pardon my French) pissing-match with them. Don't get me wrong, it's always good to defend yourself, but never at somone else's expense.

I'll leave you with this: it is admirable to walk away from a situation that could have potentially ended up badly. There will always be spineless people out there who don't care about your feelings, but I say who cares? Let them know you don't appreciate their unkind words (in a nice, yet stern way) and move on. It bothers them more to know that you won't argue with them and that you're comfortable enough in your own skin to just let it go.

Weddings

My sister got married this weekend. She is 11 1/2 months older than me and the last one in my family to tie the knot. It was a very beautiful ceremony and being a Catholic wedding, it went by rather quickly. It was about 98 degrees on Saturday and we had to trudge around in heavy, floor-length dresses and layers of tux. I think the worst part was being on the party bus which had no air conditioning, at 3:00 in the afternoon, crammed in like sardines. It made us feel as though we were melting.

The reception was where things got a little crazy. First off, I have to mention how well the Best Man and I did on our robot impression during our introduction. Eat your heart out, C3PO. However, I slacked a little on my speech..I didn't prepare. I did learn though, that if you keep it short & end with, "Go Cubbies", people won't really remember what you said anyway. Follow it up with a glass of champaign & a Jaeger Bomb and you're not even humiliated anymore. Funny how that works.

Then came the obnoxious drunk people. Yes, you know there's at least one or two at every wedding reception. They are the ones hugging strangers and telling everyone they love them and dancing by themselves on the dancefloor. Unfortunately, I was related to both of them. Worse than that, one was my mother. I steered clear of her all night, afraid she would get ahold of me and make me dance with her..or grab my face and start crying like she did with my nephew and my sister. Yep, I stayed fairly sober and far away from my mom. Words from the wise, never give that woman wine, or anything containing alcohol (at least in public).

My nephew on the other hand, was quite humorous to watch. He is just shy of 21 and was stumbling all over the place. At some point he discovered how loud he could actually sing and gave the fat-lady a run for her money. Then he thought the parking lot contained a urinal & ended up falling down outside the reception hall. Luckily, no concussion.

You gotta love a good wedding. There are plenty of people, all dressed up...plenty of alcohol to keep those people 'good-looking'....and plenty of drunk, 'good-looking' people who keep us entertained.

Congratulations to my sister & her new husband..and thank you for a heavy hangover to keep my mom sober for awhile.

I Love You, Dad

Since it's Father's Day, I want to send a shout-out to my dad. He's definitely the one person in this world I look up to the most. My dad is from the Chicago-area and my family has always been huge Cubs/Bears/Illinois sports fans. I remember when I was little, I used to watch the Cubs games, from beginning to end, just so I could give my dad the play-by-play when he got home from work. I was such a nerd that I would take notes, so I didn't forget anything. Then when basketball season rolled around, I would watch the Fighting Illini games with him and we'd talk about how they needed a coach with enough balls to scare the refs. My dad is great. Over the years he's given me some great advice, support and just downright funny, one-liners. I think I'll give you a peek into life with William Max McCormick as a dad:

-do not answer the phone when you're sitting down to eat dinner, or you'll get the evil-eye
-when the phone does ring, he answers it, "Si" (why, I have no idea)
-never ask him questions about what's going on in a movie, he'll say, "I don't know! Watch the movie!"
-my dad TOTALLY resembles Clint Eastwood & he watches his movies all the time..with a crooked grin on his face, like he just gets him
-when I would practice my piano, Dad would always say, "sounds good, slim..play it again"
-I was always embarrassed to have friends over when a Bears game was on because he would get so involved that he would yell really loud (now I do the same thing)
-after my dad retired, he was bored so he got a job at Wal-Mart for a few months..he worked in the electronics department. One night someone came up to him and asked him where they could find a certain item. He admitted he wasn't sure, so he took them on a hunt to find it. The customer said to him, 'well you work in Electronics, shouldn't you know where this is?' My dad's rebuttal was, "If you see someone wandering around in a hospital, do you just assume that they're a doctor??" I still laugh every time I think about that.
-very rarely can you get him to say, 'goodbye' at the end of a phone call...he just hangs up
-he never refrigerates his beer, he drinks it warm
-one time he said to me, "your mother lives to eat, but I just eat to live" (he's so mean!)
-he laughs at his own jokes that aren't very funny, but you can't help but laugh with him because his dimples are so big and his laugh is so contagious

I have so many stories I could share, but I'm sure that they're more meaningful, funny & interesting to me since I'm his daughter, than they would be to a stranger. However, if you've ever met my dad you could conclude that he's laid-back, sarcastic, gruff & grumpy at times, but extremely loving & giving. He's got a huge heart, although he'd never admit it and he's nothing less than my hero.

I love you Dad, happy Father's Day.

Things I Hate..

I watched one of my favorite shows tonight and it inspired this post. The guy's name is Daniel Tosh and although he's extremely inappropriate, I laugh hysterically every time I watch his show, Tosh.O. Tonight he did a skit about things he hates, so I decided to do my own list...just for kicks, so here goes....

Things I hate:

Drama..especially when carried out by people you work with
Being barefooted...it's gross
Loud breathing...it's distracting and annoying, can you NOT hear yourself doing it??
Being tailgated...why? Do you think it's going to make me go faster? Wrong.
Begging...ask once and see what the answer is. Why ask twice, is the answer going to change?
Squeaky brakes...does this require an explanation, no.
Wal-Mart...period.
Lying...what's the point? I will eventually find out the truth, so in the end you look like a moron
Waking up before I'm ready...really? Wanna find out?
People who stare...enough already, take a picture.
Not flushing the toilet...it requires less time and effort than wiping your ass, just DO IT!
People who keep calling but don't leave a message...Oh yeah, I've been staring at my phone and once you call 13 times, then I'll answer. Wtf?
The alarm clock...who the hell invented this?
Car dancing...I'm annoyed just thinking about it. Is it that fun to move your butt around while sitting down? NO ONE CAN SEE YOU!
Hangovers...is this necessary? Sure it bothers me for a day, but I didn't learn anything from it
Being ignored...I know you hear me, the more you don't answer, the worse it will be for you
Meeting people you think are awesome and then finding out they're married...$hit.
Being bored...I'd rather do this while I'm sleeping
Poop...I think it's great that God thought of everything, but really?? Poop? There had to be a way around this.
Being bossed around...if I need someone to tell me what to do, then fire me or get someone else, lazy-ass

(Sigh.............) I could go on all day, but now I think I'll sleep well.

Word of the Day: Allow(ed)

(big sigh...) I don't like drama. I know I'm female and I complain at times, but I really don't like drama. I've come to realize that in life, people who have a problem with you, really just have a problem. If I don't like someone, it's because of how I allow them to make me feel, not necessarily how they make me feel. I mean, how can they make me feel a certain way, ya know? Interesting concept, I know this...but I think we enable most of the drama in our lives by letting people get to us.

I've had some instances this past week where I was left feeling...well, crappy. I felt crappy because I allowed certain situations to get under my skin. I should've just shrugged my shoulders and said, 'uhhh, okay. (pause, shrug) Whatever.' That's my normal reaction to most situations. I try not to let things get to me too much. I don't enjoy feeling bad or stressed or aggravated or bullied, so I just don't. But this week, I think I'd just had enough. It's exhausting to keep a positive attitude and it's exhausting to have to fight certain feelings all the time.

Sometimes you want to quit being a martyr and just say, 'you know what? you're a waste of space... and I don't like you... and it's because I let you get to me, not because you're important or worthy or good enough to get to me on your own!' BUT, you don't say that because you have more tact.

For those people out there who enjoy fighting and belittling (is this a word? I think it is, but it sounds funny and more like a hobbit dwelling than a verb... anyway..) other people, shame on you. Shame on you for not having enough to do in your life than to make other people feel bad. But more than you mean peeps (peeps: a word I picked up from my friend, Holly-hey girl, what's up?), shame on YOU for allowing those other people to make you feel like crap. Whoever you are, if you had a bad week and you had some shallow people step on you to get to the top first, STOP ALLOWING THEM TO GET YOU DOWN!

I'll end my bitch-session with something I learned the other day from my 11-year-old, Aley. Maci was picking at her and picking at her and finally she said this: 'You know what Maci? I would rip your head off right now but I'm not going to, you know why? Because I learned in school today that instead of acting on how I feel when I'm angry, I should just practice self-control. So that's what I'm going to do. Now get out of my face.'

If only I was so wise when I was 11.

Dream-Board

I've decided to start a dream-board. You know, where you take pictures of all the things you want in life and stick them on a cork board. Then you stare at them day-in and day-out, and pretend you have everything you've ever wanted. No, I'm serious. I got my Victoria's Secret catalog in the mail yesterday and picked out the ideal physique. Now this is where it gets tricky. As it stands right now, I've really slacked on my workouts. Whenever I eat something, it contains a negative charge & my butt obviously has some sort of positive charge and they always seem to find each other instantaneously. I think that next to the perfect physique I should put a picture of 2 magnets, both with negative charges so they repel each other. One would represent food, the other...my butt. (What? I need to be thorough.)

The next item on my dream-board is my perfect man. (I didn't mean that he would be an 'item', I mean not all the time.) The first thing he needs to have is a sense of humor. Clearly I don't take myself too seriously, so he can't either. That doesn't mean laugh AT me, just with me, and don't annoy me laughing all the time either. There's a fine line. The only other thing he needs is to be drop-dead gorgeous. See, I don't want much...this is easier than I thought!

I think a dream job needs to be on here somewhere. Wait..if it's a dream-board, then I wouldn't have to work. I would just have the great physique and the perfect man (I already have great kids, so that didn't take any extra meditating). So I guess I don't need as many pictures or as big a board as originally planned.

It seemed like a good idea a minute ago.

Land Your Plane

I talk to a lot of people every day. It's my job. I really don't mind it because it makes the day go by quickly. One of my weaknesses though, is my patience for chatty Cathys. I'll use my daughter, Aley, for example. When Aley goes to tell me a story, whether it be about one of her friends or just an experience at school, she tends to ramble. She'll start her story, and I'm with her. After 30 seconds, my eyes start to glaze over and I can't hear her anymore, I'm concentrating on whatever is going on in my mind because she fails to get to the point quickly enough. She's talking about how the weather was, when she was outside, talking to her friend whom she had an argument with, after she got back from taking this big important test. Um, (insert Chicken Little's voice) what were we talkin' about? It's very hard for me to listen to a story if there isn't a clear beginning, quickly getting to the plot, and making the ending brief while only taking 20 seconds to spit it out. I guess I have a lot of my dad's patience in me because he's the same way.

I watch a lot of movies, and I love the one-liners. I don't know if you've ever seen Couples' Retreat or not, but I would probably recommend it. There's a man who's on vacation with his girlfriend and runs into his estranged wife. She proceeds to tell him about how after dating all these men, she realized she still loves him. While explaining all she went through to get to this realization, he says the funniest thing. In fact, I remember laughing hysterically..rewinding that part..and playing it again, only to laugh like it was the first time I'd seen it. The wife is carrying on about all these other guys and he stops her says, "Alright, alright, land your plane!"

No? Nothin? Well, I think it's funny, and I'm not afraid to use it.

Oops

I thought I had a hair appointment today. I get so excited when I realize that I get to spend a couple hours at the salon. It's so relaxing and I leave there looking...well, better than when I got there. So I arrive at 3:30pm, about 15 minutes early, all giddy. The receptionist recognizes me immediately (probably because I look like a kid in a candy store...every time) and asks, "Oh, are the girls not getting their hair cut today?" Crap. I forgot the girls. I knew this Monday was too good to be true. I breezed through the day, amazed at how alert I was for the first day after a long weekend. I was so thrilled about the thought of being pampered for a couple hours that I blew off the kids' haircuts. Crap. Crap, crap, crap! "Um, yeeeeeaaah, I'll be right back", I tell her as I practically fall down the steps trying to get to my vehicle. The kids' school is only about 5 minutes away, so I put the pedal to the metal and fly over to pick them up. It's funny because most of the time when I get there, Maci is like, "Didn't I tell you to pick me up early today???" And Aley plows kids over to get her things so she can get the heck out of Kids Club. Now that the girls are 8 1/2 and 11, they are SO over the whole having-to-be-babysat gig.

Today, however, I get there and they both just look at me as if to say, "what the HELL are you doing here??" I signed them out and watched impatiently as Aley tries to finish her snack (in a very unlady-like manner, I might add) and Maci stares back at me with her hands on her hips and the look of kill in her eyes. Excuse me for arriving early one day when they weren't expecting it. I hurried them along while explaining what an idiot I am. Maci, of course, half-whined, half-yelled all the way to the Durango because she's STARVING and now she has to get her stupid hair cut. Aley comes running behind us, also fake-crying because she needs food (and because she puts the Queen in drama queen).

I finally get them both in the vehicle and arrive back at the salon, just 5 minutes late for our appointment. Maci went first. Then Aley. By the time it was my turn, the moment I had been waiting for....Maci starts crying about how hungry she is, again. Oh brother, just forget it. I ended up rescheduling my hair appointment for next week. Then I realized I'm going to be in Phoenix next week, so I had to schedule it for the week after that. So much for my relaxing, 2 hours of pampering, appointment.

On a lighter note, the girls' hair looked great. Maci got an inch cut off her blonde lockes and Aley got a trim with some subtle bangs. It's amazing how much they are both starting to look like me. All of a sudden, I didn't even care that my hair still looked like it did when I arrived at the salon. I began to realize how fast my girls are growing up. (And how mouthy and demanding they've become.)

Migraines

I get migraines. I get migraines a lot. These aren't just bad headaches, these are debilitating, nauseating, excrutiating headaches. Whenever I get a little bit stressed, or I don't get a good night's sleep, I get this nagging pain behind my right eye. The worst part about it is that I do have a prescription medication I can take for my migraines, but since I'm one of the millions of Americans without health insurance, I can't afford to fill the prescription. I call my doctor's office every 3 weeks or so to try and get samples and sometimes they are able to oblige. However, if they don't have any samples to give me, I'm often forced to fill the 9-pill prescription which costs me $233 out-of-pocket. These nine pills will usually last me through 2 or 3 migraines, that's it. I can't imagine what families do, who don't have health insurance, and who have serious health conditions. I do know that I thank my lucky stars every day that my kids and I are in good health (except for the migraines). If you happen to be someone who has health insurance, make sure you take advantage of it. I only hope that someday soon, I will be able to read this and say, 'thank God I don't have to go through that anymore'.

Supernatural

Over Thanksgiving break this past year, I took my girls out to Kansas City to visit my sister Terri, and her family. We decided ahead of time that we were going to have a movie-marathon and pig-out on junk-food. (Don't TELL me you don't have weekends like this...) Terri had mentioned to me that she had 4 seasons of Supernatural on DVD, but I had never heard of it. It sounded interesting enough so we began our 2-day marathon, watching the full DVD set of the first 2 seasons. I was hooked! It's basically about these 2 brothers, Sam & Dean, who fight evil (ghosts, vampires, demons, to name a few) in their quest to save the world from succumbing to the Apocalypse. I'm a big fan of battles between good & evil, hence my movie choices of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc. This show though, really takes the cake because it has action, humor, hot men, and an interesting take on some of the key players in God's army. If you've never seen it before, just watch it some Thursday night. I've downloaded some of season 5 to my iPod to watch on my extremely boring flights to Phoenix, so don't tell me what happens. I will leave you with a quote from one of the characters in the show, named Bobby. Supposedly evil spirits and demons are repelled by salt. Bobby had a demon in his house so he grabbed his shotgun and said, "get the hell off my property before I fill you so full of rock salt, you crap margaritas". It's that kind of humor that keeps me watching.

My day

What a great day. Did something amazing happen? Well..no..but it was just one of those days that you feel really good about. It started off on the right foot, I got a great night's sleep. I'm one of those people who has to have 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night to function like a human. Any less than 7 and I act like Sleeping Beauty from the Shrek movie, you know, the narcoleptic. Anywho, everything went just like it should for a Wednesday. At some point this afternoon I realized how lucky I am. I'm pretty healthy, my kids are great (except when they're smothering me), I have a great bunch of friends, my family hasn't disowned me yet and for the moment, I have a job. Can life get any better? Well sure, it could, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got. Just think how much different the world would be if we were all grateful for what we had. I have bad days too, but I try not to dwell on them. Afterall, what can you do about something that's already happened? I think tomorrow I'll keep this good feeling going. I'll make sure I pay it forward, whatever 'it' is...I'll think of something.

Pet-peeve of the week

Oh how I love my kids. I feel I needed to start with that so I can briefly break away and say how easily annoyed I am by them. Oh I know, I'm a terrible mom for saying that publicly but you know all you moms think it from time-to-time. I have my favorite spot on the couch, close to the arm, you know, where you can only fit ONE person. My eight-year-old sits right next to me, every time we are in the same room. When I say she sits right next to me, she literally leans into me so my right arm is basically sandwiched in between us. Sure, it was cute the first hundred times, but now it just makes me crave my 3 feet of personal space. Her sister, on the other hand, tries to sit by me but gets kicked to the floor or tackled like she's a quarterback who never saw that hit coming. Yeah, it's funny at times, but mostly just annoying. I want my spot back...the one that has at least enough room for my arm to move around. It's just not the same when I tell her to 'scoot over' and she moves an inch, only to ease back against my arm again. Kids. I love them, I really do, but scoot over!