Hold the Trash

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Hold The Trash

Sept10-2Even after four years, I still have not cleared all of my parents things out of my childhood home where I now live.  There are a lot of things.  And if it’s in a room in which I never enter, it bothers me none.

However, I finally decided to sort through the Christmas boxes in my basement.  I made two stacks – 1. I may use these to decorate this holiday season 2. these decorations would never be a part of my celebration.

Once I’d gone through about 20 boxes and bags, there was an old, brown paper bag sitting on the floor hiding in a corner of my basement.  When I first glanced in it, all I saw was an empty video reel about size of a 45 rpm record.  I was getting ready to toss it into my trash pile, but my fingers kept digging deeper inside.  Tucked under the empty reel were about 10 blue video reels the size of the bottom of soda can.  And the reels had labels.  One said “1979, Michelle’s Birthday”. Another was labeled “1980 trip to Georgia”.

Hidden in this trashed brown paper bag, were treasures that I could never re-create.  Inside this simple object were memories of my childhood.  In my hands I now held videos of my parents – two people that I will never physically be able to see again on this Earth.  I was on Cloud 9!!!!!  I immediately drove to the closest video store to see if they could transfer the reels to DVD.

I nervously waited for a week in hopes that the videos would contain some footage.  Our basement was flooded in the late 90′s and a lot of things were ruined.  Since those videos were found on the basement floor, I didn’t know if they had been damages as well.  As I picked the videos, I rushed home and down to my basement to see what had been discovered.  I saw footage of several of my birthday parties, a recording when my dad taped my second grade class performing plays, a family gathering with my cousins, aunts and uncle and my friends and I playing outside at Mallgate.

Only about 3 of the 9 videos actually had sound, but I had a smile on my face the entire time.  For the first time in 18 years (since my father passed away) I was able to watch my parents together in action.  What a blessing to run across that bag.  If you haven’t done so already – take plenty of pictures and videos of your family.  You may not feel you personally have a use for them, but I can guarantee you that once you have left this earth, the people left behind will cherish them!

(PS: If anyone is an old school techie that has an interest in a Sankyo Super 8 Sound-500, let me know)

M.Y. September 2010

Random Thought

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A Random Thought

Sept10-1I don’t know about you, but I hate doing the ‘doo’ in the bathroom when someone else is there.  Although the company where I work takes up an entire floor, there are only 14 employees.  So, when you walk in the bathroom and someone is at another stall, it’s pretty easy to look down at the person’s feet to know who is there.

I always try to wait until the bathroom is empty before ‘making myself comfortable’ for a couple of minutes.  But every once in awhile that is not an option.  Last week I slowed my pace down as I heard my colleague finish her business.  I leisurely squatted and waiting a couple of seconds.  I know the general rule of the commode is that some type of sound should be made within seconds or else you could be accused of being a bathroom stalker.

So I said two short prayers to God. Prayer one – God, please allow a little urine to be in my system. Prayer two – God, please allow me to tinkle before I poo.  And I did.  (I warned you at the title that this was a random thought).

Then I started thinking about the chicken and the egg theory and which came first.  I pondered my toilet experiences and realized that I always do #1 before I do #2.  And then I wondered – “Is it possible to do #2 before #1 or is that why they are given those titles?” My thought grew to a question that I posted on Facebook.  Most of the responses thought I was crazy, but nobody answered the question….

…. Until a male friend of mine sent me a text saying that he always does #2 before #1.  So, now a new thought cloud has formed in my mind. Do all men do #2 before #1, but all women do #1 before #2!?  Hmmmmm, I think I’ve uncovered an un-researched world just waiting to be discovered.  It has created some interesting discussions, but still no concrete answers.  So, over the next 24 hours as you do the doo, poo and #2 – think about which came first and participate in our survey!

M.Y. September 2010

Could Be Worse

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Could Be Worse

Aug10-4I can be my own worst enemy.  For several days, I was somewhat down about something that happened in my life.  It was anything horribly tragic, but it weighed on my mind a great deal.  I constantly reflected on the “what-ifs” and knew if the situation presented itself again that I would have done several things differently.  But, now it was after the fact and there wasn’t a single thing I could do.  I let this issue weigh on my mind during the day.  I “shoulda, coulda, woulda”. At night I had trouble sleeping.  Then two events in one day made all of my worrisome thoughts disappear.

It started with watching the morning news.  Hundreds of people had started lining up as early as 11:00pm the night before just to be the first in line for potential job openings at the KY State Fair. They interviewed a woman that said she’d been unemployed for over six years.   A man said that he was hoping for some funds to feed his family and have supplies for his baby.  This was disheartening because it wasn’t just a handful of people that were down on their luck.  No, these were hundreds of members of our community who are desperately in need of a job – any job.  Watching the story further made me appreciate the paycheck that I receive on a regular basis and made my issue seem somewhat petty.

Then, a couple of hours later I was talking on the phone with a woman.  She had had some health issues going on and it wasn’t until our phone call that I learned all that was happening.  She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and was still in shock about all that she was getting ready to endure.  This was someone that was around my age so it could have just as easily been me.  You could tell she was scared, and I knew that even once she beat the disease her life would never be the same.  Here I am pouting over something that really has no effect on my life while this woman has to re-prioritize her entire life.

We may think things are bad in our world – just know they can be so much worse. So often we complain and lose sleep on the small minor things in life instead of focusing on all the blessings that surround us.  That night after I arrived home and lay down to bed, I feel right asleep.  The worries that had lingered every night before were now just a thing of the past.  My worry really wasn’t worth worrying over.  I changed my perspective around and further appreciated the positive things and people that surrounded me.

M.Y. August 2010

It Wasn’t a Dream

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It Wasn’t a Dream

Aug10-3It was around midnight Saturday night and I dreamed that I heard police cars and fire engines.  As I awoke from my slumber, I heard a voice outside the door that said, “Get back in the apartment”.  I went to look outside my boyfriend’s place and saw two police men squatted just below his door. A couple of second later, they ran to the left.

I went and woke my boyfriend up and said something was going on outside.  As soon as I spoke, there was a loud boom and voices of the police saying “put your hands up, put your hands up”!  By now I was scared and unsure of the chaos happening. My boyfriend told me to go lay down in the bathtub.  At first I didn’t feel a need, but after the second loud boom I knew that was the best place for me to be.

He called 911 and we were told that 15-20 SWAT were in the area and that there was also a fire.  We were told to stay put.  The tech guy/gal in us both had us surfing the internet on our phones looking at the websites of local tv channels in his city for information.

Long story short – couple gets in an argument at Mexican restaurant a block down the road. Girlfriend calls police.  Boyfriend walks to their apartment.  When police arrive, he refuses to come out and shoots a shotgun at the police.  SWAT is called in.  Boyfriend decides to set the apartment on fire.  The apartment explodes (reason for the boom sounds).  The guy then runs out of his apartment (reason for police saying put your hands up) with burns and jumps into the pond in front of my boyfriend’s apartment.  The guy doesn’t resurface for 5-7 minutes and they soon realize he drowned.

All of this happened just feet where I should have been sleeping. This wasn’t a dream or an action movie, it was my reality.  (I could make that up if I tried.)  I realized two things – 1) you never know how your life can end up, so appreciate each moment and 2) my boyfriend genuinely cares about me.  I thought about the recent baseball clip where the guy runs to avoid a baseball coming his way and it hits his girlfriend.  My boyfriend did the opposite and looked after my safety before looking after his own.

I definitely mourn for the girlfriend of the guy that drowned but further value the things and people in my life.  Here’s a link of the video coverage.

M.Y. August 2010

It’s Not About Me

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It’s Not About Me

Aug10-2If you’ve been reading “M.Y. Words of the Week” this year, you know I had a goal of becoming a fitness professional this year. All of the competitions have happened and I am still an amateur.  The weekend I flew home from my final competition of the year, I felt a little empty.  Training to compete had been all I had focused on all year and all of a sudden I didn’t know what I’d do with my time.   I didn’t feel like a failure (because I knew it just wasn’t my time to win) but I did feel empty.

What I didn’t realize, though, is that my life is about God’s plan and not my plan.  Because just two days after returning home I received a phone call from a local gym.  They saw me at one of the national shows and wanted me to be a personal trainer there.  After several days of meeting with them, I decided to start training at the LAC.  Then, two days later I received a phone call.

Back in April I had been talking with a lady in New York about a fitness concept.  She said she would follow up with me, but I never heard back from her.  Until that phone call.  She was had finished another project and was now focusing on ours.  I am so excited about the possibility that could bring.  And then there was the Facebook message.

Darla Carter had been working on a new “My Domain” feature for the paper and had taken pictures several weeks earlier.  She sent me a message to let me know my article would be in the Sunday of that week’s paper.  Darla is an amazing writer and I never knew the picture would be so big!

All three of these things happened in a week.  In a week where I felt I would be clueless and lost with no direction.  Little did I know that God had a lot of other things in store for me.  But in order for me to be able to accomplish them, he needed me to stay still long enough for me both be able to appreciate them but also have the time and drive to be a success.  Doors close in our life for a reason.  Don’t waste your time trying to bust down that door or break the lock.  You weren’t meant to be in that space.  Instead, turn around and realize there are a lot more doors and one of them has your name on it.

M.Y. August 2010

O Holey One

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O Holey One

Aug10-1I didn’t pay much attention to the first one and just thought it would go away.  It was a pile of dirt that some critter had dug in my yard.  But, as the third, fourth and fifth hole appeared in my front yard I realized I had a problem.  I couldn’t tell what animal had made its home there so I went to the most reliable source I knew – Google!

I typed in “dirt holes in yard” and several sites offered suggestions for my problem.  After reading, I decided that my holes were mole holes and the safest remedy was to flood out the holes.  So, the next morning, I got my water hose and started flooding out them bad boys.  Nothing really happened.  Well, not until I got to the fourth hole.

While flooding that hole, this wasp/bee-looking thing tries to fly out.  I quickly kept drowning it and stepped on it to kill it.  The same thing flew out of the next hole as well (but that one got away).  Crap, I have an even bigger problem.

So, I took a picture of the “thing” with my Iphone and went back to my reliable source.  My photo of “it” and the dirt description matched perfectly to the cicada killer wasp.  Just great I’m thinking to myself.  I have a yard full of killer wasps planning a revolution in my front yard.  I drive to Home Depot and buy some wasp killer and it does a great job of killing several.  Days go by and I don’t see any news holes.

Until a week later.  I guess it took them suckers a whole week to clear another path, because two new holes appeared.  I tried calling the wasp specialists listed in the phonebook, but they all said they can only kill the wasp in the present holes and make no guarantee against new holes from forming.  Since they are underground there’s no real way of knowing how many are there or what direction they are traveling.  In other words, I should just stick to my $3.97 spray instead of charging them $65 to do the same thing.

So I’m stuck for a couple more months with cicada killer wasps until summer is over.  They may try to tear up my yard and dig all type of holes, but I promise I will spray every inch of my yard every week until they realize that they messed with the wrong homeowner.   I just hope PETA doesn’t come knocking on my door in protest!

M.Y.  August 2010