Responsi-freakin-bility

Lately, I've been a big advocate of having responsibility. Freakin' own up to your issues! Life's too short to dance around what needs to be done.

Now...before this gets too far, here are a few things that I am NOT saying in this post:

1.) Don't have fun.
2.) Never live "in the moment."
2b) Never suddenly change your mind.
3.) You are not allowed to make mistakes...because Lord knows I'VE never made any...(psh)

With that said, yes, I was 19 once....and 20....but whatever. Those were definitely the days of irresponsibility. The thing is, I still got through college, and I still had my goals. My decisions at 19 and 20 never reflected too harshly on the rest of my life.

There are just certain things in life that should be done. Pay your bills. Try (oh for-the-love-of-God TRY) to live among your means. Do what you say you're going to do. Set goals...and actually strive to reach those goals! Look...life is exciting. It's fun and full of adventures. Don't miss out on an opportunity just because of lack of responsibility!
I really don't mean for this to be anything but motivating! Strive for excellence in whatever you do! Carpe Diem. Get-r-done. Go Jo!

Braces Glasses Crutches.

When I was in Jr. High/High School I went through this phase where I wanted to be a dork. Braces, Glasses and Crutches. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking.... Then the 'braces' request was granted in 7th grade. THAT ended up being more of a pain-in-the-butt (or should I say in the MOUTH) than I bargained for. Not to mention the 2 oral surgeries that came out of it, but whatever. I have yet to have crutches. Thank. God. ...but today I got glasses.
Now, they're just reading glasses, but it's still an adjustment. Sure, they're exciting because they're new, but eventually they're gonna just get old. Don't get me wrong...they're way cute! It just seems like they're going to end up being just another thing I have to carry around - another small reason to need a big purse.
I'd been having these bad headaches in the back of my head around my occipital bone. (That's the base of your skull, fyi). Well, for a while I thought it was just when I was on my iPad. Then, I gradually began to realize it might be stemming from my eyeballs. Since I barely passed the vision part of my driver's license renewal process...thought maybe I outta give the eye doctor a shot. Ha. So here I am, on my computer, trying to get used to having four eyes. Don't worry. I'm wishing MYSELF luck.

Appreciative Presentation

I'm a Massage Therapist. That does not require a college education- not even a community college education! All you've gotta do is have at least taken the GED and be at least 18 years of age. Check and check.
I went to college because I felt like I had to. All of my friends were doing it, so I should too. The fact that I got to play golf for my education was an added bonus! All throughout those four years of hel.....I mean classes...I got a feel for what information I was going to use in the future because I knew I was going to Massage Therapy school afterwards. Anatomy, Physiology, Biology, Chemistry...as yuck as 3/4 of those classes were, I needed them. I tried to pay attention and learn as best I could. It was the English classes and the History classes that I pretty much BS'd my way through. Little did I know that I was actually going to USE this knowledge for my CAREER!
A couple of weeks ago my boss presented me with an opportunity to speak at a Lunch-n-Learn to a Healthy Women's group that I suddenly found myself in the predicament of putting together a speech and powerpoint presentation on Massage Therapy. Well, in college, and even high school, presentations were usually done in a group. Each group, though they may be nervous, always knew that there was another group nervous as well because they were going to have to present next. If not, those groups were usually nervous about how their presentation went over with the teacher. Well, I'm the featured. (If that sentence doesn't make that much sense...it's because I really didn't know how to use "featured" and "me" in the same context. I'm the one speaking. To everybody. Yeah.)
Believe it or not, I'm kinda excited about this. I'm speaking on something I'm passionate about, and I get to educate women on the importance of this alternative medicine that is Massage Therapy. Putting this powerpoint presentation together was actually a breeze. As much as I hate to admit it, because let's face it, everybody's got some pride...I'm appreciative of all those damn presentations. They really pulled through for me on this one.

Babies and Beasts

This blog is two-fold. 1) Men are babies. 2) Redheads are beasts!

You know, honestly, I'm not sure if it's a "redhead" thing or just a "me" thing, but I can take pain pretty well. Studies show that redheads have more of a tolerance towards narcotics, gas, etc. Basically, they're saying we're tougher than the rest of you. Yeah, sounds about right ;) With us, the feisty attitude and short fuse just comes with the package. Being a redhead AND short....well you're tacking on a complex. Caution: Could Be Fatal.

Today I had a headache. All. Day. Long. Dang, even a freakin' migraine IV wouldn't cut it! Well, I worked all day. Was it fun? Nope. I did it anyway though. This evening I was hanging out with a girlfriend of mine, and we came to the obvious conclusion that if a man had the kind of headache I've had all day, he'd be on his deathbed. Ok, maybe not THAT dramatic, but you get my point. Now, I'm not sexist....or bitter (believe it or not). I've just been alive long enough to know that men are only as tough as they claim to be. Women are only as weak as we let ourselves be.

Chew on that, homeslice.

Attention is crucial. Vigor is optional.

In my experience from this short time on Earth, I've been taught 2 truths: 1) Two things in life are for sure: death and taxes. and 2) You are what you make out of life. Recently, I've been truly challenged by the latter. Growing up, I never really had a break from school. I graduated college 2 1/2 weeks before I moved to Tennessee only to go straight to school 2 weeks later. Then, I was offered a job before I graduated from THAT school, so about 3 weeks after I moved back home I started work. No breaks. This I have recognized as a blessing...yet have to remind myself that it IS a blessing on occasion. So, as far a jobs and schools, I have had little to no complaints.

Yes, life happens one way or another, but I also know that as a Christian, life is viewed as the process by which we must work to win souls for the Lord. Nowhere in this process are we to put ANY emphasis on our own glory. That belongs to God and God alone. Now, there are different ways we as humans can handle this process. We can view it as a blessing to serve our Heavenly Father, or grumble at the fact that we can't take the credit ourselves (even though we deserve NO credit whatsoever), or we can totally dismiss the fact that we have done nothing to receive this credit, yet take it anyway. At the end of everyone's life, we are to be counted and judged by our Creator. This, I believe, is what we will be judged on more than anything else. Did we serve the Lord with a grateful heart?

TAKE CAUTION:
There are those in this world who claim to follow Christ, yet take all the glory for themselves. If we as Christians will stay committed to the Gospel, then we can pick out these phonies and take their teachings with a grain of salt. I think the devil smiles bigger when he sees us following false profits than he does when we act in any other sin. I'm sure we have ALL fallen short in this category...but if we can take a deeper look into what we are taught, maybe we will be able to recognize and weed out truth from self-glorifying snakes. This is a challenge to myself as well as everyone else.

Glory be to God!

No time...now.

I've got the kind of personality that requires downtime. If I'm constantly goin goin goin, I go go go crazy! These days, I really don't feel like I have time for my friends...and that's the WORST! Sure, I'm with my family during the week because...well, I live at home. Now, I l-o-v-e my job, and I love the people I work with, I just go home exhausted! Now days it's getting darker earlier, and I feel like once I get home, I've got an hour and God turns off the lights. This past week I've done my running at 9pm. That's crazy.

These past couple of months I've been trying to get to Shreveport to spend the night with one of my best friends, and it hasn't worked out yet. Even the few Ruston friends I'm really close with, I might see them once every 2 weeks, or at church. That's it. Ugh. I know this is just a phase of life, and I should be thankful for the time I've got now because one of these days I'm gonna get married and have kids. Then I REALLY won't have time!

The Ta-Todd Phenomenon

This is not a new concept. Nope, this one's been around for a while! It's the Ta-Tod Phenomenon.
What is a Ta-Todd you might ask? Well, let me give you my "Betha-nary" version:
Ta-Todd: (Tall Toddler) noun; a young, tall female desperately cleaving to the security of an older man for the purpose of subconsciously cursing her father for the life she felt deprived of as a child.
See also: Gold Digger
Now, as previously stated, Ta-Todds have been around for hundreds of lifetimes. Their legacy, though faint, is worshiped by young women all around the world. Will this pandemic ever fizzle...probably not, but you know, the first step to recovery is recognizing the problem. If we educate the world, then maybe there could be a reform. Revise! Revise!