Meea.

 November of 2007 we decided that we wanted a dog for our then 3 and 5 year old.  The Crumbley family that lived next door had the best dog, and had found out that the exact same dogs had had another litter of puppies and there were three remaining.  The neighbors left that night and picked up the runt.  We knew that we wanted to name our dog Meea after the first letter in our first names.  I talked to the owner and she said that she had named one and not the other remaining dog but that we could have our pick and she would keep the other one.  I said what did you name the one dog?  She said Mia.  (Jaw drop)

We left after dinner when Michael got home from work and both kids sat down in the floor, the lady handed our 5 year old their Mia, that was one crazy freaked out wild kinda dog that he could barely hold on to.  Our 3 year old was waiting patiently for her turn when the other nameless dog slowly came from behind her and curled up sweetly in her lap.  I said, did you say we could have either dog?  She said Yes.  I said well we want that one!  My husband said hold up!  We are going to sleep on it.  

So we left.  The next morning before he left for work my husband said I will leave it up to you. Which typically means let the kids down easily.  He left, I left to go buy a kennel and get the dog.  She was 3 pounds.  

Meea contracted Cushings disease and has been going down hill for sometime.  We were told in October that we should really put her to sleep, but she was still active and responsive and still a part of our family, she looked like Bill the cat but we couldn't just make the call on her looks.  We have spent all of the covid isolation with her.  We believe she had some sort of stroke a couple of days ago and she was no longer herself.  

We took her to the vet this morning and she left us peacefully.  I am more than thankful for our almost thirteen years with Meea.  She will forever be a precious member of our family.  

Meea August 22, 2007 - August 19, 2020

In training

I am all about mercy and grace especially in regards to "in training" individuals, however out of an abundance of frustration... I give you....my encounter.

I pulled up to a fast food establishment (I will not mention the name to protect the innocent.) I pulled into a spot to place my on line order, before I even put the vehicle in park there was a knock on my window...thus the child had seen me drive up. I roll down my window and she starts to hand me someone's order. I said I haven't placed my order yet. She continued to try to shove the order at me and said that's fine but you need to take this part of your order. I said that isn't mine she said in a very snotty tone "Are you not Jeff?" (Blank stare) No, no I am not. She walks off. I place my order and begin to wait.

Same child comes out with my order bags of food are fine but the drinks were so full that they had flooded the cup holder that they were in and I got a sticky bath ( not just drips full on looked like she had dumped one of the drinks in the holder just to be spiteful in hind sight maybe she did, but I won't go there that's on her.) I did not take the drinks, she seemed perturbed I said can you maybe wipe those off. (Dramatic eye roll and huff and off she went).

She came back with clean drinks (I'm sure she spit in them) and I said do you have straws? She said they are in the bag. I looked, no straws. At this point I am sure she is done with us. In her defense, I was kind of done with her as well. Obtain straws and off we go.

I want to say this. I was never mean to her or hateful or rude. Most people would have returned the behavior she was handing out with the same if not elevated hateful behavior and then where would that have gone? In training girl would have continued to have a bad day spiraling downward spewing her teen angst all over anyone who placed an on line order that day. All those people would then have in turn gone out in to the world with her angst all over them and spewed it all over the people that they came in to contact with and quite honestly we would have a pandemic of hatefulness and no mask in the world can do anything about that!

One lesson I learned from this is that customer service is not for everyone. I mean everyone should have to do it because maybe the general population would become way more versed in cooperation, but mainly I learned to....

Go out...Be kind!

Life lessons in games.

I have a vivid memory from my childhood.  I was a very active camp participant.  I loved my camp and enjoyed my summers because of it.  I can remember one activity in particular.  The counselors had described what we were supposed to be doing but I had either not been paying attention (likely) or they did not make it clear in order to get their point across (could also be true).  We were to only listen to one person's voice and go to them.  We were all blindfolded and when the game began it was pandemonium of all of the counselors yelling and screaming and making noise calling your name trying to get you to go to them.  I hadn't heard the part about it was a particular counselor that I was supposed to go to so when I got to the voice calling my name they took my blindfold off and said you lose.  Harsh.

Last night I played a game that involves deceiving the other players in order to win.  You are to lie at all cost.  It was unsettling to find out that people I typically trust could lie to my face. (Please understand these are all good people but dang they are good at the in game lying!)

The last round I thought I knew who was lying and who was telling the truth.  I thought that the reason that this person would not look me in the face was that they thought I was lying.  I was trying with all my might to get this player to look at me so that I could convince them that I wasn't lying.  Turns out they were.

These are weird times we are living in.  The enemy is going to use things that you trust and feel comfortable with to distract you from that which God wants for your life.  You do not want to get to the end of your life and have your blindfold removed to realize that the things you had been so adamant about being good and right were in fact...not.

God can use you to be light.  The enemy is going to try to deceive you, make you feel like you are wrong, make others think you are wrong.  Keep being the light.

Go out...Be kind.

Flip over already!

We had some pretty intense storms here last night.  Lightening flashing, rain flooding, booming thunder, it was scary.  I was thankful that my eldest had decided against going on a last minute camping trip.

I went outside this morning to walk the dog.  The skies were speckled with patchy clouds and splashes of blue.  The storms had moved on and left a trail of destruction in their wake.  All over the road and sidewalks there were debris from plants and trash that had been blown from who knows where littering the world around me.  I walked around to the back of my house and noticed an enormous crazy looking bug.  This was him.  Looks pretty dead doesn't he?

Well, he wasn't.  

He was very much alive.  I flipped him over and off he went.  No worse for the wear just needed someone to turn him over because he couldn't do it for himself, but then with just that little bit of assistance he was fine.  I sat there watching him wander off thinking oh how very much this little scenario applies to the world right now.  

We are in the middle of a huge storm.  There is sickness.  There are people fighting for things that they believe in.  There are people fighting just because they are angry and want to fight.  You can look at this in so many different ways.  One option is to find the people you can help during this time, help can be physically or help can be listening and starting to see the world from their perspective because it is the right thing to do.   No one ever became dumber by gaining perspective.  You could look for people that can mentor or guide you through this struggle, genuinely listening to their wisdom and trying to apply it to your own walk.  Ultimately, you can think even larger and realize that in fact God is the best one to flip you over, to start you on your next path.  He is truly the only one that loves you unconditionally and knows every thing there is to know about you and he still flips you over because he believes in you.  

This is where I am finding my comfort right now.  The news is so depressing, the world is in turmoil. Everyone seems to be arguing and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.  Don't you believe it for one second.  First off turn off the news.  Secondly, go out and be the change.  

Now.  Flip over and let's make this world a better place!  Go out...Be kind! 

What are you going to be today? Fart spray or Room freshener?

I am annoyed.
I am angry.
I am enlightened, all within a period of about 5 min.

A man was looking for gloves for cleaning.  He was about 5 feet away from me and asked a man that was working there where he could find them and the worker said we don't have those.  I said to both men, are these the ones you are looking for?  Customer man completely ignored me.  I repeated myself because I realized what was going down.  He was of the persuasion that believes women to be ignorant and should only be allowed to speak in certain circumstances so I wasn't going down without a fight.  I repeated myself several times and when the worker man also realized what was going on he showed the man the gloves and all of a sudden the customer had what he needed glared at me and walks off.

Seriously?  There is a word that I would typically insert here but my mom might read this so I will simply say.  Donkey!

My mother was with me at the time so I didn't want to make a big deal out of it or embarrass her so I gathered my things and headed for the register at which point I met the antithesis to Donkey.

He was lovely!  So kind, so welcoming, so appreciative and friendly.  He was so sweet to my mama, he was so thankful for our presence.  I wanted to bake him cookies and send a note home to his mama to thank her for raising such a wonderful son!  Man number 2 completely erased the bad feeling I was having about the Donkey that I had just been subjected to.

I received the most obvious life lesson all within a period of 10 min, do you know what it was?

There are jerks out there, people who are not going to like you for something that you can do nothing about,  your gender, the color of your skin, your age,  a multitude of things, but here is the life lesson.

There are also people that appreciate you for what you are and even for what you aren't.  They appreciate the fact that you are another human and know that you have something to contribute to this world.  Do you seriously want to be the person that brings others down, or would you rather be the person that  makes people feel good about themselves?  To me this is a no brainer.

If you spray fart spray in a room that you are confined to do you not then in turn reap the torture that is the fart spray yourself?  If you spray a pleasant smelling room freshener does it not have the same effect, only with a much more pleasing end?  We are all confined to this planet until we are either planted in it or the Lord comes back.  So, what are you?  Fart spray or room freshener?

Go out...Be kind.

Boba buddy.

I had never tried boba tea.  I was extremely apprehensive because I have this thing with textures.  A friend of mine decided that she was going to take on this challenge and completely craft a boba tea beverage that would not make me hurl.  I was still apprehensive.  I had to completely psych myself out to even take my first sip by saying "You're an adult!" "you can do this" "you are an adult!!!"

She nailed it.  I will say that the boba were weird but I didn't completely hate it and now that she has assessed that she thinks with one tweak she knows my boba tea drink of choice.  She put a lot of thought into this.  She asked me questions of my likes and dislikes and went above and beyond...for me.  Why?  Because that is what friends do!

I had a woman "correct" me on Facebook.  Have no idea who the woman even was and she was in fact, wrong.  Very wrong.  I corrected her but at that point it was my word against hers and she wasn't having it.  I told a friend about it and they said, "I'll take care of it".  They went on there and laid down more proof as to why she was wrong and I was right.  It's what friends do.

I have your back, I've got you, Where are you, what do you need?  This world is weird enough any way let alone all the weirdness that we are dealing with in 2020.  We need friendships.  Lots of them. We need people who understand us and want to help us.  We also need to be that person for others.  

Learn your friends likes and dislikes.  Support them, love them, bring joy to those around you.

I will even go so far as to say, do this for not jut your friends but for random strangers around you.  Not in a creepy stalker way, but just be pleasant to be around.

Most of all.....Go out....Be kind.

Yet another disappointment.

Day 56 of quarantine.

Things are starting to open back up.  They have asked us to wear masks some are some aren't.  We still mainly eat at home, my husband is still working from home and the kids are still distance learning from home.

They have moved graduation again it must be awful for the families that have a senior, being in such limbo.  So many rites of passage that have been taken away by this stupid virus.

Today the mail came, my daughter got a 5 x 7 envelope filled with paperwork from her school.  It contained 3 awards that she had no clue she was getting.  How fun would that have been to go to a program expecting to be a spectator and then out of the blue get not one but three awards.

She received the Agape award which recognizes a boy or girl who demonstrates the love of Christ daily at school and or in their community.  She also received the discipleship award from Honors English II, and the Leadership award which is the student that is actively involved in some type of community service and or exhibit leadership qualities in or out of school.

Yet another disappointment in the world of Covid 19.  I will be glad when we are to the..Do you remember when?  Stage of this whole mess.  What life lessons will we learn?  How will it change us?

I know that I for one will be more involved.  I will absolutely and for sure...Go out...and Be kind.

How the corona virus is like a wreck on the interstate.

I went to the grocery store this morning.  Any other day that would not necessarily be post worthy unless I ran into a character that was entertaining, but we are in the middle of Covidcation, which means the whole world is trying to stay home to "flatten the curve" so that the number of deaths from the corona virus will go way down from what is predicted.

I got home with way more than I normally buy because I am trying to make less runs to the stores, got that all put away and sat down at the kitchen table to make a schedule of what all I had to serve my family and when I would do so.  I must have sat there for 30 min.  It was like I was in shell shock.

It made me think of how to best describe what this was like and I came up with what I think to be a spot on analogy and thought I would share it here for future Erika to look back on.

Do you know how sometimes you will be on the interstate and all of a sudden come to a screeching halt.  It's bumper to bumper with zero explanation as to why you are having to wait, but you have to.  Wait.  There is nothing else for you to do.  So you sit there and wait.  You might have some jack wagon speed past you on the shoulder, but most of the people are doing what they are supposed to and waiting it out.  You might sit there for hours and after awhile you will start to move at a snails pace.  You finally come up on what had to have been a horrible accident.  You might see the wrecked cars or maybe just the charred grass but you say to yourself Wow, that must have been some accident.  You say a prayer for the people involved, hope no one died and go about your day when the traffic finally corrects itself.  You are lucky.  You stayed in your car.  You waited.

This is going to be the experience for the majority of us when it comes to the coronavirus.  We won't get it.  We will stay home.  We might know of people that were affected but for the most part it will be a non event, and that is a huge blessing.

What about the ones that aren't so lucky? What about the people that were in the wreck?  The first responders?  The people that witnessed the wreck maybe causing damage to their cars too or just the visual of seeing it happen?  They will have a much different experience from that wreck than you did.  It will stay with them for much longer.

Those are the people that contract the disease.  Die from the disease.  The doctors and nurses that help them.  The family members, the people they came into contact with before they even knew they had it.  Corona virus will always mean something a little more intense to them.  Sure we will remember the inconvenience of it, but the people that actually have to deal with the virus from a more personal perspective are way more effected than we are.  Be thankful of that.

Sometimes when there is an accident there are secondary accidents caused when people rear end one another because they aren't paying attention or if someone gets out of their car and they get hit by the aforementioned jack wagon that is too good to wait for the hold up and is trucking down the shoulder.  

All this to say.  Stay home.  Take the precautions.  Pray that you are not infected by this virus.  Don't be a jack wagon and most of all...

Go out...Be kind.  (But not now...stay home...don't go out...wait to go out later, but always be kind!)

Nothing can pluck you out of God's hand. Nothing.

I can remember clearly being chased around my grandparents home by my two sisters and cousin.  I can remember being scared.  I am not sure what I thought they would do to me but I did not want to get caught and I can remember vividly my heart beating out of my chest and thinking I would surely get caught.

I ran past my grandfather's vinyl green recliner.  He was sitting in it reading the newspaper.  He reached out his arm and grabbed me around the waist and whipped me up into his lap covering me with the newspaper just before my hunters entered the room.  They asked my granddaddy if he had seen me he told them that I ran outside and gone up to the barn.  They took off.  He then uncovered me and sent me the other way.

I can remember that as if it happened yesterday.  I can remember the placement of the chair, the feeling of being whipped into his lap, hearing their voices on the other side of the newspaper and knowing my fate if they realized I was there, the relief when I heard the screen door slam.

This reminds me of the verses John 10:27-30
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My father who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.  I and the Father are one.

There is also a song that we sing at church with a verse that states "It might look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by you!"

This time of year I am plagued with seasonal depression where I question all my life choices and worry that I am not doing anything right.  The thought that I have a God that loves me, wants what is best for me and will stand before me to protect me gives me comfort.  God loves us all.  No matter our choices.  No matter if we believe that he is real.  God is good, all the time.

Go out...Be kind.

A tale of a sandwich.

My son came home last night telling me of a story of the restaurant that he had eaten dinner in after practice.  The way that the place makes sandwiches is a longer process than some of your typical fast food restaurants and a customer had apparently never been there before and was wanting his food and complaining loudly.

The staff had apologized and given him some free fries for his trouble.  They even upgraded his sandwich to a larger size and he screamed at them because of that, they could do nothing right for this man.  He yelled loudly making a scene and started taking the Lord's name in vain and the manager just so happened to be a Christian.  He asked the man to not talk like that and the customer started insulting his beliefs.  My son witnessed all of this.  He watched as a Christian stood up against adversity and did not cower to a bully, but instead fought back for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I wanted to tell the manager thank you, and thus...our story...

Years ago I had been given some cash as a thank you gift.  I didn't feel deserving of it so I have been asking the Lord to show me someone  to bless with this money and several times I have thought I knew what I was supposed to do with it but it just never felt right.  My son had told me this story about this manager last night and I woke up two hours early with great clarity that he was who I was supposed to give this money to.

They opened at 11 and so off I went, the only description I had of this man was "Big scary dude".  Wasn't sure what exactly I was in for but I figured it might be clear once I got there.  The weather was so weird today like a slushy rain snow that landed but it didn't it was just weird and not exactly something I wanted to be out in but I wanted to accomplish my task.  I went in, all ladies, I asked for the man that had been the manager on the evening shift they told me that they could not legally tell me when he would be in but that he would be in today.  So I left.

I came back at 3pm.  I had enough time to accomplish my task before I had to pick up my daughter and this time when I went in there was a different woman and she asked if everything was ok.  I said Yes, thank you.  She said he will be here after 4pm.  I left.

I wasn't going to go back.  The weather was deteriorating I just wanted to be home, but the Holy Spirit urged me by saying don't be lazy.  Nothing worth it is ever easy so off I went.  It felt weird this time so I called my friend Cindy so that at least someone would know where I was and what I was doing.  She said she would pray for me.

I walked in, there were several workers behind the counter with not so friendly and inviting looks on their faces and then the woman from my second visit met me at the door and said "this is the third time you have been here why don't you tell me what it is that you need".  She was not happy with me.  I explained that I needed to speak to the manager from the night before, this woman was not having it. I could tell she needed a better explanation.

I said You had a customer in here last night that was not very nice.  She said Yes.  I said you also had my son as a customer that witnessed the whole thing and I wanted to thank the man for standing up for his beliefs and showing my son that even in adversity we should stand up for Christ.   She kind of looked dumbfounded.  The angry people behind the counter didn't look so angry anymore.  They all kind of looked at me like...What now?

They had all thought that I was the angry customer from the night before's wife, and that I was coming in to make trouble.  The man I was looking for had been told to wait in his car.  The lady manager was so kind and apologized that my son had to witness any of that.  We were all talking about hateful people and how we always think of come backs way after the argument is over.  We were laughing it was a relief, you could tell.

In walked the man I had been trying to talk to all day.  I thanked him. I told him that as a parent I can tell my child all day long right from wrong but for my son to see faith fought for in the real world in the midst of adversity?  That was priceless.  I handed him the envelope with Matthew 10:33 written on it.  I hugged him.  I left.

Go out...Be kind.

Vasovagal response.

This post is more for me.  I am shook to my core and I need to write to calm my nerves.  Plus I want to remember the details while they are fresh on my mind.

My daughter is prone to passing out at the sight of blood.  She also abhors needles.  Today she needed to have her blood drawn for her yearly check up.  We have had difficulties in the past so after her blood draw we were taking it slow.  After the nurse was finished she stayed in a prone position, she then slowly sat up , sat there, stood up, saw black spots and sat back down.  She then laid back down and said that she didn't feel well.  She then got extremely agitated and was saying over and over that she wanted to go home and then she was gone.  She was already laying down so she didn't fall but her eyes and mouth were slightly open and she was sheet white almost green.  I tried to say her name and pat her back to me but I got no response after a few moments I got nervous and yelled for help.  They couldn't hear me.  I didn't want to leave her to open the door because I didn't want her to roll off the bed, but they weren't coming with me yelling.  I opened the door and yelled " I need help!"  and they came running 2 nurses, the doctor, and his wife.  The nurses were rubbing her chest but couldn't get her back either.  I would say the whole ordeal was just over a minute.  You think a minute isn't that long, but I want you to get a timer and set it then think to yourself my child is dead and see how long it is to think that for a minute.  Then all of a sudden she did a gasp of a breath and then started talking as if nothing had happened.  The nurses then started taking her blood pressure and listening to her with a stethoscope they pricked her finger to take her blood sugar.  Everything looked fine.  The doctor said it was a vasovagal response.  As soon as I knew she was ok I lost it.  I don't cry so that scared her and she started crying.  I know I should have held it together but that was intense!

I don't know how on earth anyone has the wherewithal to check to see if someone has a pulse because I couldn't hear anything but my own heart beating out of my chest!  Typically when she passes out it is only a few seconds.  Not this time!  After it was all said and done she laid there crying and upset.  I feel completely guilty about that ,had I held it together she would have come back and just been a little freaked out to have so many people over top of her.

She wanted to walk to the car, she was very quiet , she got in the car and still very stoic.  I got her some ice cream and she ate a little and then fell asleep.  She got home and laid on the couch for a bit. She was then up and ready for me to take her to play practice.  She says she feels fine.  Me?  I 'm a wreck.  Parenting is hard!

10 years from now.

There will come a day when I will look back fondly on waking sleeping children and forcing them to go to a place that they do not want to go.  I will miss these days of having two children in my nest to care for.

All I ever wanted to be was a mother.  There is a book in a box in my attic that says where do you see yourself in 10 years?  My entry?  Married with two children and a dog.  Nailed it!  The thing is I never thought about the "and then after that" part.

I will be not quite 50 when my youngest takes flight.  What then?  I have zero interest in going back to school.  I have zero interest in doing what I was doing before children, not to mention the fact that it is no longer done the way I did it so I am antiquated anyway.  I am sure from a resume standpoint I am not marketable but that is so very not true.  The experiences I have gained from managing a household for the past 20 years are invaluable.   I will say that I am confident that I have zero desire to do laundry, cook meals, or clean a house for a living.  Not my forte.

I don't even know where to start to dream!  I love to write.  I love to make people laugh.  I dream of standing in large venues connecting with thousands of people but how do I get there from here?  I have no fear of speaking before large crowds, but I have no idea how to make my dream come true.

In my bible study we have been speaking of making sure we are in God's will and doing life in the order of which God desires.  Therefore, it is my firm belief that God knows my heart and wants what is best for me so I will keep on keeping on until I figure out his next path for me.  Meanwhile I will enjoy the fleeting moments of my full nest and enjoy that which I sometimes do not enjoy knowing fully that I will miss it when it is gone.  If my kids ever read this, you two are the joy of my life, even when you drive me crazy.  Thank you for fulfilling a dream of mine!

Now....Go out...Be kind!

I'm a talker.

I'm a talker.  It can be a problem.  I have teenagers now and they do not have a filter when speaking to me and they are very quick to inform me that my friendliness is odd in this day and age.  I get that.  Most people have their head buried into their phone most of the time, and have absolutely zero interest in talking to you.

The thing is...I meet the most interesting people when I talk to strangers.

Last Saturday I sat in a salon waiting on my daughter.  My daughter was preparing for a formal dance.  A lady sat down beside me.  I was on the phone with my friend Leah.  Leah and I have pretty animated conversations and when Leah told me that her new trainer was named Sheryl and I asked her to ask how her she shed was the woman sitting beside me laughed out loud. (I knew we would be tight because if I can make you laugh you are pretty high on my list.) I hung up with Leah because I knew I was being rude.  The lady beside me was also waiting for her daughter to get ready for a formal.  We spoke of our daughters, and how we had to bring them to a salon because the ways of the make up were lost on us.  We compared notes on each other's school rules regarding attire and our thoughts on that.  We were aligned in all things parental.  She was a nice person.  I would totally have lunch with her!

Tonight I met a young man who I would assume to be late 20s early 30's.  He was wearing a school house rocks tee shirt and warm up pants.    I will be completely honest to say that he at first scared me a little.  He was EXTREMELY muscular.  However, I am not one to judge a book by its cover and we were in a pretty small waiting room so I knew that the music I was hearing must be coming from the person he was waiting for.  I asked as such and he told me that his son who was 12 years old and 6 feet tall had decided he wanted to learn to play the violin.  I said does he have any interest in basketball?  The young man went on to explain to me that he had been short as a child and wanted to be good at basketball but didn't have the height and now his son has the height and has zero interest in sports.  So, of course what do you assume that this 12 year old looked like?  Skinny string bean nerdy kid?  That is what I had pictured in my head, but wait there's more.

I went on to have an excellent conversation filled with laughter and learning and even a person we both knew.  We had so much in common this random stranger and I.  I thoroughly  enjoyed waiting for my daughter to complete her lesson.  His son finished first.  He came around the corner violin in tow.  Had someone told me he was a new recruit for a college football team I wouldn't have even batted an eye.  He most definitely had the size but you could tell he was a quiet shy kind young man.  He even had the hair that most of the men in the NFL have and most of all he had the most beautiful smile!

Part of the problem with the world now is that people don't know how to communicate!  Did you know that it is absolutely ok to have a disagreement with someone and still be their friend?  Shocking I know!  There are too many people in this world to assume that we all should think the same way.  Do not distance yourself from some one because you don't know them, instead take the time to find out your common ground.

I want to add that it is also totally okay to bury your head in your phone when you are in a mean hateful mad at the world mood because we don't need to be spreading that around.

Most of all...Go out...Be kind!

I got you Joe Burrow!

I watched something that bugged me. A beautiful blonde sports reporter...female...was interviewing Joe Burrow, LSU quarterback, Heisman trophy winner, Joe Burrow. She had in her neatly manicured hand a picture of him that looked to be from when he was in middle school. I'm not sure her intent. Don't we all look geeky in middle school? Was she attempting to shame him by pointing out that as a middle schooler he was small and unassuming? His response was perfect. She asked something like what does that kid look like to you.  

His response? A National Champion. (and this was before the 2019 National Championship ok technically 2020 but it was for the 2019 season football confuses me, I digress.). Now this reporter may have never had an awkward stage. Maybe she has always been told she is beautiful, been handed everything she has ever wanted but that is a teeny tiny minority of people out there sugar, and I have to say I don't know your name so there's that... Ok. So I was just mean to her. Not my intent. Maybe she has had to work just as hard and some producer handed her that photo and told her to use it. Who knows!!

Most people have had to work hard for their dreams. Looked weird at some point. You can be anything you set your mind to, but you will never reach the top if you don't keep climbing!  

I can't find two of my yearbooks one middle school and one high school but I wanted to submit...Erika...the early years to support Joe Burrow. He doesn't need my support of course but we are all human. No matter how big we get we are all still the same person on the inside. There will always be someone trying to knock you down.  Enjoy your moment...moments. Enjoy your success! You have worked hard to achieve it. Look around and enjoy it. One day you are going to be looking down the throat of 50 like a bad dream and you will remember that time you reached that one goal.

What's the next goal Joe? You can do whatever you put your mind to. Keep climbing and by all means....Go out! Be kind!

I made really bad hair choices.

I love winter. I promise I do.

I feel I need to clarify something.

I like winter.  I like all four of the seasons.  I just don't like experiencing all four seasons in one day.

What's not to love about winter?

Comfort food = good
Fataflauge clothing = good
quilts = good
cozy = good

I have no problem with winter.  I am not a huge fan of the shorter days but even that doesn't bother me because I do love getting into bed and not having it still be light outside.

Here is my issue.

A tender Tennessee Christmas is not necessarily all it's cracked up to be.  If you are going for a Norman Rockwell, snowman laden, cute hat scarf glove combo wearing, coat needing winter that is just not what Tennessee has to offer, any more anyway.  I do remember them from my childhood but that is just not the hand we have been dealt currently.

Currently a good Tennesseean will experience the temperatures of all 4 seasons in one week not allowing the individual to pack away any of their wardrobe because you just might need that short sleeve top in December you just don't know.

A Tennessee native also has no trust in their weather man and quite honestly thinks they are being paid off by the grocery stores because if the slightest bit of snow is predicted we all storm the stores for what we will "need" if we are to be snowed in.  Please understand that this has only in my lifetime been once, but it was bad, and we Tennesseeans remember.  Bread and Milk is the joke but to be quite honest my go to is caffeine, chocolate and the ingredients for things I could bake it I got bored.

Driving.  It's just not done, in a normal sense anyway.  Now, if you are thinking of a "Hold my beer" type driving by all means that is a form of entertainment but as far as getting to work?  No.  We can't do that.  Sorry.

You see there are not just four seasons in the south.  Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall while ideal is not what we have.  We have Winter, grey cold rainy death, Spring, another bit of grey cold rainy death, Summer, hotter than hell summer, spontaneously combust, pseudo fall, summer, actual fall, happy winter wonderland Christmas time but it is 60 degrees and  winter.  This order varies at will and can bounce as randomly as this train of thought I seem to be blessed with.

Go out...Be Kind!