Your Star Player

I can find inspiration in just about anything. Watching National Geographic the other day I was awed inspired by a beetle that just freezes where it sits during winter and then thaws come summer and simply walks off. As always I am inspired by those that overcome adversity and become better people because of it. But even I was shocked by my latest source of inspiration. For those of you reading this blog that would watch Katt Williams (I am pretty much speaking to Josh and J) I suggest that you watch his latest stand-up. For everyone else I am going to summarize his premise (skipping the language of course).

Katt Williams is well known for openly asking people to hate him and not just any people but specifically "haters". He describes to his listeners that if you have 2 people hating your success right now, that you should strive to have 5 more hating you by the end of the summer. I always laughed at this thought, who truly wants anyone to hate them even if it's for false reasons. But in his new stand up he takes it one step further by saying every morning you should stand in front of the mirror, smile and ask "How is my star player doing today?". His thought is that if we were all owners or coaches of professional teams what would we do for our star players? But in truth in our own lives we ARE the star players, yet we are the first to tell ourselves that we aren't doing a good job. He goes on to describe the Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius. Oscar ran in the 2008 Olympics, he was easy to spot because he didn't have legs. Instead he ran on carbon fiber prosthetic legs. Williams said now this is a man in touch with his star player, not only did he learn how to walk and run, but he pushed himself to be able to compete at the Olympic level. Now here's the hater part of the story, the Olympics allowed him to qualify but then disqualified him due to "an unfair advantage". What like not having legs? I actually heard an interview where an Olympic representative said that he had less weight to drag so of course he won, and after all if we "let" him compete how long until other athletes chop off their legs to gain that advantage. Ok, here I am sitting on the couch with no aspirations of becoming a runner anytime soon and you couldn't print enough money to make me want to chop my legs off. I bet you are wondering what Oscar did...well he went on to win the Paralympics.

I got to thinking about my star player and how I treat her. I find myself constantly challenged by "haters" and I looked at how I deal with that. So for the last week I have smiled, not just a smirk but a full on out smile when confronted. Knowing in my mind that the person starting rumors or talking about me behind my back is just hating and I am successful in shortening their lifespan by just bugging them. I have always been the one to come back with a smart little quip but instead now I just smile because after all you can't change people's behavior you can only change how you feel about it (thank you J for that tid bit). Tadd and I spent a good long time talking after we watched Katt's stand up and we have both just been smiling through the entire week. So I thought I would pass this life quality along.

Oh yeah and Oscar's motto for life..."You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have." Thanks Oscar, I would have loved to have seen you on the podium.

Blue Candy

Last night I was working with a kid in my group who is being bullied in school. While this is a very common occurrence in America it got me to thinking. I have done a lot of research and reading on other cultures and most if not all third world countries don't deal with the bullying like we do, it just doesn't come up. Perhaps when you are faced with finding your own dinner and protecting your siblings you can't find the time to pick on someone because of their parents income or living situation. So why in a country of abundance (obesity is still one of our Nation's most effective killers) aren't we more content and less likely to turn against each other. Dogs will go after one another if you deprive them of food but will run as a pack if times are good, not us...the better times are monetarily the more likely we are to turn on one of our own.

I found myself once again without answer on a Wednesday night. I know that pain he was feeling. Our home burnt down when I was 12 leaving us with nothing, we wore hang me downs from the church and stayed with friends. I can assure you that not only did I not strike the match that burnt it nor did I have the ability to rebuild or replace my home, but it was in fact my fault for being "without" in school. The ridicule that brother and I faced on a daily basis was incredible. I tried to draw from that experience last night to help this little face in front on me. I thought back...what did I do to make them stop. The answer is simple. I conformed. As soon as I was old enough I got a job that enabled me to buy the name brand clothes, I moved schools and started a whole new life in which no one knew that I was poor or that I paid rent to live in my Dad's house. So back again to my dilemma, do I tell this little boy to conform? After all it worked for me, even though it goes against EVERYTHING I stand for now. Do I tell him to ignore them, even though I know it is pointless...I mean common' the kid lives in a Safe House after being transferred states in the dark of night in police cars, sad for adults to think about, but brilliant for bullies. Nope instead I just starred back at him blankly, my mouth wouldn't move, couldn't tell him the options I had. He's an amazing little boy so it didn't take long for him to smile and mention that his tongue was blue and go back to coloring. I suppose I will feel this helpless a lot as a parent, hopefully I will be blessed with a daughter who eats blue candy.

This one is Aunt J.

This picture is more like Aunt J...I think the doctor said she was "yawning" but I think in truth she is just disappointed in American Idol this year.

Another set of pictures

Imagine back just a short while ago when you used to have to wait to see what your baby looked like until it was out and about. Our doctor's office gives complimentary 3-D ultrasounds in the third trimester, so Joe and I went in yesterday and got see our little girl. While she spent a good amount of time with both her hands and even a foot or two against her face, it was nice to see her again.

Yesterday we broke a record high of 72 degrees in the Springs. I couldn't believe how nice it was and today is supposed to be nice too. I keep watching the news and seeing that most of the United States is dealing with snow and bad weather, so I feel especially fortunate to be wearing flip flops.

As I type this Joe is hanging plastic up to prevent some of the dust from getting into the living room while he redoes the ceilings in the dining room. I feel like I am in a hazmat scene. Ahhhh, construction. Although the cats do truly love the chaos brought on.

Here's the little girls face...

Refreshed

Well it always happens. Every Thursday I wake up refreshed and rejuvenated because of kid's group the night before, fresh with ideas to fix the world. While I can usually subside most of the "need" to change the world by this evening, I am after all only one person and it is extremely hard for me to fit in the things I do anyways. I do find myself at least passing on some ideas to some of my community in hopes that they will help in the cause. Last night we made a Differences Board where everyone helped decorate scraps of paper with some of their unique qualities and we glued them up on a big board, to remind us that our uniqueness makes us different and special. All because I read this quote the other day..."I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself". How true is that?

Oh yeah and I finally got around to holding still long enough for some belly pics, this is my favorite...I can't help but laugh at Joe. :-)

Back to wide open spaces.

So Joe and I spent the weekend in New York, first off we traveled with the Air Force and stayed on an Army base...for us never being in the military this was quite an adventure. I kept telling Joe, "see this is what I have been doing all year". It is a very different way of traveling, trust me. Secondly New York was everything that we had always heard it would be. It would take me some time to get used to not having my own space, everything is very small...the seats you sit on, the bathrooms even the lanes on the streets, but just the ability to walk to anything you want is very appealing. Joe and I have been talking about sometime in the future taking six months to a year at a time and living in another place, just to truly experience it. There are the obvious places South Africa, Italy, Australia and now New York. Our list just keeps on getting longer and longer. We were able to meet up with Zach and Joe (two of his friends from high school) which was a blast. I like sitting around listening to old stories and laughing with new friends. Of course we spent a majority of this time sitting in hole in the wall bars and it made me want a beer so bad I am pretty sure I was shaking, but I made it through it all.

My feet must either be swelling or growing but either way I have cracks and blisters from walking around New York. Oh yeah and my ankles swelled up to the size of grapefruits on the flight, all of the sudden my skin started to itch and I pulled up my pant legs and sure enough there were these giant ankles looking back at me. Thank goodness they didn't swell much more it would have split my skin wide open.

Our girls didn't win either game (Army or Navy) but they played well towards the end...just kind of ran out of steam. It was a different experience to play Army at home the stands were packed, faces were painted, chants were started. I have to admit it was intimidating sitting on the bench much less playing, so I can only imagine what the girls were going through.

Joe was hilarious the entire trip, I think he just wanted a job...some kind of purpose to be there. So he would run around and help out with supplies, and help the trainers and the athletic directors both for Air Force and the other teams. We really should have gotten him some kind of Air Force gear just so people knew who he was there with. The athletic director for Army gave Joe the MVP title of the tournament. LOL Too funny.

On baby news we are officially into the third trimester. As far as I am concerned I still haven't bought any maternity clothes just wearing the same ol' jeans. The guys at the gym just look at me like I really must eat poor to continue to gain weight even though I am in there every day. One of Joe's friends in New York was telling me that I don't even look pregnant yet and I told him well see that's the problem though while I am happy to not have to buy new clothes, I do end up feeling odd at places like the pubs in New York when I continue to order water. If I was super pregnant looking everyone would understand. Some of my basketball girls still don't even know and they saw me everyday. Don't get me wrong I am definatley growing but it is more of an everywhere growth rather than just a belly, welcome to the weirdness of my body.

An Update from Colorado

Let's see what's been going on in Colorado...

Joe and I leave for New York on Thursday afternoon which should be an amazing time, I have never seen New York and I don't believe Joe remembers most of his last trip out there. ;-)

We are coming up on the 7 month of pregnancy and the third trimester next week. Not sure if it's because I am an engineer or what but I love goals and deadlines, they give me such a feeling of accomplishment. So I really like that we are on the downhill slide of baby growing. Luckily unlike some of my friends I am not uncomfortable yet so I don't have that constant "get this baby out of me" thought running through my head. It's just more of a "I wonder if she'll have brown hair or blonde, blue eyes, big smile...?" that kind of stuff.

Other than that, work is about the same and our house is still a construction zone. Which by the way both Joe and I have come to the conclusion that the house looking like this adds to our anxiety.