We are here!! Yay!

I LOVE Cardioke!! I cried at the end! Maybe I need a hormone check?? :-)

A Big Wake-Up Call....

So...... Mike and I both went in for our annual physicals last week. I must admit, I'm using the term "annual" inaccurately, as we have both been guilty of NOT going annually for a physical. Boy, am I glad we finally went. Not good news. Not good AT ALL!! Nothing immediately life-threatening, but both of us had major "wake-up calls" that we need to take seriously. That means changing our lifestyles in a pretty major way. Especially when it comes to what we are eating. I've been searching all over the internet for "healthy diet tips". It is maddening. If you believe everything that you read, then you should eat NOTHING, because apparently, there is something wrong with every kind of food known to man. Even the "good" foods seem to have warnings...i.e. Salmon, which is supposedly a super-food should be only eaten if it's wild salmon and not farm-raised.

As I'm going through all this information, gearing up for cleaning out my kitchen of anything that has high-fructose corn syrup, if anyone has any tips for me out there...I'd appreciate it! I'd love to know some easy recipes.... gotta get hubby's cholesterol down and try to get my "fatty liver" skinny again... :-)

I wonder if Disneyworld is going to have low-fat hot dogs? We may have to start this diet thing AFTER our Disney trip!!

Tonight at Third & Lindsley....

Hey guys... come on out to Third & Lindsley tonight! I'll be singing with the AMAZING Rick Huckaby and his killer band. Jimmy Hall and The Prisoner's of Love is opening at 7pm... then we go on @10pm. It's gonna be a rockin' night so put on your snow boots and come on out!!

Twitter

I've been a part of many discussions lately concerning the pros and cons of Twittering. For those of you who don't know what Twitter is, just "google" it. It's everywhere now. I even saw them talking about it on "Pardon The Interruption" which is my favorite show on ESPN. I guess many atheletes are now twittering. They are twittering from the bleachers/ locker rooms etc.... then my hubby said, "You know, they aren't even going to need the media anymore. They can get anything out to their fans directly this way." Interesing, huh?

I knew that many artists were doing it, along with many organizations. At first I didn't really "get" it. I felt a little self-absorbed doing it. Do people REALLY want to know what I'm doing/thinking all day long? But if you don't take it too seriously and just have fun with it, it truly becomes a way to stay in touch with your friends and know what's going on in their lives. Also, when you follow a news organization (i.e. Fox, CNN) you get news updates, or weather updates, or even travel information..... anything really. You have to just dig in and do it awhile before you truly see the benefits from it.....

One of the "cons" I have been faced with lately is using twitter as a means to gossip. The official twitter question is this: "What are you going right now?" That's what your tweet is supposed to be about. Granted, it becomes WAY more than that. You can say anything really. What you are doing, what you are thinking, HOW you are feeling, something funny you just saw, etc... you can even post "Hey guys, I'm playing a gig at such-and-such tonight. Come on out!" You can even add pictures that you want to share. Your tweets can be used for many, many things.. however, gossip should NOT be one of them. My firm belief is if someone isn't ON twitter, they should be off limits. Those of us who have joined the twitter world, obviously don't mind having most of our lives on display. I almost feel as if it's a good way of being held accountable for my actions. If I don't want to tell the world via twitter that I'm doing something, then I might want to re-think it. Maybe I shouldn't be doing it!! Ha!!

One other "pro" for me is that twitter sends my status right to my Facebook, Myspace, Reverb Nation AND my blogspot, so it saves me time. I don't have to be checking in to all those sites everyday....

Anyone else have anything to add? I'd love to hear more people's pros and cons on this........

Ok.. gotta go now. I need to go twitter about this post.... HA!!

Over-committed

How do I manage to "over-commit" myself? I mean, I have a calendar on my phone, which is in my presence almost ALL of the time, so when someone says, "Hey, can you do such-and-such at 2pm on Wed.?" All I have to do is look at my calendar and see if I have that time open and then the answer is simple, right? Either I can, or I'm already booked. It SHOULD be that simple, but somehow I manage to schedule way too many things for me to actually accomplish in one day. And I do it ALOT.

What about you guys? Do you "over-commit"?

My cat's Valentine's Day "gift" to me.

So, I'm sitting here, typing a note on Facebook about how I think Valentine's Day is a troubling holiday, and I hear my youngest son say, "MOM!! Miles just puked in the sunroom!!"... then I hear him add, "But at least it's in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day!"..... So, I made him take a picture of it. That's exactly how I feel about VD day..... thanks Miles, my sentiments EXACTLY!! LOL

Don't get me wrong.... showing that you love someone is WONDERFUL!! But here is my problem with a "holiday" to "remind" people that they need to appreciate your loved one. First off: IF you are single, it only reminds you that you are ALONE and that you have no "valentine". Sad. Second: IF you are married, then there is all this PRESSURE to buy/do something amazing for your spouse. This is definitely one of those holiday's engineered by the card companies to get you to buy cards and gifts... don't you think?

I don't mean to sound so jaded. I'm a lucky girl, because my husband shows me everyday that he loves me, which is how it SHOULD be!! I don't need a holiday to remind me that he loves me.....

What do you guys think? Am I crazy? Sorry, but.....

It's just the way I see it..... and Miles, the cat agrees!!

PLUS.... all the restaurants are crowded!!! Another bummer....

Worry....

I had every intention of going to church last week, and when I found out the topic, I REALLY wish I had made it. It was about worry. And I AM a worrier!! But, I woke up that day remembering that my van was in the shop and didn't have a ride to church. SO, I called Dad, who lives down the street and asked him if I could borrow his car for the day. Of course, he said yes, so my hubby dropped me off at their apartment on his way into the studio. When I went into their place to get the keys, I ended up staying and visiting for awhile and realized that I missed my opportunity to get back home, showered and ready for church. But that was okay, because I knew in my heart that I needed that time with my parents. Even though I moved them here 2 years ago so I could be more a part of their lives, I still WORRY about them and feel guilty for not spending more time with them.

Anyway, back to missing church...... Pastor Pete has a blog, and he usually "re-caps" what his sermon was about the week before. Sure enough, this morning I see that it was about worry. He is in the middle of a series called "Paralyzed" and each week discusses different fears we have that keep us from moving forward in our lives and becoming all that God wants us to be. Like I said, WORRY is a big one for me. But this was on his blog today and it really stuck out to me:

"Can anyone here honestly say the time they’ve spent in fear, anxiety, or worry has added any value to their life?"

I have to admit that when I look back on the times where I completely stressed myself out with worry, the thing I was worrying about never even happened!! Or I had created something much worse in my head than was ever even there.

So, I'm going to try and and stop worrying so much. I believe God is in control, so I'm being a little bit of a "control freak" when i think that MY WORRYING is going to change the outcome of God's plan anyway... right? :-)

I worry about:

1. My family ( we all travel alot, so I'm constantly worrying about their safety while they travel, along with just hoping they are happy and healthy at all times!)

2. My career ( Am I doing enough? Am I doing too much? Am I doing the right things? )

3. Saying the wrong thing to someone (Sometimes after I say something, I worry forever about, "Should I have said that?" Oh dear....

4. The future ( Is our country going to get back on track? What's going to happen for our kids and their future? Will we have enough money to retire and be comfortable? How will I handle it when I lose someone I love? etc...)

What do you guys worry about???

Saw this today and loved it!

"Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, "Oh Crap, she's up!"

Weighing My Words.

I admit it. I need to weigh my words a little more. Our tongues can be our sharpest weapon. They can pierce through a heart in an instant.

I have actually been physically beaten several times in my life, but the memories of those injuries have faded with time. MUCH more than the injuries that I have had to my heart. I've had people say horrible, hurtful things that still haunt me today. Here are a few of the things I've had said to me. These quotes are not from one single person, but from several different sources. However, ALL of these actual quotes were from someone who claimed to love me.

"You're no good."
"You're stupid."
"You'll never amount to anything."
"You're fat and ugly and I'm just not attracted to you anymore."
"I can't recommend you for a gig, because you're awful. You just can't sing."
"Why don't you give up? Everyone's getting tired of watching you struggle to be something. It'll never happen."

I don't just remember those quotes, but I remember exactly where i was at the exact moment they were said to me. Why? Because they hurt me so deeply. It was a tramatic moment that is seared in my memory. I'll never forget. Do the people that said those things to me remember those moments so vividly? Probably not. They might even be surprised to know THEY were the ones who said it to me. I actually did remind one person of one of those quotes recently, and they said, "You know I didn't mean that! I was just mad at the time." SERIOUSLY??? Ok, here is where you try to get down to the truth. Were they really just mad and trying to think of something hurtful to say to me and they really didn't mean it? OR, did they really mean it, but now feel bad about it, so they are just saying they didn't mean it now to try and make amends? Which is it? Will I ever get down to the real truth??

My point is this: Once you say something, it's really, really hard to take it back. So weigh those words!!!! I tell myself this everyday. I'm sure I've said things to people that still haunt them. I remember one time yelling at my son because he wouldn't wear a pair of shorts that I had bought him. I just couldn't understand why he wouldn't put on those shorts. He had begged me for them, and now would NOT wear them. One day he was walking out the door with dirty clothes on. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "Hey! Those clothes are dirty! Go put on something else before you leave."
Him: "I don't have anything clean to wear. You need to do the laundry."
Me: "You have those new shorts I bought you. Why don't you wear those."
Him: "Cause I don't like them."
Me: "WHAT?!? You begged me for those shorts! What's WRONG with you?"
Him: "Well, they shrank a little in the dryer and now they don't fall below my knees. So I'm not wearing them!"
Me: "Oh yes you are young man!! Those shorts were expensive and they didn't shrink THAT much! Go put those on!"

That was the point in the conversation where he burst into tears. I was like, "WHAT is wrong? It's just a pair of shorts, for goodness sake." and he softly said, "Don't you remember Mom? You told me that I had knobby knees like you." I was floored. I searched my brain. Yes, I did remember that conversation but I was just teasing him in what I thought was a loving way saying, "Boy, you got your Mama's knobby knees!"... I felt horrible. Without even knowing it, I had scarred my son. This may sound like a small, insignificant thing but it's just proving my point. Words, no matter how small, can scar.

I have had people defend saying hurtful things to someone all in the name of "truth" too. "Well, it's just the truth. Sorry." or "Don't ask me my opinion if you don't want to hear the truth, because you might not like what I've got to say." OR "Don't blame me. I was just telling the truth!" Who's truth? Yours? or Theirs?

I saw this hanging on the wall of Sam's eye dr. yesterday:

THE FOUR WAY TEST
of what we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?

2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3. Will it BUILD GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?


We can't just stop at #1. We have to think about 2, 3 and 4 as well.

Ok.. funny story... as I'm typing this blog, my phone just rang. My laptop is on a little lapboard on my lap. I lift the lapboard up so I can get up from the couch to answer the phone. My laptop slides off the board and BOOM! Punches me right in my mouth! I now have a swollen, cut and bruised upper lip. Is God trying to tell me something today?!?!? Gotta go get some ice to stop the swelling, or I'm going to look like one of those actresses who has had WAY too much collagen injected in their upper lips!!! Drat!!

Oops.... was that last remark really necessary? I apologize to anyone who has had too much collagen injected in their lips.

Man, I'm just not getting it, am I???? :-) I am a work in progress, but I'm trying!!