Nothing is forever.

Borrowed from LinkedIn:

As you navigate your way to the top, remember, nothing is forever. Sometimes, life humbles us in ways we least expect. Be humble, be kind to others, don't run people over, don't run people down, don't run people under.

Life changing quote

A life-changing quote from my brother:

"I like celery, but not in food."

quotable

I found this comment on Reddit and liked it enough to save it.

"It definitely takes courage for a woman to admit that her husband cheated on her. I have watched friends walk through this privately, and it was very difficult for them to keep it to themselves and just hide the pain. There is a freedom that comes from being able to talk about it. Then the healing starts to happen."

Thanks, child.

A life observation from my brilliant and beautiful niece:

"Aunt Monica, your neck is squishy like Grandma's. You're getting old."

- My favorite little redhead

Thanks, child.

:)

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My favorite twins are turning five this weekend. The big five! One whole hand!

They're a pretty big deal.

Small child, large Christmas present.

Breathe in the amazing

Life is amazing. 

And then it's awful. 

And then it's amazing again. 

And in between the amazing and the awful, it's ordinary and mundane and routine. 

Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. 

That's just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. 

And it's breathtakingly beautiful.

- LR Knost

Cerveza

I don't remember the conversation exactly, but it went something like this:

I went to a Mexican restaurant with my friend and her 2-year-old daughter to eat dinner. Said daughter's name begins with an "A" and the daughter recognized the letter on the table cloth.

Then the 2-year-old recognized the letter "A" all over the table cloth.

My comment: Congratulations, friend. Your kid is going to learn to spell "cerveza" before her name.

Then, the inevitable struggle to get a 2-year-old to eat started. There were threats made that if she didn't eat, she wouldn't get a candy and a ball. (In the end, she got a piece of candy and a ball.) There were negotiations and more threats.

I tried to keep my mouth shut and not laugh at the struggle between Mom and daughter.

Good luck when she's a teenager, Mom and Dad!

We talked about sentences we say to kids that make no sense. Friend's example: Yesterday I told her to not put milk on her foot.

It happens.

At the end of dinner, my friend made two comments.

First, she told her 2-year-old that she just gave Monica a blog post.

Second, she told her 2-year-old to tell Monica thank you for sitting with them and watching them fight over food.

2-year-old: Thank you.
Me: You're welcome. Anytime.

When I got to work this morning, I got a text message. Kid had tacos and rice for lunch, and apparently was not interested in eating the same thing for dinner.

At least she got a ball and a piece of candy out of it.

Conversations.

K, why don't you have any clothes on?

Little K, in all of her 4-year-old glory: "Cos I be naked."

All right.

One prays for those that one cannot forgive.

The Crown:

There is no possibility of my forgiving you. The question is, how on earth can you forgive yourself?

One prays for those that one cannot forgive.

Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce:

Disaster is staying miserable because it's familiar and new is scary.

(Someone renewed her Netflix subscription!)

Pain

You always told me that pain is a gift.

Your pain is a gift. My pain is just painful.

-Nashville

Not going to happen

Found on Reddit: "Fun" and "going out" expenses are not going to happen for a while, because it just hit the fan.

Favorite

From my favorite book of all time:

“It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” 

-Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Conversations

A conversation about a sushi place in town that's really, really good:

Boss: You need to try the sushi pizza

It's like an angel crapped on your plate

Quote of the Week

"If Bruce Jenner can turn into a girl, then I figure a Cabbage Patch doll can, too."

Fool

I cleaned my phone of old photos and found these from a few months ago.

I need to read The Time Keeper. Maybe I'll start this weekend.

Excellent life advice.

Things I've said over the past few days:

"I don't give Jesus money very often."
"That's okay, he's dead."
"No he's not, he rose again!"

Bffs shouldn't sit by each other in church. Ha, ha.

On babies:

Me: "We don't play with our potatoes."
Mom: "Some of us do. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Let's not eat a shoe."

Mom: "We don't throw our potatoes on the ground."
Me: "Well, some of us do. You didn't get the memo?"
Mom: "I wrote the memo."

Words of wisdom on Easter Sunday:

Mom to Penny Pug: "Don't bark at people who bring food."

I think that's excellent life advice.

I like that.

Yesterday was the third session of the leadership class that I'm participating in.

The topic of the morning session was education.

Before I say more, I have to say that I went to the private school in town for grade school and middle school. I'm partial to it, because hey, that's my school.

The principal had some really good things to say to us.

He was talking about hiring people, which is a topic that I particularly enjoy. I've never hired people, and I've only recently (within the past two years) started interviewing people for jobs/internships.

The principal told us to wait until you find the right person to hire. Don't just hire a body to do the work, he said. Take your time, make sure the person's personality fits, and then hire a rock star.

I smiled. It makes sense.

He also said something else that I thought was important enough to write down. He said something along the lines of: "There's never a perfect time to do something."

But a house, get married, have kids. There's never a good time to do those things in life, he said. The perfect time and the perfect place are perceptions that aren't reality (my words, not his).

I like that. As someone who's house searching (STILL), that is some helpful advice.

Blurbs for Monday

This weekend I posted Facebook updates on my nieces, an NPR story about Syria and a link to my previous blog post.

My mind wanders.

(Some people say I have a short attention span salad.)

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My friends and I played Cards Against Humanity the other night. The best card, that I can say out loud without blushing?

Tonight on Nickelodeon: Clarissa explains liking big butts and not being able to lie about it.

Giggle.

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I've had a quote stuck in my head from Lost over the past week or so.

"Shouldn't we be encouraging the ones with ambition?

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We got a couple inches of snow last night.

Penny the Pug isn't happy.

Of course, on Facebook this morning people are griping about the road conditions. Can't we afford to salt our roads? Our taxes are too damn high! This town sucks! This state sucks! We should move!

People, it's two inches of snow. Learn how to drive.

There was a car in the ditch on my way to work this morning. It sucks for that car, and in case it's somebody I know, that's a bummer, dude. I hope the car isn't damaged (it was a Ford Focus, though, so maybe it needs to be damaged).

Like I said above, it's two inches of snow, not two feet of white stuff.

Gah.

On pickles and bananas

"I'm sorry about your pickle, but I'm glad you got your bananas."

Sidenote: My bff and I took turns being out of the country. That means I didn't see her (or her husband) for two weeks.

Sure, being out of the country for both of us involved beaches and drinks, but that was a pretty long two weeks.

Plus, who else am I going to talk about pickles and bananas with?

"Be thankful for what you have. You could have a lot less."

Goodbyes are a part of life, but that doesn't always mean they're easy.

Somebody at work left for greener pastures recently.

At his going away party, he said something that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

He said: "Be thankful for what you have. You could have a lot less."

It's short, simple, and to the point.

It's wonderful advice. I hope that message reached everyone who was in the room at the time.

Why was hearing those words so important to me?

I don't have a lot of material possessions at this point in my life. That has bothered me in the past, but right now I'm okay with it.

I'm going to take Pete's advice and give thanks for the many blessings I do have in my life.

The greatest thing I ever did for myself was finish my degree. I struggled to get there. Who, besides me, goes to three different schools in five years?

Finishing that degree led to every professional job I've had, and it's why I'm in the job I currently have.

I've been influenced by some really great leaders. I can't even describe how thankful I am to be surrounded by smart, talented people who care about the communities and the world they live in.

Yeah, when you finish college and get a 'real' job, you get a paycheck, contribute to a retirement account and get health insurance. Those are important things to have in life.

But it's more important to have people in your corner who believe in you and want you to succeed.

I've gone to Pete many times for advice, not only for work, but for life in general. He was always in my corner.

When life didn't work out or go as expected, he offered words of encouragement. Something better will happen to you, he said.

I believe him.

When my nieces were born early and in the hospital, he told me stories about his kids and the hospital visits when they were young. Those were nice stories to hear during a really stressful time. To his adult kids: He loves you and talks about you all the time.

I could say a lot more, but I think I'll stop there.

I may also need to find a tissue.

Ahem.

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There's something to be said about people who encourage you through tough times verses those people who criticize you through hard times.

I've learned a lot over the past year about how to treat people. I learned by example, by being fortunate enough to be around wonderful people.

Thank you, both to Pete and to others I've learned from.

My life is better because I met you.

Texting

I was texting today about life with a friend.

The conversation went something like:

'I'm pretty sure adulthood is like swimming through a sea full of shit blindfolded.'

Yes, I love the description that I came up with.

Today was not a fun day, but tomorrow might be better. And if tomorrow is not better, I'll be sitting on a beach drinking rum in about two weeks.

So, there's that.