The few things I would tell my younger self (that my mother already did):

Of all the things I could think of to tell my younger self, or perhaps warn my younger self about, I think the one thing I would say is this: YOUR MOM REALLY IS RIGHT.

Basically, anything I have to say to myself of years past, my mom did tell me. Of course, I didn’t listen to her then and I wouldn’t have listened to the ethereal older me either. Experience is not only the best teacher, in so many cases it is the ONLY teacher.

 Still, here are a few samplings of things-my-mother-told-me-that-would-have-made-my-life-easier-if-I-had-listened-to-them:

 

If I Knew Then…

If I could go back 10 years and give myself advice here’s what I’d say:

1.  You are too nice.  Don’t let people walk all over you.

2.  Don’t try to make Mr. Wrong, Mr. Right.

3.  You are not too old for medical school.

10 years ago I had just broken off my engagement to a man who I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with.   My father really didn’t like him which should have been my first clue.  When we split up I became terribly depressed and made some really bad choices in the men that I dated and the friends I chose.  If I could go back and follow my own advice?  Well, today I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this or would I?  I’m a firm believer in “all things happen for a reason”.  Besides, I wouldn’t want to go back and do it all again, I barely made it out the first time.  – Jenn, 38, Belarus

 

7 Normal Things That Apparently Make Me Strange.

7. My favorite store in the whole wide world is 7-11. Any country, any flavor. Oh, thank Heaven for 7-11. I have photgraphs of 7-11s (the authentic and the inauthentic) from every country I have visited.

6. I love Sharpie Markers even though they seep through paper. I love their permanence and the resultant disregard for errors.

5. I smell everything before I use/wear/touch it. This has spawned many discussions and in some cases some tricky situations. This includes boys and Sharpies.

4. I do not have any debt/I love my job. I believe these are probably linked somehow. I am fortunate to do work I enjoy, which is not to be confused with wanting to work all the time or support people who are not working.

3. I dry the sink after I use it, always. Kitchen and bathroom and I am talking about the basin not the counter, though in all honesty, I dry that too.

2. I read books and watch DVDs in the order in which I get them (and therefore stack them) on my shelves. I will not deviate from this.

1. I often feel that inanimate objects have feelings and this changes the way I look at them and what I do with them. I may be more considerate of the inanimate than the animate at times.

Amanda, 37, freakishly normal in HK

 

It wasn’t really a dream,

… in the traditional sense of dreams being, you know, ‘dreamy.’

He was sick. Really sick and sick in ways that people around him didn’t know, couldn’t know. And even if they had known, would have been able to know, they would have chosen ignorance over reality. I know this. Ignorance is so much easier sometimes than the realities we create and endure.

People are always confusing ignorance and stupidity, which is a shame. They are very different concepts most notably in the element of choice.

I am not stupid. But I was ignorant about some things and then there was the dream, and after that you can never go back and then ignorance doesn’t seem so bad because it is a comfortable place back there that you can never inhabit again. Everyone around me believed they were neither ignorant nor stupid, which somehow equated to enlightenment in their mathematics of personality. The derivative of this was that I was subject to a lot of “helpful” problem solving which was both misguided and inappropriate. But I see now it was not their fault, it was no ones fault, it was just the different ways people chose to see the situation, what I am now calling the dream.

 

Posting Challenge #21 – Advice To Younger Self

What advice would you give to your past self ? How would your life be different now?

 

Let It Snow

It was a Thursday, a day much like every other Thursday. A day full of conference calls, overhead pages, phone calls, complaints, resolution and red wine. I turned off the office lights, set the alarm and headed outside. It was just beginning to snow. The forecast was for at least 8 inches by morning and more throughout Friday and the weekend. Great I thought, another weekend at work.

I entered through the back door like I did most every night. I approached “the table” and decided this wasn’t a table night; I’d sit at the bar. I spotted a seat at the side bar and as I approached my drink was skillfully slid in to place, Corona Light, with lime.

“Thanks, Mark”, I said as I slid on to the bar stool. “No problem, this one is from the guy at the other side of the bar. I glanced over. “Which one?” “The one in the flight suit, Mark said. Oh Shit! I thought to myself, not another one of “those” drinks. I hadn’t been in the bar more than 5 minutes and already the drinks were coming. “Please tell him I said thank you, and I’ll take a menu please”. This bar was located in a hotel and the hotel was located very close to a military installation so very frequently airmen, sailors, soldiers and marines on temporary assignments would find this hotel home for weeks at a time, and would try to find a girlfriend or two to keep them occupied during this time. I was not interested in being one of “those” girls.

 

What’s in My Bag?

The contents of my bag changes from day to day based on where I am going or what I’ll be doing.

This is my market/out for dinner bag:

Vera Bradley’s Hipster in Mod Floral Pink.  This is my bag for days when I don’t need a lot of extra stuff, my wallet, cellphone, lip gloss, comb, hand sanitizer, fingernail file, keys, kleenex, Russian cheat sheet, a pen, gum and a compact.  That’s it! 

On days when I’m heading for language class I break out this bag:

 

Vera Bradley’s Villager in Java Blue.  In this bag is everything mentioned above AND my date book and language book.  If I’m going sightseeing I take everything mentioned above and toilet paper, handwipes and my camera.  Gotta love the Villager!  I can also fit a small knitting project bag in here even with all that other stuff!  Again, gotta love the Villager.

I guess what my bag says about me is that right now I’m in the necessity only phase, but not willing to compromise on quality.  The best thing about these bags….when they get dirty just throw them in the washing machine.   I don’t even care that they don’t match my outfits.  That’s how I roll. (I’ve always wanted to say that).  Jenn, 38, Belarus

 

My Favourite Things…continued

I did not put “The Sound of Music” in my original list of favourite things, but I think I should have.  Scott and I are planning a trip to Munich, Germany in February and I’m hoping to be able to get over to Salzburg, Austria to take the Sound of Music Tour.  I want to sing the songs and spin around on a mountain just like Julie Andrews.

If we don’t make it there in February, I’ve asked for the trip for my birthday in June (which may actually be better for spinning on the mountain)!  Bose home theater system for him, Sound of Music tour for me…that’s fair I think.  – Jenn, 38 Belarus

 

House Rules

Since this posting challenge was presented back in December I’ve been thinking. What are the rules I live by? Where do I draw the lines that define my personal moral code? I really have given thought to these questions almost everyday. Today, I’m putting my thoughts down and moving on.

Until recently there were no real “rules” in our house. No rules unless you count, “if the bathroom door is closed, do not enter unless you have an invitation” as a rule. If you count that, then we had one. I’ve always been the kind of person that treated people the way I wanted to be treated so I guess you can say I live by the Golden Rule, you know, “Do unto others…” – that is my moral code!

New House Rules for 2008 and beyond:

1. Dinner is at 7:00pm.

2. If you will not be home for dinner please call.

3. Do not set your alarm for 7:00am when you do not intend to get up until 9:00am.

4. Underwear is not appropriate dinner attire.

5. Step out of the shower on to the tub mat, not the toilet contour rug!

6. If the bathroom door is closed, do not enter without an invitation.

7. Do not leave dishes in the sink. Put them in the dishwasher.

8. Do not lie, a lie is anything that is not the truth!

So there you have it. Crazy as it seems. I feel much better now.

Jenn, 38, Belarus