Yesterday contained a few stressful moments that I decided not to get into for the sake of shorter posts. Today, I woke up still feeling that irritation. I tried my best to cheer up with a delicious breakfast first. I had a bowl of yoatgurt. Half plain oats, half Oikos Strawberry Greek yogurt, with a trail of hazelnut spread down the middle.

Even after this delightful bowl, I still knew a workout consisting of punching and kicking would feel excellent. I wanted to go in and pretend the air around me was in fact my friend’s lingerie shower and wedding. And perhaps her a little bit too. Like I said…I’m not perfect.

I don’t want to go into too many details, but we’ll leave it at I’m having to plan the lingerie shower for my friend and she can never communicate with me. I’ve quickly gone from friend to basically her beck and call girl for wedding related stuff. Without the nice pay wedding planners and party organizers receive. She only calls when she has something to tell me about the wedding and whenever I try to share anything about my life she “has to go because she is just too busy”. All of this lack of communication culminated into anger yesterday, when there were serious planning issues caused by her not telling me certain things. Yet somehow it is my fault. It feels good to vent here. After all, I know I have no worries of her reading. She’s too busy and self-centered after all. Actually, I don’t think she has ever cared to hear about my new passion for writing and blogging so she doesn’t even know the site. Needless to say, I don’t foresee a strong friendship after my MOH duties finish. Things just aren’t like this anymore…

I guess you can see my need for a kickboxing class. I felt much better afterwards. And I had a bit of an epiphany during class. I’m not perfect either. I have my own areas I need to improve so I can’t judge another harshly. Part of my reasoning for what I’m planning for September on the blog even relates to working to support one another. That doesn’t mean I have to let people walk all over me but I can choose to live with kindness and a positive attitude. I hate being negative and letting things get the best of me. I have to let it go. Which in this case will be getting through this wedding. Oh, September how I long for you!

I’m also excited for September for the start of something exciting on the blog. I’ve mentioned it briefly a few times before. I firmly believe it will be beneficial to each of us and we can help each other grow through the process. I plan on working on some of the finalizing details today and getting a post up about it tonight or tomorrow. Be looking for it! I’m thrilled for it and hope many of you will participate. 😀

• How do you deal with stressful friend situations? Or stress in general?
• Do you ever feel bad for venting on your blog? I know it’s not the kindest thing and I hate putting negativity out there, but sometimes…it’s just NEEDED.

That would be 525,600 minutes (like in the song from Rent) multiplied by 89 – the number of years we celebrated for my G-Pa’s birthday last night. The man amazes me.

He is 89 going on 25 and truly lives life to the fullest. As much as my family jokes that he will be around longer than all of us, it still saddens me that there is no way to truly know how much longer we have with him. He is healthy and strong, but there’s no escaping the circle of life. Okay I need to stop with the depressing talk and instead focus on the good. Like the many things I have learned from watching my G-Pa and the vivaciousness with which he lives his life.

1. Stick to your beliefs - My G-Pa is pretty old school in some of his ways of thinking, but they are his beliefs and he will not change them. I admire that. He holds strongly to his ideals and consistently lives his life according to them. Many people can spout ways they think others should live or things people shouldn’t do…but not many will live them day to day in their own lives. We should all have something we feel strongly about and refuse to back down from.

2. Love- He lost his wife in 1996 a few months before his 50th wedding anniversary and as heartbroken as he was, he continued thriving. He even went on to find love in another woman a few years ago, but sadly she passed on too. He never lets what life gives him keep him from loving though. He loves to pour it out on others, including his family. What he has given and done for us over the years cannot be measured because he understands love is not something you tally, but that you simply give.

3. Laugh – My G-Pa has one of the best senses of humor I know. He is 89 but can crack jokes with the best of them. I remember for his 80th birthday some old women who persistently watch the closed circuit lobby video footage at the condos we stay in were nagging him saying he hired strippers to come see him. Those “strippers” we found out were my cousins & I coming home from a karaoke bar at around 11 at night in jean shorts and tank tops. This annoyed my G-Pa so he had to get back at those “old bitties”. His plan? To have us really dress as hookers, take us down in the lobby and in front of the video camera pass out a bunch of cash to each of us then tell every man he crossed by in the condo that he was a lucky man and that we all left smiling. That shut up those “old bitties” (who mind you were 20 years younger than him). It became a running joke and one year we even made Hank’s Hoes tshirts.

4. You don’t have to follow the rules and be “good” all the time – He will wake up and go walking for 3 or so miles every day. He will do what he can to care for his health, but he will also have a good time. Because after all, another one of his rules…is you have to have two martinis before you order your meal. 😉 Life just isn’t fun without any vices.

5. Don’t judge a restaurant only by their martinis – Okay this one is more by default. G-Pa loves his martinis and places he can get good ones. We went to his favorite restaurant last night for his birthday (chosen for the martini) and it was a disappointment. They had a veggie plate option where you could order 3 sides and a salad and it also came with dessert. Sounded good. Things started off fine with a decent enough salad.

Nothing special, but it was crisp and fresh tasting and had the dressing on the side so I didn’t have to eat swimming leaves. Then for my “entree” I opted for Pear + Cheese, Sweet Potato Soufflé, and Brussel Sprouts as my three chosen items.

In my mind the pear and cheese would be a fresh (not canned) pear with some sort of Brie or nice cheese. Not Kraft shredded cheddar sprinkled on top and with…get this…mayonnaise on the side!! Ewww! I tasted it and was like “what IS this???” When my sister tasted it too and said mayo I about gagged. Who does that?! The sprouts were overcooked and bland. The sweet potato was no souffle, but overly mashed sweet potato with some raisins tossed in for good measure. Blah. Blech. Ich. Ew. And I was craving a good veggie meal!

The stars were aligned against me though and determined a healthy meal was not in my future. Instead my dinner would consist of toasted coconut peanut butter pie to round out my salad and three bites of the disgusting sorry array above.

As you can imagine..even without a formal dinner, I still left that restaurant with a satisfied stomach. 😉

• What is the most disappointing meal you have ever had?
• Who is someone you look up to and admire?
• What is your favorite musical? I badly want to see either Rent, Hair, Wicked, or Chicago in NYC one day. I think that would be so cool.