Eep!

Yeah, I'm going to be a Mary Kay lady. Yep, it's true. And it scares the hell out of me because I have to start out with some debt before I start making my money with it and we all know how uptight Minxy is about money. YIKES!!! My debut is going to be the weekend after Mother's Day and it's probably going to be like a Mary Kay open house type of deal. Megan, my unit director and the person whose team I'm on, will run the show and hopefully I'll be able to sell some of the large quantity of wholesale items I need to purchase to be able to start this out right. After reading what I just wrote, I realize it only conveys one part of what I'm feeling about this. I'm scared, yes, but I'm also really excited because I love make-up and skin care and the MK products are really good ones. I'm going to be a self-employed small business owner...how can that NOT be both scary AND exciting?

Deathtrap Dodge: The Van of Death

Driving onto the east ramp roadway that runs parallel to route 17 between Elmira's Church and Water streets, there was a van. To be more precise, an early-mid nineties model Dodge Caravan that had obviously seen better days. Doc and I were driving behind this fine piece of high-quality Mexi-merican-made machinery when I noticed the passenger side of the back end was lower than the other side. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that there was not nearly enough air in the tire to keep the van level. In fact, when given the right angles to view, I saw that the only tire that did, indeed, have enough air in it was the rear tire on the driver's side. Doc and I discussed this (while wondering aloud as to how in the hell they had fit 8 people along with all the extra shit we could see through the window) and came to the conclusion that somewhere along the way, that tire was gonna blow. Doc's plan was to get around said piece of shit van as soon as possible. The van, however, had other plans and thwarted the first attempt to pass once we were on the highway. It got quite a bit ahead of us and eventually, we came across it again. I looked and said "Oh my God, it's the van of death!" Doc concurred and said "You can tell it's hard to control by how it's wavering in the lane. I really want to get around it before it explodes and everyone in it dies" (or something to that effect anyway). So he tried a few more times to get by it, and eventually succeeded. As we passed, I looked out the window toward the van (and was tempted to open my window to tell them their tires needed air). I turned my head back to Doc and said "No wonder they were wavering so much; the driver wasn't using her co-pilot. They have 3 nearly flat tires and when I looked, she was looking down to her side for something instead of at the road. Dude, they're doomed."

Doormat No More

Sounds like some kind of spray to rid oneself of errant doormats, doesn't it? Well, I have no errant doormats that I know of. It's more in reference to the fact that I'm tired of how so many people in my life seem to think that I have to have their opinions. Or that I should bend to their will. Screw that! No, no more!

Every day, I'm bombarded with people trying to force their opinions on me. You read correctly, opinions, not beliefs, OPINIONS (which I just noticed that if you take the "p" and first "I" out of, you're left with ONIONS...stinky). People make it their routine to get others to "side" with what they think to be true. I also have a lot of people presenting false information to me as truth, but that's a whole other blog right there. Is everyone permitted to have an opinion? Of course they are. But is being allowed an opinion automatic permission to attempt to make others have the same exact one? No freakin way. Express it and get over it. Don't stand there telling me the same smack-talk over and over again trying to get me to like this or not like that all while assuming that we have the same thought on something, 'cause I can guarantee you that ninety percent of the time, we won't. Which is a nice segue into the wanna-bend-me-to-their-will part.

Here's a story.

I was recently verbally attacked twice by someone who decided it was their business to chime in on a private conversation I was having with someone else. (For the sake of efficiency, the person in question will be referred to in the masculine form.) I stated some opinions about someone else and also said that this someone else shouldn't advocate going against the rules. I wasn't being judgmental, I was stating facts. Well, he overheard the last couple of words of the conversation (the factual part about not breaking rules) and then tried to chew me out about it. The basic gist of the attacks was that this person wanted to assert his self-righteous conviction that whatever he said was right and I was wrong. The goal was to make me feel guilty and ashamed over what I was saying to the other person and to show to the world that I'm a bad person for my own opinions and assertions (which if he had heard the entire conversation, he would've been aware that they were indeed two different things). I was commanded to not pass judgment on people he knows, even though I hadn't. Now, if he had any concept of the English language, he would've known that passing judgment and stating an opinions and facts are not the same thing. Judgment implies one making a declaration of right/wrong and saying one should be praised/punished for the right/wrongdoing. I handled it quietly and didn't bend, which is actually a good thing for me. The point is, was the conversation any of their business? NO!! Did they think it was? YES. Why is that, I wonder? Why do people think that if they happen to overhear something that has nothing whatsoever to do with them, then they have the right to say and/or do whatever they want in response? Also, why do they think that I have to bow to their attack? Why do so many people think that others don't have (or aren't entitled to) a mind of their own?

I realize that's a lot of questions all in a row, but this shit's been bugging me for some time. In my daily routine, it's so easy to get sucked into other people's drama and/or mindsets and I'm so incredibly tired of it. So this is my declaration of reclamation of the Minx. I will no longer be intimidated by small people who use stupid, low tactics in a ridiculous attempt to empower themselves. I will no longer allow people to believe that I will assume their opinions instead of having my own. I will not bend and I will not break. My back will be as if I have a steel spine. My mind will be MY OWN. If anyone doesn't like that proposal, you can fuck off asshole, because it's non-negotiable.

Zzzzzz.....

Yes, I should probably be sleeping. I don't really feel like it, though. I think I'm feeling lost a little, in a spiritual sense, that is. 'Cause physically, I know precisely where I am (which is the corner of the kitchen where the computer desk is). I don't know. I just feel like I'm missing something and yikes, I'm starting to sound like an ad for the Book of Mormon. Not that I have anything against Mormons or Mormonism, it's just that some of their commercials start out that way. What sucks is that I have so many issues with all the religions I've either been exposed to or read about that I've found it nearly impossible to choose a way to cultivate spirituality in myself. It's frustrating. What's also frustrating is that this makes two serious posts in a row. I've lost the funny, I've lost the wit. Please, oh please let it come back soon.

A Thought

Sometimes, I wish I was famous or in charge of a big company or something. I just want to be important. I want to be known and admired for something more than my sarcasm. I mean, sarcasm's good and all, but not much in the grand scheme of things. And sometimes I feel like I'm not much in the grand scheme of things. Poop.

Nephews (plus 1)

I dare say I have the cutest nephews on the whole damn planet. Anthony, the elder of the two, is making sure that Noah doesn't have a fever (or perhaps it's a headache he's worried about...I don't know as that part's not clear). They're sitting here with their friend MaKenna, who is about midway between the two boys. I'm not sure if it's just the camera angle or something else, but man do her feet look big. And Noah's legs are all froggy and sweet. I love my nephews. They're two of my favorite people in the universe. Sometimes, Anthony likes to make sure that Noah's feet aren't too hot, so he takes his brother's little socks off. This is mostly because Anthony can't take his own off because his parents like to keep his shoes on him almost all the time. When Noah sleeps (or is laying on his back), he puts his hands behind his head like he's lounging. It's the sweetest thing. I don't know much about MaKenna except that she's the daughter of my sister and brother-in-law's friends and she's tiny, but spunky. And she seems to be quite the finicky eater from what I hear. I'm rambling I think. I tend to do that when I talk about my nephews and their friend. So I'm going to stop rambling right...........now! 

An Exchange

Apparently, Britnee was having a bad day with school work and it was all piling up on her. She looked to Bre to vent her frustrations. I walked in toward the end.

Bre: I'm so quoting that on my MySpace.
Britnee: What? Why?
Bre: 'Cause it was so cute.
Manda: What was cute?
Bre: What she just said.
Manda: What did she say?
Britnee: That it was the whipped cream on top of the icing that's on my cake.

I love those girls. They crack me up.