Would your momma be proud?

After a long and tedious week, I’m glad to be back home in the great state of Texas.  Last week, I traveled out of state to the "Heart of America" for a business trip.  I loved being lazy, in the hotel, at night and not having to pick up after myself.  Best part was come 5 o’clock, I had the whole night to myself and didn’t have a care in the world. However, being on the road can get lonely, and I don’t know how people do it, week after week.  But I will admit the best part of my trip, was coming home after 9 hours of traveling to be greeted at the front door by my fuzzy creatures.  I have a Jack-Russell Terrier and a Lynch/Maine Coon Mix kitten… let’s just the say, they are the best things in my life. 

Having pets, in my opinion, is the best thing you can do for yourself.  They always put me in a good mood, keep my stress level to a minimum (until they get into trouble and play with something they shouldn’t of), and they keep my grounded.  They rely on me for everything.  I still don’t understand how some people do not like animals.  I am such an animal person, and would do anything for them.  But anyways, the best part about having pets is that they accept you for who you are.  There is an unconditional love if you treat them right.  They don’t care about what you drive, what you wear, or where you live.  You treat them right and give them a good home and they are most loyal companion in the whole world…

Now that you are on your feet as to where I’m going with this story… I recently got burned by someone who I trusted.  I hate when you treat someone with respect, and they take advantage of the situation.  I’m one of those people where I am your best friend, until you screw up and screw me over.  I’ll give you a onetime screw up, just like the saying “Fool me once, shame on you… Fool me twice, shame on me”.  I’ve been burned in the past by people whom I trusted.  But the thing I hate about being burned by someone in the South.  That's because I can' just cut ties... you still need to keep face with them.  I’m not a fake person; I will give it you straight up, no sugar coating. However, when I do this, I usually tend to be called all sorts of names (rhyming with witch). 

What I truly miss about the North is that when you didn’t like someone, you just ignored them and no harm was done.  Most eople are not fake nice (nice to your face and the talk smack about you behind your back the first chance they get)… Most people are just obsessed with themselves and forget about you.

I just don’t understand why the norm in the south is to be warm and kind to everyone, when that’s not the case.  People are caddy up north, but MAN are people brutal in the south.  One minute someone can be your best friend, and as soon as you leave the room, man are they ripping you a new one, and talking about you like you stole their husband.

If I can learn anything from my pets, it’s be who you are.  If people treat you the right way, then “love” them, if not, so be it.  Brush it off and move on! Don’t harp on it and don’t stab people in the back. It all goes back to the saying my mother drilled in my head “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”  I love Southern hospitality… there is teruly some sincere kindness that exists down here.  I like how men are men and they hold the door for you, but let’s be honest, are you really going to genuinely like everyone you meet?

Think of it this way… if your momma knew what you were doing, would she be proud?

And so it begins...

This is my first blog ever… I think I may need to set some things straight and start this off right.

1.       Even though I live in Texas… I will never, EVER become a cowboys fan.  I am a diehard New York Giants fan and I bleed blue. The end.

2.       This will not be a blog trashing the south and saying how awesome NY is (We all know it’s pretty freaking awesome anyways).  Instead, I’m just going to post about my experiences and how something’s in the south are better and some things, um not so much.

3.       If you are part of my life, chances are at some point there will be a character reference on here that.  Let’s just say I’m a fairly ridiculous person, and my family and friends are no different.

Ok, ground rules are set. I’m sure more will come up the more I get into this.  I made a list of all the topics I wanted to blog about and I think of new one’s every day.  I’m still a little hesitant to write and blog (although I abuse the privileges of twitter).   I wanted to start this off well. But the more I sat and thought about it, I started to chicken out.  Part of me wants to tell everyone I know about how I am doing this, but the other part likes it being a secret.  I guess this will be my little secret for now.

My list.  I am a list person. I make to-do list every day; I have my own notepad and iPhone app for them.  But I’m not going to talk about my to-do or my organization skills.  I am going to talk about my 30 List.  I have this friend (Yes! A Friend… not me).  Who has recently broken up with her boyfriend.  I personally think it has been an amazing experience for her.  I’m so glad that she did it, but being in that relationship was not the best thing for her.  He was a tool. But her leaving him, has also turned into an amazing experience for me.  She is on this path to making herself better and quite frankly, so should I?  She has been the nagging voice telling me to start this blog!  Well, Miss Thang… this blog is for you.

We decided to make our 30-before-30 list.  As our birthday approaches (Yes, OUR Birthday!), I felt the pressure to complete this list.  I am proud to say that my list is complete.  And you want to know what I learned about myself after completing this list?  Apparently, I don’t take my life serious until after the age of 30.  Everything on my list was subconsciously geared around adventurous things I want to do.  Things I want to be able to tell my kids I did, and see the expression on their face that says “Holy Crap, MOM! You did that?!”  That’s what I want.  I have those moments with my parents and I want that same experience with my kids.

If I’m correct, I believe there are 3-5 “serious” things on my list.  I think part of this is because I still see myself, as a young kid, out of college still trying to grow and figure out my life.  This got me thinking… it’s the Northerner in me.  When I was younger, I truly thought I would be married by the age of 25.  And you guessed it! That did not happen.  I’m happy it didn’t happy.  I want to be the best person I can be, before I get married.  We northerners do that.  We graduate from college, live the single life, start our careers, and then settle down before we “expire”.  However, after being in the South, I feel like a black plague sometimes.  The norm down here, as I interpret it, is to graduate, find your soul mate, get married, and pop out those babies.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, but I just learned that it’s not the right path for me.  I don’t want to have a child when I am still one myself.  At least I know that about myself.  I wish others realized that too.  I’m too young to get married, and I would be miserable. I have no desire to come home from work and cook dinner for my husband, clean up after him… I can barely cook and clean up after myself or my kitten.

I’m going to end this before I go on a rant.  I’m happy for all the people in my life and those people who I don’t know who get married at a young age and make it work.  My parents did.  And I’m so prud of them for it.  But I’ve already seen people my age who are divorced because they rushed into marriage or got married for the wrong reasons. 

So if you are before the age of 30 and are married and or are getting married… well, CHEERS to you! I hope you prove me wrong.  I hope you have the marriage that my parents have!  I hope you still love each other after many, many years of marriage.

Signing Off....