Home(work) for the Holidays

Family is something most people take for granted. We think, yeah, I have parents, maybe a brother or sister, grandparents, and bunches of cousins. And we neglect to appreciate them and spend time with them until it's almost impossible to do so. Thanksgiving Day will be here in about 45 minutes. We celebrate cause a couple hundred years ago, two groups of people came together and celebrated survival;; shouldn't we be doing the same thing?? Every day we wake up and we LIVE. We talk to people, we listen to music, we eat, we interact, we think (mostly about dumb things, but still.). Some people don't wake up at all. They don't get to tell their moms to let them sleep for five more minutes, they don't get to spin around or jump in big piles of leaves, and they don't get to hug their family and tell them they love them. To nearly everyone I know, Thanksgiving is synonomous with two things (maybe cause I'm from the South): food (and those of you who know, you KNOW.) and rest. Give us turkey with dressing and some pies... then let us nap and we're good to go. Oh, and then there's the dreaded Black Friday sales, where all the insane people (mostly women like the one from that crazy Target commercial) camp out in front of stores til three in the morning to buy Christmas presents. Then they go home and decorate for Christmas. If anything, Thanksgiving is the "middle holiday" between Halloween and Christmas. Kids are all whatever, cause what do they get out of Turkey Day but uncomfortable clothes, great-aunts pinching their cheeks, and uncle whats-his-face snoring so loud they can't hear the tv?
Well; I'm here to tell y'all to wake up and smell the pumpkin pie (my fave :D). Hug your grandparents, cause they won't be here forever. Get down on the floor and race cars with your little cousins, even if you think you're too old. Rock your baby cousin to sleep, even if there are a million other things you'd rather be doing. These moments only happen once. If you blink, you miss them and you can't get them back. (I know I sound like i'm preaching, but i'm as bad about this as everyone else) I've realized that Thanksgiving isn't long naps or casseroles or watching football or a parade or even turkey. Thanksgiving is family. And it's more than one day a year. Imagine (yeah, i just said that) that you wake up tomorrow and the world as you know it is gone. Over. Vanished, zip, zilch, nada. What would you wish you would've done or said? Who would you miss?
I'll leave you with this, children (haha. ha.)-- make a list. Take five minutes away from Angry Birds and write a list of what you're thankful for. I'm sure if you think hard enough, you can come up with oodles of things and people. Then (here's the clincher) let the people know. If you haven't seen them in a while, write them a letter. If you think they don't know that you love them, call em, text em, e-mail em, do something. Write on their Facebook wall for crying out loud. Even if you see them every day. Say, I love you and I'm glad you're in my life. And while you're at it, do something nice for them. Blah, blah, homework over the holidays... unlike x+zy3478 to the second power divided by carrots, you'll be glad you did this one day. Happy Thanksgiving y'all, I love you and I'm glad y'all are in my life.

3 Things No One Tells You About Revenge

1.      Revenge is addictive.

There’s a reason Americans can’t wean themselves off of fast food.  The sodium levels in food prepared at these restaurants are sky high—and our bodies crave it.  To soothe this craving, we go back again and again; if we don’t sustain the new level of sodium, we sink into depression.  The same happens with revenge.  The knowledge that we can hurt someone brings power, and that power is a high that’s hard to get rid of.  Soon, hurting others is a habit. 

2.      One act of revenge will follow you for the rest of your life.

Chain reaction, domino effect, each action equals an opposite reaction; whatever you call it, it happens.  A misdeed done out of rash anger could spiral out of control and affect hundreds of other people.  And if you have a conscience (some people obviously don’t) guilt will set in pretty quickly, and  soon it will be all you think about.  Then anxiety will set in… which could lead to depression… which could lead to a pill-filled life, or death, or any number of other things.  Catch my drift?

3.      When you bust a headlight with a baseball bat, that glass goes everywhere.  And I do mean EVERYWHERE.

Haha, I’m serious.  Do you know how hard it is to wash glass out of your hair? And it’s such a pain having to change your contacts every time a microscopic piece of glass gets in your eye.  Guess that’s the price I pay for “returning the favor”.  It’s like they say, everything has a price. Cheap is rare and free is nonexistent.

Well, to update y’all quickly, life’s pretty great… I’m going with my awesome aunt and the best twin ever to see the new vampire movie tonight; yay!  This next week, I plan to eat and sleep.  And then eat some more.  And then sleep some more.  So there.  Sorry it’s so short.. Love y’all.

Haha I have one more update; Erin is trying her best to teach me how to play the piano and guitar.  I’ll have to post some of our crazy shenanigans later. J xox