You have two choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply: 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

Why? Because Jerry was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him 'I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

Jerry replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood. I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.'

'But it's not always that easy,' I protested.

'Yes it is,' Jerry said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. It's your choice how you live your life.'

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open. And then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Jerry was trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.
Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,' Jerry replied. 'Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared' I asked?

Jerry continued, 'The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man…I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,' said Jerry. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything. Yes, to bullets,’ I replied. Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.' Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it. The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Election '08

I generally follow the unwritten rule about incorporating the topics of politics and religion into conversation at work, socially, etc. We all have our own opinions, and should respect that. We are entitled to believe what we want, and voice it if we choose. We should agree to disagree. After all, it is America, right? I will say that those of you who do not vote, or are not registered to vote for that matter, should probably keep your opinions about who would make the better President, or what our current President is doing wrong, to yourselves. I know, who does she think she is? Well, it IS my blog and I can say what I want.  :)  Just kidding. But seriously. It's like I told Bryan when we were dating, and he wasn't registered to vote ... you have no right to gripe about what is going on with our government if you did not voice your opinion and take advantage of your right to make a change. I read that in the 2000 presidential election in Florida, George W. Bush won by a margin of only 930 votes out of 6 million cast in the state, which made the difference in the Electoral College. Every vote counts!  You are part of a democracy ... one of the most basic rights as a US citizen is your right to vote. Take advantage of this right so you have a say in how you want this country governed. So there. Enough said. If you did vote, and you still want to gripe than by all means I'll pull up a chair with you.  :)  So with that said, I'm not going to engage in a debate and give you my reasons why you should vote for one or the other. I will, however, post some websites that I have found helpful in my journey to determine who would make the best President. 

Readers Digest has some great information. The August 2008 issue includes separate interviews with Obama and McCain.  Both "An Exclusive Interview with Barack Obama" and "An Exclusive Interview with John McCain. Both are great interviews and provide a good insight of each man. I'm not sure if this was included in the actual issue of Reader's Digest or if it was just available on the website, but McCain and Obama On The Issues is a great resource to find out where each candidate stands on the economy, the war in Iraq, and healthcare. 

The purpose of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is to provide a greater understanding of the relationship between religion and politics, the law, domestic policy, and world affairs. The site allows you to compare the candidates on issues such as abortion, church and state, education, and gay marriage, to name a few. It is a very easy way to breakdown what each candidate stands for.

Project Vote Smart (The Voter's Self-Defense System) is another site that allows you to click on the candidate and then view his or her positions on issues. 

Okay - that's all I'm gonna say - at least for now. I've done my part. No door-to-door campaigning for this little lady!

Tough Love vs. Spanking

Received this from a friend and it is hilarious! ....


Most of the American populace thinks it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of 'those moments.' One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk. Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc. Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps a lot too.I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.

This works with grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as well.

Innocence is Priceless

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Randy standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The six-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Randy."

"Good morning Pastor," he replied, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor, what is this?"

The pastor said, "Well son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."

Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque.

Finally, little Randy's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear asked, "Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?"

Tuesday notes

Had some additional pics from Cam's birthday to post, but just haven't been able to find the time to do so. He essentially had a "week" of birthday celebrating. It started with his "friend" birthday. We went out to dinner on his "real" birthday with Grandma Denise and Papa Mike, to Cam's restaurant pick of Chili's. And then mom and dad were in town this last weekend, so Theresa and the kids came over and we celebrated with BBQ'd steaks and swimming. (Cam wanted to finish off the "party" with some Poker ... as if WE'RE going to argue with that!)

Cameron with a new "Nike" Skateboard

Cam and Papa Mike

Cam's birthday at Chili's

Picture day at school - I can't believe how old he looks!!! ;(

Ready to give mom a kiss!

I wanted to include a conversation I had with Cam, more so for documentation than anything so that I can bring it up to him a few years down the road. (Disclaimer - this conversation is about childbirth and such ... read on at the risk of wetting your pants from laughing.) I had picked him up from school on his birthday, and it was about 3:05. Starting the day before, I had been giving him the play-by-play of the day before and day of his birth. So when he was in the car, I said that 8 years ago RIGHT THIS MINUTE you were almost out of mommy's tummy. So then he's watching the clock and getting excited saying "only 2 more minutes and I'm born ... only 1 more minute ... It's 3:10 ... I'm born!" Well that was all fun until he asks about being in my tummy. Great. I'm trapped, I have 10 more minutes in the car and I have no help. He had started asking questions about babies a couple of months back, knowing they were in the mommy's tummy, but how do they get there? Well we kind of changed the subject. Figured it would come up again, so we'll just kind of put it off for now. So he says, "I know I was in your tummy, but what about the butt?" Thought he was asking me if his butt came out first, or what. Told him no, your head came out first, but sometimes babies get kind of twisted around. He sits there, and then it hits me ..."Wait, were you asking if you came out my butt?" I said no, and then he wonders where he came out at. Sooooooooo ..... I'm driving and I kind of make a "V" with my hands and point downward saying "well right here." The light bulb must've went on because he says, "Ohhhhhhhhh. So THAT'S why boys can't have babies. The hole in our wieners are too small!" Yes. Exactly. Thank you for coming to that conclusion on your own! Then the kicker ... "Well how do they get through the hair down there?" Wow. "Well sometimes the doctor will shave the mommy first." Double wow. So he says, "Oh. right. Are we almost home? I want to open my presents..."

Bryan SOOOO owes me for this one.