You May Kiss the Blackberry

Have you ever seen someone so attached to an electronic device that you wanted to smash it? That happened to me today.
Now let me start by saying, I own an iPhone and I find that I'm more reliant on it every day. For example, I just recently found this app, which allows me to easily update my blog without ever touching a computer. However, I still value human contact.
My husband and I went to the diner for breakfast this morning, and as I waited for him to decide on his meal, I quickly checked my Facebook before turning my phone on silent and slipping it into my purse. Other than answering a text from my mom a short time later, that was the last appearance my phone made while we were at the diner.
While we waited for our waitress, our breakfast, our bill... we talked to each other. Can you imagine such a thing? We enjoyed each other's company over breakfast, just as they did in the dark ages, before cell phones became the rulers of everyone's lives.
There was a couple (I know they're an item through friends, not to mention there aren't any secrets in a small town) sitting at a table across from us who arrived shortly after we had. From the time they sat down until my husband and I left about 45 minutes later, I don't think the two of them said more than 25 words to each other. Rather, they sat across from each other with their eyes glued to their phones, their thumbs pounding away on their keyboards, the entire time.
I wanted nothing more than to sit down with them and ask, are you really that bored with each other? Do you realize that your future is going to be even worse than your time together now because you won't have any memories to look back on? Put down your damn phones and make eye contact for six seconds!
And then I thought, if I look around this room, I bet over half of its occupants are doing the same exact thing... But they weren't. What a pleasant surprise (and one of the only times where it felt good to be wrong)!
Although everyone besides this couple seemed to be enjoying the company of those they were dining with, a lot of peole spend way too much time with their cell phones and other electronics. When did we start replacing human interactions and intimate relationships with cell phones and status updates? I don't like it...

My Grandmother, with the Machine Gun Arm

My mom and I were shopping for baby clothes the other day, and--aside from realizing that my son has a larger wardrobe than I do, although he's still in the womb--it really made me miss my grandmother. I thought, if Gram were here, she'd have purchased the entire rack of clothing months ago. While I was a bit sad for a moment, I had to smile as I thought of all the good times I had with her, and those that we would have had if she were still here.
My grandmother was a shopaholic, bingo freak, and yard sale fanatic. When we went to yard sales, she would always tell me, "If you think you want something, pick it up before someone else does!"
Her friends actually stopped going to sales with her because she would buy all of the comforter sets, even though she already had a few dozen at home. She would buy things just because she could, and just so someone else couldn't. It was hilarious.
The way she played bingo was amazing. She asked me to go with her once and, while I slowly marked two or three of my cards, she had already dabbed her cards and finished mine.
When that woman had a credit card or a bingo dabber in her hand, she was quicker than a machine gun.
I miss my grandmother so much. Even when I think of the good times with a smile, it hurts a little because I wish she could be here to share these good times. But it's gotten easier. I know she's watching.
On July 5, it will be two years that she's been gone. Maybe that's why I'm thinking about her so much more than usual. Or maybe it's because my due date is June 28, and I'm terrified that my son will be born on the day my grandmother passed away. Is it horrible to worry about that?

Nothing Compares to a Good Reunion

My high school English teacher found me on Facebook today, and I couldn't be happier! I'm just a bit... Surprised!
After graduating college last year, I searched for her, hoping that I would be able to contact her in time to invite her to my wedding. Unfortunately, that never happened. But upon checking my Facebook today, I came across a message from my very inspirational, high school English teacher. And it feels great to get in touch with someone from my past!
Not only do I remember learning so much in her class, but I had so much fun there, too. On top of that, I'd spend my free time with her in her classroom, just talking about where we had been in life, where we were going, our wants, our dreams... Those were the times I learned the most from her, and from myself, through her.
We're planning on meeting for lunch some time, and I can't wait to see her again! To see what she's been doing since retiring, to tell her about my life since high school... To learn just as I had when the two of us would sit at her desk, just talking. I imagine it will be just as easy to talk to her now as it was then, and just as easy to learn so many new things.
What a real joy it is to be reunited with someone from your past!

Love is Like an Old Wicker Rocking Chair

My husband and I returned home from the store today, and he looked down at my old wicker rocking chair in disgust.
"We should just throw this thing out. It's falling a part."
It is falling a part. But there is no way I'm getting rid of it.
Every time I sit in it, another piece of dark brown wicker cracks. Sometimes when I rock, a piece or two will fall to the ground. But it's the most comfortable piece of furniture I own. My body fits perfectly in the seat, and my head rests just right against the back. It's the perfect companion on a cool summer night.
As I walked in the house, I thought, "My chair is a lot like love, and I haven't thrown that away!"
When you love someone, you see past their flaws, because in your eyes, they're not really flaws at all. After time, you come to realize that you wouldn't have them any other way.
It's these little flaws we come to love the most; that make us fit so perfectly together, helping us to compliment each other in order to be each other's companion.
Just like my chair.
If that little brown rocker weren't so fragile, it would be stiff, making it uncomfortable and hard for my body to shape to. One day it may give up, but so far, it hasn't let me down. Until then, I'll keep my faith in my old wicker rocker.

Thrift Stores Are Gifts from Heaven!

I went shopping with my mom today and we stopped at a thrift store to look for maternity clothes. Everyone knows how expensive clothes are to begin with, but the bigger you get, the higher the price tends to be. Well, eight maternity tops, one maternity dress, and three onesies later, I spent less than $60.
If I had gone anywhere else, I probably would have spent at least $20 on each piece. That would have cost me almost $200, not including the baby clothes. Why go anywhere else for clothes I'm only going to wear for a few months during my pregnancy? And they all look brand new, and they're cute!
On Wednesdays, this particular store has "family night," where everything in the store except for one color (tags come in different colors) is half off. My husband and I went one Wednesday and I got about four pairs of maternity pants, 10 maternity tops, five or six baby outfits, and eight t-shirts for my husband. Again, we spent less than $60 for everything.
I know I'm not the only one who appreciates a bargain, so I wanted to pass this along: there is absolutely nothing wrong with shopping at thrift stores, especially for work and play clothes, or clothes you're only going to wear for a short period of time. Not to mention, many thrift stores' profits go to charity, such as the Salvation Army. So, everybody wins!

"Be Happy With What You Have." ~William E. Gladstone

We've all heard the saying "Count your blessings" time and time again, but most of us still go about our daily lives taking things for granted. We focus on the things that we once had but have no longer; we spend our time wishing that the future will bring us more than we have now. And we're never happy. But maybe if we enjoy what we do have right now, we could be happy.
There are a lot of things from my past that I miss and that I wouldn't mind having back. More time with my extended family; money that I spent on God knows what; priceless moments with my grandmother. But those things are a part of the past and they're not coming back. Yes, I miss them, but why spend my time wishing that the present was more like the past? If that's how we spent our lives, we'd wake up one day and realize how much time we wasted, time that we can never get back.
As for the future, none of us know what tomorrow will bring. It's great to pray that tomorrow will hold many blessings and good fortune, but there is a difference between having faith and dwelling on things that you do not have now. Sure it would be great if I had more money tomorrow than I do today; if everyone I knew were healthier tomorrow than they are right now; if everything were better than it is. But don't I have so much to be thankful for in this very moment?
I have a loving family and a safe home. My family, friends and I are healthy. I have opportunities to pursue happiness in ways that many do not. I have air in my lungs and a beautiful baby boy growing in my belly. I have God watching over me and my family. Right now, in this very moment, I have so much to be thankful for. Why would I spend this time any other way than to be happy for what I have?
As for the future, there are things I hope for. But I have faith. I thank God for what I do have now, and I trust Him to lead me in the right direction. I trust that whatever He has in store for me and my future will be the best outcome, whether it is what I expected or not.
We are all human and most of us do not live our lives being thankful 24 hours a day. Things happen that make us angry and upset, leaving us wishing we had more time, more money, more patience, more, more, more... But maybe--instead of getting angry so easily--if we all just stopped and thought about all the blessings that we do have, rather than the ones we have no longer or the ones we wish we had; maybe we'd all be that much happier. Focusing on negativity will only create more negativity. So what else is there except to be positive, to be thankful for this very moment?
As for me, I am going to try to think more positively; to be thankful for what I have now, rather than angry about the things I no longer have; to have more faith and trust in God, leaving my future in his hands.
This morning in church, my minister said, "To love God is to live a life of appreciation and thankfulness for what He has done." My goal is to do just that.

Are You An Unwanted Weed or A Withering Wildflower?

I remember reading a poem when I was younger about weeds and wildflowers, and which one is more appealing. To this day, I haven't been able to find that poem again, but I still ask myself, "Would I rather be a weed or a wildflower?"

Weeds are ugly and unwanted, but they're free. No one's going to pick them and bring them home to die. Weeds are free to blow in the breeze on a cliff, to bend down and kiss the water as it rushes by in a river. There are no worries about when they will be uprooted, waiting to die. They have power and control over their lives; they have freedom. But is an eternity of freedom worth the loss of a few moments of being wanted and loved? Is it worth being plucked by the hand of a child, to show his mommy how much he loves her?

Wildflowers are beautiful and wanted. They're red and yellow and purple and orange and blue. They're unique and sometimes rare, which makes them even more valuable. But they have no idea what the future will hold. One day they're growing strong and vibrant in the sun; the next, they're withering away on a nightstand or coffee table. Wildflowers have no idea what a long life is, because they're plucked in their youth, to be taken home to moms and wives and teachers and friends. But even though they may die young, never able to experience the eternal beauty of life, they are needed by someone, even if it is only for a flicker in time. They are used as a symbol of love, appreciation, gratitude. They symbolize that, although we all die, we can still remain beautiful, just as a flower does after being torn from life.

I still ask myself which I would rather be. Sometimes, I want nothing more than to be a weed, free of worry and responsibility. To just live in the moment, not afraid of what may lie ahead. To go on forever, even if no one knows I'm there.
But other times, I want to be a wildflower. To be beautiful and wanted, even for a moment. To stand as a token of love, a priceless gift. To make someone smile for a second, to laugh, to shed a tear. And although I would die young without every truly knowing freedom and control, I would be appreciated, wanted, remembered. I would be loved.
Ultimately, I would rather be a wildflower. For me, I wouldn't want to live life alone, no matter how much freedom I had. I want to feel needed by someone, even if it is only for a short period of time. After all, is it not better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all?

So if you had to choose, which would you rather be? A weed or a wildflower? Leave your comments and take the poll!