Advice from Nick & The Muppets

Life can be hard. You don't need me to tell you, right? I can tell you to keep your chin up. I can tell you some funny anecdote. I can post a funny joke, meme, or cartoon. I can protest with you. I can yell. I can have a drink to forget about it for a while. I can take a walk outside in the sun. I can immerse myself in books, music, time with my child and other leisure activities. I can look to religion. I can ask for advice. I can tell you to do all these things as well.

And sometimes all of it will work. And sometimes none of it will work. Sometimes the traffic roaring by on the interstate will ruin your peaceful lunchtime walk. Some days your kid will be an absolute pill. You'll misplace your debit card. You'll forget about an appointment and get charged a fee. You'll get hurt. You'll get pushed aside. You'll feel belittled. You will believe all the bad things anyone ever said about you.

Bad things will happen near and far. Innocents will be hurt. Negligents will be celebrated. You'll get mad. You'll get sad. Some days will be good and some will be bad.

We'll all get up the next morning and do it all over again. Because this is life. It's what we do. We will reach out for help when we need it. We will offer help when we can. We will love. We will support. We will discuss. We will hold each other. We will keep going.

And if we can't find helpful advice any where else we will just go and watch The Muppets Take Manhattan for this nugget from Nick the diner owner. It's simple, but true.

Reclaiming Your Childhood: Priceless

This story might take a minute to tell. Bear with me. When my sister and I were little girls, my mother took us to a large baptist church in town. Even as a child, I never remember feeling welcome there. But I do remember the lovely older couple that kept my Sunday School class. They gave us saltines and kool-aid, and I remember thinking they would be nice grandparents to have. At Christmastime, the Sunday School class was set to have a random gift exchange. Every child was supposed to bring a gift that could be exchanged with any other child.....no specific gift designations. I received the gift of an Avon 7 bead necklace which was very popular at the time. I loved it so much and was thrilled to have it! I was somewhere between 5 and 7 at the time. (Back in the 1970's and 80's, Avon was a cosmetic company that was also known for it's inexpensive jewelry. I couldn't find a price on what this necklace would have cost back then, but apparently there is ...

My Week with Rumor

My dog Rumor was an experiment. A trial offer. And all parties knew that going in. Except for maybe Rumor. Rumor was an outdoor country dog. His given name was Ruger (named after a firearm if you don't know, I didn't) which made sense for a dog raised in hunting country. He was a stray that came to live with a loving family at about the age of 1. He lived outdoors, slept in a garage crate at night, frolicked with an older dog pack and had a lovely life. We think he was about 4 years old. He had been neutered, had vet care and was by no means a "rescue". His dad offered Ruger to me on a give-it-a-try basis. He knew I wanted a dog. He told me Ruger would be sweet to me and also be my protector. He was right on both counts. He told me if it didn't work out, I could bring Ruger back to him and his wife. I could tell they were a little sad when they dropped him off. It made me glad to see that Ruger came from such ...

NYE for $200, Alex

Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays? I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays. I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive". To me, most NYE parties feel that way. The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds. Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money. AND you usually have to the leave the house. ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late. It's a big F.U. from me on all this. I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone. I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE. I rememb...

Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

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