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Here is the second installment of lessons I have learned. This one is dedicated to my Dad.

I don't know if it is the fact that I turned another year older today and am feeling a tad nostalgic, the fact that we are starting a family of our own or the fact that I really enjoy making lists, but here's one dedicated to what my father has taught me when he didn't know I was watching.

1. Sometimes throwing something DOES make you feel better when you are angry.

2. When creativity strikes in the middle of the night, get up and use it. It might be gone by morning.

3. Work hard and provide for your family no matter what.

4. Practice your right to bear arms...vigilantly. Be able to supply a small army with handguns, rifles and shot guns in case of a coup.

5. Teach respect for firearms and know how to use them correctly.

6. If someone is tailgating, sometimes "a skunk runs across the road."

7. Complete sentences CAN be formed with only 4-letter naughty words. It's an art form, really.

8. Napping is required.

9. You're never too old to play.

10. Dream.

11. Forgive.

12. Explore.

13. Be able to take what you know and apply it to understand or create something else...know how to weld a front end loader but use your knowledge to create art.

14. Have adventures and tell other people about them...be a good story-teller.

15. Sometimes you just have to do it yourself to get it done right.

16. Be modest.

17. Help others.

18. Sometimes you mow over plants...but it's ok...

19. Love unconditionally.

20. You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose.

He's taught me much more but this is a list of the top 20.

Thanks Dad!!

lessons

I have learned a lot from my mom...below is a collection of things that have helped me through my life. Things she taught me without realizing I was paying attention.

1. Music is never too loud. Especially in the summer with all the windows open. Go ahead and sing along even though your not vary good at it.

2. If your car starts smoking or making a funny noise, drive faster...you'll be closer to home by the time it breaks down.

3. Crying in the shower is always better than just crying. Sometimes a good cry makes you feel better.

4. Nothing is better than good friends, good coffee and good wine.

5. Never leave the house without your cup of water...and maybe one of coffee too.

6. Wrap apples in a cloth napkin before you pack then in your lunch. You get the benefit of the napkin and the apple won't get bruised...this is brilliant.

7. There is always more wine in the box or more toothpaste in the tube. You just have to know how to get to it.

8. Pick your battles.

9. Always have fun...and water fights in the house aren't that big of a deal. Water dries and it adds humidity to the house.

10. Don't sweat the small stuff and find try to find the good side of things.

11. Love unconditionally and deeply.

12. Be spontaneous. Adventure is out there just waiting to be had...fly by the seat of your pants and see what happens.

13. Learn to follow road signs and read a map. You will never be lost no matter where you go.

14. Don't poke the bear and stay out of his way when he is fixing things...hiding under an afghan and giggling does not help the bear but it is fun anyways.

15. There is no shame in peeing in a corn field.

16. Honesty is the best policy.

17. Never be afraid to stick up for what you believe and what is right.

18. Friends are sometimes more family than family...

19. Multitasking is a gift. Who says I shouldn't do laundry, pay bills and hem some pants while watching a movie? (This drives Allen crazy)

20. Naps are necessary.

There is so much more but the list would be never-ending.

Thanks mom!

random

A collection of random things that cross my mind...

1. I got lost in the Menard's parking lot the other day...I mean lost. I wandered around for a good 5 minutes before finding my car. I almost had a mental breakdown between the cart corral and a black Explorer. I think I am slowly losing my mind.

2. I hate cooking.

3. I think that a turkey flying is quite possibly the most humorous thing I have seen in a vary long time. But it is also a vision of inspiration since they just keep flapping and flapping to get to where they are headed. They may not get there as fast as other birds but they will still get there...

I had more but...as I stated in #1, I am slowly becoming stupid so I forgot them by the time I got to #3...

Amended:

4. I talk to my dog. He rarely talks back but sometimes the bird answers me.

what??!!??

A bunch of us were banished to the outside of the Starship Enterprise. We didn't do anything naughty enough to be sent to the brig, but we were sent outdoors to be supervised by a fleet police officer who was really nice. The main violation was smuggling contraband onto the ship...you know, fruit, electronics, etc. The police officer was nice and let us talk to each other since he thought the policy was silly too. It was night time so we all bedded down on the roof of the spaceship in our sleeping bags around this large hold that had a slide in it where the contraband was sent down into the fire to burn.

Now's where it gets strange.

The items had to get into the fire gradually so it could maintain a slow, gradual burn. This was accomplished by the little people from the Wizard of Oz hitting the storage tube with large wooden hammers to the rhythm of the lollypop kids song. Every few seconds you would see a puff of smoke billow above the starship as we were lulled to sleep by the rhythmic thumping of their hammers.

All of a sudden one of my fellow prisoners' pocket started singing a tune. He had more contraband and the nice policeman had to confiscate his cellphone and throw it down the slide to the tube to await it's firey fate. This young man was vary upset and kept saying how he had just bought the phone and didn't know he wasn't allowed to have it. There is no mercy in space so he was forced to listen to the music coming from his phone while it waited in the tunnel to be thumped into the fire. The music eventually got a bit slurred as the phone statred to melt and was eventually stopped and turned into a puff of smoke as it made it's way to the fire.

At this time, the boy began to cry but in space you cry oil...black oil. This scared the crap out of the boy and he began to sweat black oil as well. The nice police officer came to him, looked down on him in a fatherly way and said "looks like you've got a little stupid on you, son." The boy mumbled an "u-huh" and the nice man ushered him to the medic ward to get cleaned up.

Then I woke up.

So you tell me what that means...

technology

I thought cell phones were handy but unnecessary, now if I leave the house without mine I have a mild panic attack; I thought iPods were neat but I had CDs and they worked just fine, now if I don't have mine at work I get crabby; I thought the concept of paying for radio was rediculous, now I have XM in my car and love it.

I have become a technology addict. I have always thought that gadgets were cool but now they keep coming out with things that are better, faster and bigger but smaller - and they keep making them so fast it is hard to keep up.

Just when I think I have all I will ever need, a new one finds its way into my life and poof, addicted. Yes, I can live without them and I would be just fine. I'd survive. It would be ok. But the thing is, I don't WANT to live without them.

These masterminds have turned them from a luxury to a necessity without us knowing. Damn those marketing geniuses. Damn them and their shiny new products that I must have.

what?

I found out I have a genetic mutation that does not allow my body to process folic acid or B vitamins. What does this mean? It means that I am at a higher risk for blood clots, heart attack, stroke, cancer and depression. It also means that I am going to have a harder time carrying a pregnancy full-term with the baby being at a higher risk for spinal biffada and Down's Syndrome. That's the short story; now here's the real story.

I told this to my cousin who happens to be a fantastic friend and one of the most positive and optimistic people on earth. I usually consider myself one that looks on the bright side of things but compared to her I look like a dark cloud in the sea of despair. After I gave her the quick run down on tests, specialists and what I don't know yet but hope to find out at the next doctor appointment, she asked what the treatment was. Treating it starts out not that involved but gets a tad more inconvenient depending on the level of mutation. Either option sucks but isn't horrible or life altering; many other people have gone through much worse. After we talked she told me she was meeting her mom and asked if she could tell her the good news.

WAIT...good news? Did you hear what I just said? After two miscarriages and difficulty getting pregnant in general, I just found out all the scary things that can happen to me and my yet to exist baby. Are you crazy?

But she was focusing on the fact that they found something wrong...and could fix it. I had just been focusing on the fact that something was wrong. Grant it is good to get answers and I was happy for that, but it is hard enough to decide to have a baby in general, let alone have all these strings attached and more worry.

I have always considered myself a glass half full person but that is all relative and compared to Becky, I am ridiculously pessimistic and should be looking for the nearest bridge to fling myself off of in a dramatic manner. Here's to our glasses-and to those to give a little of theirs when ours need a refill. Cheers.