Oh yeah...

...we did put in our notice to cancel our CrossFit membership. It's kinda sad, but we are hoping to start doing Jiu Jitsu. I pretty much have Jonathan convinced that it would be the best. I think he is still a little shocked that I actually liked Jiu Jitsu in the first place! I am really girlie as an adult. I was a big tom boy as a child and can still hang with the guys...but bugs scare me more now than they did before! Anyway, I always wanted to take wrestling as a little kid (like 3rd grade) but my mom wouldn't let me. She was afraid I would get hurt. Well, at that time, she didn't realize all the injuries I would go ahead and get as a result of clumsiness (and just sheer stupidity at times...ok, most of the time)! So, when I got to college and had to take a PE class, I randomly chose Jiu Jitsu, not really knowing what it even was. And I loved it! It's a lot like wrestling, basically, and I was good at it!

Anyway, kinda off track there...but this is our last month at CrossFit and while we are going to miss it, I think we are going to get ourselves into something a lot more fun. :)

Lasting Relationships

What does it take to create a lasting relationship? Should it have to be a lot of work? Should you get mad at everything that person says? Should you question their motives all the time? I know I have the capacity to keep my relationships for a long time. My closest friends are relationships that have been 13+ years for the most part. I don't see these friends that often, but when we do see each other, we pick right back up where we left off. It's easy. Natural. And surprisingly doesn't take that much time to make it work. Is this a bad thing? Should I be putting more effort into it? Am I offending them that I don't talk to them every day...or even every week at times? Am I a bad or uninterested friend because often we might only talk once a month? Truthfully, I am pretty much unavailable Monday - Thursday except by email. My weekdays are full with 11 hour workdays, an hour commute (total) and trying to get to the gym. And, apparently the older you get, the more your weekends book up, too! So, yes, I am busy. They are, too. Getting together is getting harder to do. (The Dr. Seuss ryhme was NOT intentional! LOL!) I don't want to have foot-in-the-mouth disease here, so I don't really know where to go with this one. It's just what's been on my mind today.

A day to remember...

Words always fail me on this day. I personally do not know anyone that lost a husband, wife, child, daughter, son, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc. in the attacks 7 years ago. But, this day affects me. Always has, always will.

I was 20 years old. It was my first day of biology lab. I woke up, turned on the radio and hopped in the shower. The DJs were talking about this situation and I couldn't figure out what they were talking about since I had joined in the middle of it. I almost thought it was a joke at first. But the more they talked, and the tones of their voices, I knew it wasn't. I got out of the shower, grabbed a towel and ran to turn on the tv. Words failed me at that point. I called my dad, crying, asking what was going on. He said he didn't know but he knew it would definitely be in the history books of his grandchildren.

Then the second plane hit. It seemed like it was slow motion as the plane came in from the side of the screen. All I could say was, "There's another plane! It's going to hit! There's another plane!" And it did. And I was shocked into silence.

I fought with myself over whether or not I should go to class. The responsible side of me won and I rushed to class. I was distracted by the images in my head. I couldn't pay attention. Some of the students didn't even know what was going on! Did they not own a tv or radio? Our lab assistant said we would be there half an hour, tops. We were there the full 2 1/2 hours! After about 30 minutes, all the students became restless. There were whispers about how disrespectful they thought she was being. I just wanted to get a tv.

On the first anniversary, I got on a plane. Two days later was my grandparents 50 wedding anniversary and my aunts and mom were planning a big surprise party for them. I wanted to come home to help. I remember people asking me if I was scared to get on a plane that day. I joked, "No. Who would want to hijack a plane from Lubbock to Dallas??" But, when I got to the airport, I was terrified. This next part might sound a bit racist/judgemental/stereotypical/whatever you want to call it, but it's the truth. There was a Muslim man dressed in full Muslim gear boarding my very same plane. I knew he had gone through the 2 hours of security I had gone through, but I was still scared. I heard him on the phone talking to someone about how just because he was dressed like that, they practically strip searched him in the back. But, I was still uneasy. As was everyone else at the gate that day. Most people were looking at him out of the side of their eyes. Some were just flat out glaring. I was looking at everyone else's reaction.

I now understand why I had my fears. But, I feel like a total hypocrite for having them. Anyone who knows me knows that I am one of the most accepting, understanding, sympathetic, whatever to everyone in this world. I know several Muslims that are the sweetest, kindest, most giving people in the world. I knew it was a small majority...kinda like the Nazi's...that decided to terrorize our country that day. But, I still judged that man in the airport. I still felt frightened.

Six years after the airport incident, I no longer feel that way. I am no more frightened of a Muslim person now than I was before the attacks (which was none at all). My boss is Muslim and he is the best boss I have ever worked for. Calm, mild-mannered, extreme family-man...generous.

I still haven't forgotten that fateful day, and I never will. I am a proud American...and am proud to still be able to embrace people for who they are. But I will always remember this day for all the thousands and thousands of people that died...and the families that still suffer.

Never Forget!

Scared of my office!!!!!

Yeah, if I could sit on top of my desk right now, I would. I got to work at 6:45 this morning (sadly, that's only 15 miutes early in my world) and there was only one other person here (luckily!). I walk into my office and as I am getting stuff out of my purse, I hear a kind of scratching and rustling sound. Well, there was a slight mouse/rat problem when we first moved into this building, but traps were set and we haven't had too many problems in the past year. About a month or so ago, I did happen to see a rat outside and I have been hearing noises in the walls again, but I choose to think that they can in no way get inside. Until this morning. So, I go running down the hall to get the other person here (luckily, it was a man). I have him look for something but the noise stopped and we couldn't see anything. He goes back to his office and I start to hear it again...only louder! I walk to the front of my desk and a giant cockroach (waterbug...whatever...doesn't make it any less disgusting!) crawls out from some boxes I have sitting in here and up the wall! Needless to say, I scream, run down the hall, and get the guy to squish it. All day I have felt like bugs are crawling up my arms! And, we have someone here working on our AC and I didn't realize this. So, yep, I heard something crawling up the wall (my back wall is the side of the building where they always put the ladders up) and I screamed. REAL professional! :) LOL!

About the lack of CrossFit postings...I just suck. That's all there is to it. We go, but I am so busy that I forget to write about it. So, I'm giving that up. And we are giving up CrossFit as well. When we first joined in December, it was great! The workouts were hard and effective, the gym was run somewhat efficiently, we liked everyone. Well, we still like everyone, but the gym doesn't seem to be run as efficiently anymore. The workouts are sucking (not in the good, push the limit way) and we generally just go in and do our own thing. Plus, I want the hard, CrossFit, cardio/weight classes. Not so much weightlifting which is all it seems to be lately. So, what's the point in paying them still? I get a free 24 Hour membership and Jonathan can get a great discount through our work, so we might as well just do that. Plus, we want to learn self defense. He took self defense for a few years, but he wants me to know some just in case the need ever arises. We are most interested in KFM as it is the most encompassing. We are checking out several places right now to see what fits us best and what is the most bang for the buck.

Anyway, that's about it lately. I'll try to get better about posting more often. :)

UPDATE: Yeah, KFM is weird. Not going for that so much. Probably either Krav Maga (cheapest and good workout) or Jiu Jitsu (I took it in college and loved it!).