The Something's We CAN Do

Yesterday morning I awoke to a phone call from my allergist's office. I groaned when I saw the number. Just last year, I discovered through medical testing that I had more severe allergies than I suspected and have been struggling with getting through three full weeks without a really bad sick spell. Although it was going to be a strain on my budget, I recently decided to begin a treatment of allergy injections.

With the ringing of my phone, my mind immediately thought the doctor's office must be calling because of a problem with the upcoming shots or additional expenses. The nurse's voice quickly woke me up when she said, "Misty, the doctor wants to give you 50% off on the costs of the shots."

The Girl In The Pictures

Browsing through some saved photos on my computer, I specifically noticed a few from the past couple of summers that had particular memories attached. The memories were not about the actual day or event the photo had captured, however. My memories were about my instinctive reaction when first seeing myself in certain photographs---instantly thinking negatively towards myself, nit-picking perceived "flaws," and seeing all kinds of things “wrong” with the girl in the pictures. More than just the common reaction of seeing unflattering photos, I had actually felt down on myself after viewing my image on camera.

Oh!! You Had A Birthday?

It's one of those things that happens from time to time, living in the same town as an ex and having mutual friends....I recently bumped into an old boyfriend. The first words from his mouth were, “Thanks for yesterday.”

I puzzled my brow. “Huh?” I asked. “What was yesterday?”

“It was my birthday. Thanks for remembering.”

“Oh!!! Yeah, it was your birthday, wasn’t it? Happy birthday! Was it a good one?”

It's All Real, Baby!

The spring rainy season. Day after day of water-filled clouds and week after week of inches of rain. Attempts to blow-dry then flat-iron my dark wavy hair became a waste of time. I hopped out of the shower one day and sighed at the thought of blow-drying my thick waves, pinning my hair up in sections, taking a piece down from each section, violently mashing it between two metal plates at least 100 degrees, continuing all around my head, spritzing on heat protector, then repeating the process for those frizzy locks which refused to cooperate.

Like a lot of women, who usually want whatever type of hair they don’t have—or like most humans in general, who think the grass is greener on the other side—I envied sleek, straight, smooth hair. Over the years, I convinced myself that hair was good hair and absorbed all the advertisements promoting perfectly flat, polished hair. I added my own exaggerated persuasions to the argument:“My face is round, and my cheeks are full….straight, sleek hair will make my face look more sculpted and refined, more sophisticated. Besides, my natural hair can just look too free and wild.”

Girls Can Be Tough Too

One day last week, as is often the case, one of my co-workers was amiably teasing me about something. I don’t even remember what sparked it now, but when I teased back, he joked, “"Okay. Drop and give me 20 push-ups." I sneered, “"Ha! Twenty? I could drop and give you thirty!" Of course, a couple of them teamed up and started cackling, “"Ha ha! She thinks she could do 30 push-ups. What---can you do a few girl push-ups, Misty?"

"No! I do GUY push-ups!" I protested and turned to another colleague sitting at the front counter. "Hey!" I drew him into the argument, "Do you believe me? Do you think I can do 30 push-ups?"

Asleep In The Sunshine

Today at church, a family invited me to spend the afternoon at a local  pool with them. I was so eager to go. This would be my first time at a ‘real’ pool for this season. Not that my kiddie pool where I cool off on my back deck isn't a 'real' pool...or at least ‘real’ to me…but you get the idea...

So there I was, stretched out face down on a lawn chair beside the pool. My hand held a book open on the patio right below me. The sky alternated between hazy clouds and beaming bursts of sun.