My Rock Star!

It's an inside joke between my friend Nina and I - you only make my blog if you have cancer! Well obviously she has cancer because she made my blog! October she was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double mastectomy in January, and just started her chemo in February. Yesterday, her hair started to fall out. Well if it was me, I probably would have cried myself to sleep and then hid in a dark bomb shelter until my hair grew back! Nina? Oh no! Can't hold that girl down. She took advantage of the opportunity and made herself look like a rock star. She called me last night to tell me she got her hair cut and was going to stop by my work today to show me. When I walked out of my office and saw her face, I could see her strength and her confidence. When I saw her rock star hair, I was certain she was going to pull her electric guitar out of her back pocket and start singing something from White Snake! Cancer is not going to bring her down! She is going to kick its butt with flying colors! She is a true rock star in my eyes!

Dear Cancer

I never invited you into my life, but you came anyway. You bullied yourself right into my friend's body, like a thief in the night. Did you think you were going to steal her dignity away? Did you think that by making her body weak, you would destroy the strong independent woman that she is? Did you think by stripping away her hair upon her head and her lashes from her loving eyes that she would become less beautiful? Did you think by taking her voice away, that I would not know how much she loves those around her? Don't think for a minute that you have conquered. Don't think for a second that the children that are left behind won't be the ones to figure out the cure! Don't think that those that have been touched by her life won't love harder, love stronger, or love deeper. Don't think that even though we don't have any control, that God holds her in His hands!

LETS MAKE A DEAL

My name use to be Rochelle Hall...........not Monty Hall (from the old show Lets Make a Deal). But I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm always cutting a deal with someone in my life...husband, kids, and clients. Can I just say that clients are the worst! Especially in the insurance industry. Today, I got an email from someone who wanted a quote, but also wanted me to guarantee them (in writing...I might add) that their insurance will never go up! Okay first of all....what planet are you on! Would you like me to write it in blood? And when does anything ever go down in life? (I just thought of one thing...but I won't even go there!) Anyways.....back to the subject! Where do people think they can boss and bully others around by "making" them guarantee something? That is just not going to happen. Do you go to Safeway and demand a letter that the price of milk will never go up....or produce.....or the price of deli meat? The price is what it is! And the only reason why I'm telling this story is because a lot of people have been missing my blog writing and I had to think of something. Although, I am honored that so many people cared about my blog because I was feeling like no one was reading it! So thanks! And I want you to write me a letter guaranting that you will be my faithful blog reader forever! Now, that's a deal!

Kid Swap

As long as I've known my friend Vicki, which has been a mere 30 Years, she has always loved games. Whether it was a game show or a board game, Vicki has always been a die hard game player. I was venting to her the other day about parenting and how children don't grasp the idea of gratitude towards their parents. And then it hit Vicki - A Game Show called Kid Swap. Why don't we swap our children with other parents. The purpose? To slap our children into reality, that we truly are not as bad as they think we are. Although, there is a kicker to this game......they are placed in a third world country.....not in America. They will realize that life is not easy. Things just come easily here. For instance (which Vicki and I discussed with pains in our stomachs - from laughing so hard)........we will send our children to Uganda. Instead of playing the Wii - they will play.....Wii is poor! I swear it makes me laugh just writing about it.

You Know You Are Old When..........

1. You keep plucking the same chin hair from the same spot, every two weeks
2. You start driving the speed limit
3. Cartoon voices sound annoying
4. You need coffee before you can function for the day
5. You notice that people born in the 90's are of driving age
6. Kids that you babysat when you were a teenager, are getting married
7. You can't call your best friend after 8:00pm because they might be in bed
8. You consider wearing Spanx
9. Sleep is more important than sex. Oh wait, even when I was younger...I thought that!
10. Eating ice cream with your spouse is considered foreplay!

How Did I Get Here?

I can close my eyes sometimes and completely revert back to my younger days. I can smell the stuffy cafeteria, envision my friend with oranges stuck in her braces, feel the slick parachute pants against my legs, and feel the pain of my calloused hands from the monkey bars. THOSE WERE THE DAYS! And in an instant......I'm 35! What? How can that be? Who pressed the fast forward button? I have a house. I have a husband. I have children. I drive a minivan. I have a job. I'm an adult! But, I must say.....sometimes I don't feel like one. I still feel like a kid inside. I still love to sit around with my friends, eat ice cream, and laugh until my stomach screams! I've been evaluating my life.....since 35 is sooooo close to 40! Am I who I want to be? Hmmmm? The answer? Sometimes. There are moments in my life that I look in the mirror and I ask the reflection...who are you? What do you like to do? Are you more than just a wife and a mother? Of course I am! My resolution for this year (since it is so close to my birthday) is to find what makes me happy as a person - to take care of me. Because if Mama ain't happy......nobody is happy!

DRAWING ATTENTION

Justin insisted that I go to the store to get ice cream the other night...might I add...at 8:00pm. I really was done for the night. But the thought of pure creamy sugar nudged me into my minivan. As I was walking through the store, I heard..bang, bang, bang. Metal against metal. Bang, Bang, Bang. Where the hell is that noise coming from? It was irritating me beyond belief. Not to mention, its around the first of the month...PMS. And then I see HIM! A fifty something year old man, banging his foot against the cart as he walked. It wasn't necessary for him to walk that way. He just wanted to draw attention to himself. First of all....when you have hair that looks like a fisher price lawn mower attacked the middle of your head...you don't draw attention to yourself.....you creep along the supermarket aisles. All he needed to do was go into the aisle of hair products, dye it red, put on some big shoes, and he would have looked exactly like Bozo the Clown. And I needed to go into the aisle of sedatives to calm myself down!