michelle4wellness's Blog

4TH OF JULY OR INDEPENDENCE DAY??

This time last year I had been blogging for less than a month.  I was glued to this computer constantly, reading and commenting on silly, fun blogs and making great new friends.  Sometimes I would read something here that would really make me think.

Chris Higgins wrote a blog a year ago about whether to call this week's holiday "The 4th of July" or "Independence Day".  He talked about his love for this country and urged us to change our habit of referring to it so casually.  I have thought a lot about that blog.  My patriotism runs deep and is, among other things, at the very core of who I am.  This Friday, July 4, we are honoring OUR United States of America and how WE started out.  "The 4th of July" makes one think of barbeque and picnics....but is not truly honoring this great country that we have been so blessed to be born in.

Happy Independence Day!!

I was talking with fellow blogger, Figman, yesterday....

He has been watching the flooding news, like most of us. He heard the people in Çlarksville pleading for sandbagging help to anyone who could come and decided to go there and do it. There are people, good people, who would never just pack up and drive somewhere to help strangers. I think that sort of thing is either wired into your brain or it isn't. But some, like Figman, just felt like he HAD to go there and help out. Kudos to you Figman, and all the others out there who put aside their own plans in life to help neighbors, friends, and even strangers.

It's really hard for me to believe that I blogged for the first time one year ago tomorrow.  It all started with a dare.....and I took that dare.....now here I am!

Sooooo much has changed in my life since then.  I have formed the most unbelievably close  friendships with some of you, and have enjoyed just being blogging buddies with others.  It has been much laughter and some tears too...but change is part of life and I am realizing (finally) what a true friend looks likes. 

Fox2 has changed my life in so many ways.  Thank you to all who I have called "friend".

~michelle

P.S. I am sitting at kk_mom's house right now, where she and Nightpanther just spent the last 3 hours wiping out my computer and making it new again...no more virus!!  Thanks, you two!  Jana, I know you would be hanging out with us tonight if it didn't take $20 in gas money just to get here!!

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?

You have to try this. It takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this!!!
 
This will boggle your mind and you will keep you trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.
 
It's pre-programmed in your brain!

1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.
 

....So Jana asks me a few weeks ago:


"Michelle, what do you want for your birthday?"

Well, usually this would be a question that I would be uncomfortable to answer to any of my friends.  Something about that question makes me feel guilty, because what if I say "I want this" and that "this" is out of their price range, you know?  It just would usually make me feel strange to request a specific thing.

In this case, I had NO PROBLEM coming up with an immediate answer!

If you had a good friend who was a massage therapist, what would YOU ask for as a birthday gift???

Well,  today is Massage Day and in about one hour, Jana will be here with her massage table and oils. 

YEAH!!!!!!

I will comment later and let you know how it went.  We had an excruciatingly hard boxing class with Monica today, so it is going to be awesome for me (probably tiring for poor Jana!).  Someone asked me earlier if I was going to have to get NAKED!!  So now I am worrying a little about that.....LOL!!

Alright, I better go put on some relaxing music and get mentally prepared.  Talk to you later!!

~m

Go Crazy, Folks!!!

What a blast of a home opener it was yesterday!! We will tell you the story of it in our pictures.....from the Fox2 Pep Rally at J. Bucks until the game got called due to the rain! It was a memorable day, as you will see!

By now, you have probably read about Harp's pizza party last weekend.....we all love Harp, and now we know when she plans a party it is going to ROCK!!  Blogger Stephan (pronounced "Stef-FAUN") knew that Harp loves Spongebob, and that Spongebob lives in a pineapple.....so Stephan had this fresh pineapple shipped to him all the way from Hawaii, intending to take it to the party.  Well, it didn't work out for him to go, so he gave it to me yesterday and asked if I could help get this pineapple to Farmington!!

Thus began the saga of The Pineapple.....

I knew that kk_mom was going to Desloge tonight, which is near Farmington.  Jeanette agreed to meet kk_mom there, get the pineapple, and take it to Harp.  Then kk_mom called  me today and one of her children had a fever....so she wasn't  going anywhere tonight.  I called Jeanette and she said her husband Truman worked at the prison in Pacific and I could take it out there. 

Out I drive, pineapple in tow, to the prison.  I walked in with this huge pineapple box (it says on the side "Fresh Pineapple from Hawaii" and has a big picture on it).  As I'm walking in, I felt like everyone was looking at me....even the sharpshooter who stood up in that high tower, waiting for a prisoner to try to escape.  It occurred to me that the pineapple box probably looked like some clever disguise that was really hiding something bad, like a bomb!  OMG, I was freaking myself out and feeling so nervous!!  I went inside and up to the desk....three police officers with big guns were  looking at me suspiciously and I'M STANDING THERE WITH A PINEAPPLE BOX!!  I felt ridiculous, but finally asked for Truman and before I could say why, one of them asked me "Is that a pineapple in that box?"  And I say "well yes, it IS a pineapple".  Because isn't that what you're supposed to take when you visit a prison?  Doesn't everyone take pineapples to prison??  :)

Harp, I hope you LOVE this pineapple!  Stephan was so sweet to put this kind of thought into a gift for you.  And I realized today that most of the bloggers here would do just about anything for you!!  You are SO LOVED!  Post a picture of yourself with your pineapple later, okay?

Last week, my daughter Faith's Girl Scout troop took a tour of Fox2.  We are working on a "communications badge".  It was unlike anything that I expected.....it was BETTER than I expected!  Dan Gray and Jane Beckman did the tour and what a tour we received!  You know, it would have been easy for someone to show us the station and point out a few things and 15 minutes later, we could be on our way.  That's NOT how Dan and Jane did this.  By the time we were finished, those little girls were dreaming of professions in broadcasting and other careers associated with the news station....and I am certain that each one of them are now loyal Fox2 viewers!  Watch those ratings go up.....!! 

I can't thank everyone enough who had a part in this tour!  Girl Scout Troop 1829 is so grateful and pleased with the kindness that everyone at Fox2 showed us last Tuesday night.  Thank you....thank you....thank you!

It's true!  I drove to Kalamazoo, Michigan yesterday for what was supposed to be a short trip; the plan was to be driving back right now (4pm-ish) and get home sometime in the middle of the night.  But I have heard that there is a little bit of ice in St. Louis!! 

Are you sure???  What if all my friends have suddenly decided to conspire against me and keep me up in Michigan and just TELL me that there is bad weather there?  Because the roads are perfectly clear here.....!

When you were little, what did you dream of "being" when you grew up?  At age 6, I announced to anyone who would listen that I wanted to be a MAID and clean houses all day.  I used to love to clean...still have  obsessive-compulsive moments at times...but ultimately, at age 16 I worked at McDonald's, at age 26 was working as a social worker, and now at 36 I am self-employed and work from home. 

One thing that really impresses me is when someone is CHEERFUL about their job, no matter how mundane it may be.  I just love to be around happy, positive people who are passionate about life and strive  to make it even better.  Remember, you are writing your story...you can't change it after the book is written, but you can change the ending!

If you live in the St. Louis area, you are probably familiar with this question!  This seems to be the standard ice-breaker to conversation in all circles here.  Okay, you don't have to say WHERE you went to high school (unless you want to!) but do tell me the craziest thing you did during that time in your life.  A friend was just telling me today about getting banned for life from Steak and Shake for driving off without paying his bill!  Oh, the silly things we did at that age!!

Go ahead....tell me your high school dirt!

Do you have friends who aren't bloggers, but like to read your blogs?  We have a friend like that....good family friend....and he gets to his  office every day at Charter and likes to see if I wrote any new blogs.  He knows most of you by blog name just from doing this.  We nicknamed him "The Stallion" years ago, and that has stuck.  If I could convince him to just sign up and blog, that would be a perfect blog name for him!!  This is the email I received from The Stallion this morning....

So….I haven’t checked your blog in a week or so and decided to “peek in” to see what’s going on in your  lives.  (Remember, your blog is the only way I can keep in touch with you popular peeps these days! J)  It has been an hour away from TWO WEEKS since your last blog!!!! What’s up with that?  Are you still alive?  Has a crazed blogger kidnapped you?  Are you all tied up in your basement?  If you have access to your computer downstairs and your hands are tied behind your back,  wait for your kidnapper to go take a leak or something, put a pencil in your mouth, hit reply to this email and type the secret word “stallion”.  If I get an email with that one word in the subject line, I will alert the local authorities and send help!  Stay strong!  Help is only  a few mouth-induced #2 pencil keystrokes away!   

Orrrrrrrrr…..have you seen all there is to see in the world, embarrassed everyone on your list in life, hit all of your desired vacation spots,  seen every concert you ever wanted to see, etc….and just don’t have anything to “blog” about?  Surely one of these has to be the reason you’ve been MIA for dern near two weeks now!

 

  Help me to convince this smart- alec friend of mine to blog with us!! 

 

 

 

 

That is my daughter, Faith, on the right.  She knew I was trying to get her attention for the picture, and she was IGNORING me!  Last night, she was in a hoops competition with some other kids from her school....of course, I was there with my camera, wanting to capture every moment.  Right before this photo was taken, I was saying "Faith" a few times to get her to look up.  When I got no response, I took the pic anyway....but then we were walking out and this is what she said:

"Mom, that was soooo embarrassing!"

Wow, I think I am officially OLD.  I can't believe I am embarrassing to my kids.  I thought I was still cool!!

 

Well you know I am a little kiss-obsessed!  I am wondering what you think about the etiquette rules that apply for kissing your friends at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve.....!

I have been the "touchy-feely" type for as long as I can remember, but I know some of you aren't. 

Soooooo........do you kiss?  Do you hug?  Do you just stand there and sing Auld Lang Syne??

 

Santa's Tree

When four of Santa's elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not
produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to
feel the pressure of being behind schedule.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mum was coming to visit.
This stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were
about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven
knows where.

More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the boards cracked and
the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys.

So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and
a shot of rum.

When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden
the liquor, and there was nothing to drink.

In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it
broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor.

He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end
of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door.
He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big
Christmas tree.

The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a
lovely day?
I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"


And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas
tree ..



Merry Christmas!
Michelle