Simple Acts of Gratitude

What's the simplest yet nicest way to show gratitude for an act of kindness? Simply saying "thank you". Whether you realize it or not, you can make someone's day by saying thank you after they have done something nice for you that they didn't have to do, or you can ruin their day by not saying thank you at all. Why do people choose to not say thank you? Only that person knows the answer to that....or do they?

I recently experienced several back to back episodes where I took time out of my day to either tell someone happy birthday, help them out with a situation they were going through, took time to download and send them photos from my camera, say happy Thanksgiving, and give a few people a small gift that they weren't expecting, only to be told "ok", or not get a response at all. That hurts. It hurts because it comes across to me as if they're telling me that's something I'm expected to do, not something I really didn't have to do, so why should they tell me thank you? It brings me to another situation that kills me about some people. When I approach a store and realize someone is walking right behind me, I open the door and hold it for them, only to have them walk in with this attitude about them that I'm supposed to hold the door open for them because I'm beneath them. They never say thank you and that irritates me beyond means. What it makes me want to do is slap the shit out of them and scold them about saying thank you. If the doors we're going through are double doors, you can rest assured that if they don't say thank you for me holding the first door open, I will be opening that next door only enough for my body to squeeze through and letting it slam in their face. Some may call this petty, but I wasn't raised to feel another person is above me and that I should bow down to anyone who treats me less than a human being.

Regardless of how a person was raised, saying "thank you" should be taught and learned as a person grows. It's an act of respect and gratitude and will brighten that other person's day if those 2 words escape the lips of a person they feel they've helped. For someone to take time out of their busy day to do something for another person, no matter how large or small, it could crush them severely or possibly make them resort to a negative vibe to where they decide not to go out of their way for that person any longer, if those 2 words aren't recited to them.

That's how I feel right now. I have a huge heart and I constantly feel bad about having to say no to someone because I'm always trying to please everyone else first, before pleasing myself. Since some people choose to not say thank you and let me feel like I was supposed to tell them happy birthday, happy Thanksgiving, buy them a gift or whatever other small token of my appreciation I've given them, I choose to stop going out of my way. It makes it much easier to say no and take the time to do something for myself when I feel others don't appreciate me and what I do for them anyway.

People, you should really take a step back and analyze how you respond to people because sometimes no response is more powerful than you think.

SuperWoman

Have you ever felt like a super-hero to your friends or family? If you don't know what I mean by that, let me ask it this way...Have you ever feel like you have to put on a cape, a costume, or simply an "S" on your chest to become SUPERMAN/WOMAN in order to please everyone? Ever felt like you can't say no to someone without feeling guilty, so rather than tell that person no, you bust your butt to please them, no matter what?

I feel like that sometimes. Who am I kidding? I have felt like that most of my life, so I often say "Let me put my S on my chest and I'll be right over." Unfortunately, the sarcasm often goes unrecognized.

I created the above image as a joke, to be silly and let everyone know Super-Ro is now an official Super-Hero, ready to take on the world! I can do it all with little food or sleep. I can do everything off of nothing but adrenaline. Send me your problems and I'll solve them all with no problem.

Not very realistic is it?

Speaking of sending someone your problems, there is a column I like to read on one of my favorite websites, where people write in to tell this anonymous lady their problems with men, friends, marriages, anything you can think of, and it's a really funny column that can get serious when necessary, if a writer asks a serious question. I began sharing those articles weekly with some friends via email and we would all laugh sometimes and sometimes empathize with the person who wrote in because we may have been in a similar situation before. After sharing those articles for months, a few of my friends began asking if I was this lady who was writing the column? I laughed because I had a feeling someone thought it was me, but never really had the guts to ask or accuse me of being that lady. Rest assured people, that lady is not me, but I can't deny that I sometimes wish it was me because I love acting silly and giving crazy advice if the situation presents itself.

You never know, maybe one day I can create a column that will allow me to be an anonymous super-hero to my friends without them knowing it's me. Would I be able to keep my identity a secret? Hmmm...only time will tell...

Pet Peeves!

We all have pet peeves and most of the time, they tend to surface more often than we would care for them to. At any rate, here are a few of my top peeves...

Pet Peeve #137... Emailing someone asking more than one question, only to have them respond to the last thing you asked. You have to email them back either in separate emails asking the other questions, one at a time, or you have to number them so they see them in a list format. READ people!! And if you have to, when you hit reply, scroll down to re-read each question so you can respond to everything. This saves time on both of our ends. This irritates the crap out of me!

Pet Peeve #138... Giving someone a gift or sending them a congratulatory/happy birthday message whether via email or text, only to have them not respond with a "thank you". That shows you're unnappreciative and makes me not want to do anything for you EVER again. This also irritates the CRAP out of me, not to mention it's very rude!

Pet Peeve #139... I text someone and they CALL me back. Helloooooooooo, I'm texting because either A) I can't talk at the time or B) I'd rather not talk to you at the time. Please don't call someone back if they text you unless they text you asking that you call them back. Learn some texting courtesy people.

Pet Peeve #140... Sending forwarded text messages at odd hours of the morning, especially before 6 a.m. I don't know about you, but the only calls/texts I want to receive at that hour are emergencies. My heart races when I hear my phone vibrating or ringing at 4 a.m. and I immediately think OMG what has happened?? Only to see a fowarded joke on the screen. PISSES ME OFF BEYOND MEANS!

That's all for now, but don't worry, I'll be posting more randomly because I have plenty! :-) Have a nice day.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks and offer forgiveness. That being said...

What am I thankful for? I'm thankful for my family. For the love and support they have shown me and will continue to show me for many years to come. I'm thankful for my sisters...people say blood is thicker than mud, but these ladies have shown me that even though I didn't have any blood sisters given to me through my parents, that saying means nothing because they are the real deal. Thank you for loving me for me! Thank God for allowing me to meet some true friends in my lifetime. Thank God for my sister circle...they keep me laughing, crying, talking and they keep providing me topics to blog about without realizing it...LOL! I'm thankful for my God given talent and creative ability to draw, design, create and use my hands for more than just writing and typing. I'm also thankful that I have experienced or witnessed a lot of things in my 36 short years on this earth...love, hate, deceit, racism, jealousy, selfishness, death and anything else you can think of, and have been able to bounce back from and forgive as God forgives (I haven't been able to forget a lot of things, but I'm working on that part). I am also thankful for old friends, both female and male whom lives I may have touched in one way or another and for those who have touched my life in ways I will never forget. For those friends who realized that we are not meant to be in each others lives for a lifetime, but sometimes we are put in a person's life for a particular reason or season and have taught me a life lesson, whether good or bad...I thank you! I always say I'm gonna ride this mutha until the wheels fall off! That's what I've done thus far and that's what I plan to continue to do. That's for damn sure!!

One special thank you goes to someone who changed my life forever. Thank you for allowing me to experience things I never thought I'd experience, but at the same time, I'm grateful that I did because I'm a different person now. No regrets whatsoever! Thank you for allowing me to talk to you and be honest. Thank you for being open with me and most of all, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to possibly be good friends with you in the future.

God bless you all this Thanksgiving 2008! Much love!

More Vegas

OMG! (or as my friend says it...Oh Em Gee!)
...That's the first phrase that comes to mind when I think of my recent trip to Vegas. One of the funniest things happened while we were in the club the first night out there. One of my friends, who shall remain nameless (she knows who she is, lol), went to the restroom a few times and came back to tell us how huge the club was and how they had several other "rooms" in there that were jammin'! We got excited and told her cool, we will have to check those out before we leave. When we finally decided to go see what all the hoopla was about in this other room, we got stopped by security who told us to wait right there or go back to where we came from because they were waiting on some celebrity to come through. We never saw that celebrity, but as soon as this unknown person passed by, they allowed us through and we went around the corner and into this other room that was jammin'. After about 5 minutes of dancing and walking around the room, groovin' to the beat, head bobbin', fingers snappin' (boom, boom clap! boom, boom clap!), I started thinking wow, this room is jammin'! What I didn't realize at the time is that either I was drunk or I was experiencing de'ja vu...or was I? (insert twilight zone music now)

I know I hadn't been to Vegas lately, so there was no chance on me having been in that particular situation before, so I didn't say anything to anyone, I just kept walking and groovin' to the music... All of a sudden I said to myself "This room looks just like the other room...the shape of the room is the same....that table has the exact same set up as the other one in the other room...hold up, is that the same bouncer that was just in the other room? How in the hell did the same people get in this room so fast?" That's when it clicked and I realized we were in the SAME DAMN ROOM!!! LOL! My poor friend. She thought that club had a bunch of rooms that we just had to check out because they were jammin! LOL! We are still teasing her about that today. That was a night to remember and a story to tell over and over and over. I will always get a good laugh from that one. LOL!
Thanks twin!!! (hey, I didn't reveal your name. I said "twin" lol) :)

Celie Goes To Mexico

LOL!! This photo is an inside joke from last year, but it just resurfaced after an evening of happy hour drinks at a local spot called Don Pico's, in Pearland, TX. If you haven't heard of this place, let me tell you they have margaritas for $1.25 until 7 p.m. Monday thru Friday and then on Saturday, I've heard they sell them for $1. Don't be fooled by the cheap prices and rush over to this spot because the service isn't all that great. Some friends and I went there recently and had a waitress who didn't understand English well. How in the hell do you live and work in one of the largest cities in America and can't communicate properly with fellow Americans? I just don't understand. We were finally seated around 6:30 p.m., so we had to order margaritas in mass quantities to beat the 7 p.m. cut off. After a couple of ritas, I noticed the waitress was slow bringing the happy hour priced drinks, but as soon as the clock hit 7:00, she was magically producing the $4.00 drinks rather quickly. Hmmm...sounds fishy doesn't it? Anyway, we kept drinking/talking/laughing and when it was time to call it a night, we had problems with the checks. For starters, the waitress didn't write down what we all ordered, so we had to tell her (you know drunk people will try to get away with murder if you ask them something that you're supposed to remember). LOL! We tried to tell her we only ordered sour cream and chips just to see if she all of a sudden could speak English and remember our orders. After about 30 minutes of her trying to figure everything out with an English speaking helper, our orders were separated and we were issued individual tickets. To make a long story longer, we paid our tabs and ended up getting the short end of the stick because they kept our change (literally) even though the gratuity was taken out because we had a party of more than 6. Note to self and to others out there...do not go to this place without being ready to fight and take advantage of the happy hour drinks and please go knowing that you should pay with a credit card if you do not have exact change. If your meal totals an amount such as $21.65 and you give them $22.00, rest assured, they WILL keep that additional $0.35 that's due back to you. That's how they're getting over and making extra tips when they don't deserve it.

The moral of the story is: Do not go to Little Mexico, aka Don Pico's or take Miss Celie along with you. Take someone who will be willing to fight all their life...

Hair For Charity

I recently cut my hair off. Some people may think I'm crazy for cutting it so short after letting it grow for 3 1/2 years, but once I tell them I cut it to donate to one of the organizations such as Locks of Love or Pantene to make wigs for underpriveledged kids with cancer, they change their thoughts and facial expressions. I've had long hair the majority of my life, so it's easy for me to want a change, but extremely difficult for others to understand why would anyone with such beautiful hair (their words, not mine) want to cut it off??? Since I've been blessed with being able to grow it back pretty fast, I can cut it today with no worries and have it grow back to a reasonable length within a month. Fortunately, I love it short and have been complemented on how becoming short hair is on me, so I'm not averse to cutting it whenever I get the urge. Who knows how long it'll stay in this short bob because I love it short, short where I can sleep on it, wake up and brush it and go. I hate the maintenance that comes with long hair and since I wore it pulled back in a ponytail 99% of the time, why should anyone care if it's long or short? They rarely saw it down and flowing down my back anyway. Besides, don't they know by now that I'm a gemini and one thing we love is constant change. :)

Janet Jackson, Rock Witchu Tour

So......
I went to the Janet Jackson concert in October even though we found out 2 days prior that LL Cool J would not be opening for her. The concert was great, as usual, since Janet always puts on a fantastic stage show! What pissed me off the most was that there was no replacement opening act and instead of Janet coming on the stage early, she kept her 9 p.m. stage appearance time, leaving fans to sit and wait for 2 whole hours. WTF?? Tickets cost way too much money for that, let alone food, drinks and souvenirs! At any rate, everyone seemed to have gotten past the LL no show and late appearance by Janet and really enjoy the show. Here are a few photos from the night. (cameras weren't allowed, but I know how to smuggle mine past security). :-) Love the mohawk!

Thanks Janet!! A few videos can be seen here.

Vegas

You know the saying, "What happens in Vegas..."

Well, I found that not to be true because I just recently visited Vegas and because of the crazy things that took place, I cannot keep it to myself. I have to tell somebody!

Don't get it twisted, it's not what you think. I'm not referring to anything that's considered a "sin" while in "Sin City", this is more along the lines of crazy/stupid/funny.

One thing I found out this visit was that there is nowhere to sit in any club you go to, unless you pay to sit down. Oh yes, you have to pay...literally. I'm not used to that because here in Houston, the seats in the clubs are first come, first serve unless you have reserved a particular section for a party or something. That's not the case in Vegas. Every single seat, booth, table, etc. is pre-reserved, but not for people who have called ahead, they're reserved for first come, first serve customers who want to pay to sit down once they arrive. Yes, everything done in Vegas costs money! You have to pay to play (or sit, in this matter). I asked one of the bouncers/security guards if I could sit down and he told me that I could definitely sit, for the right price. I had to purchase a bottle of liquor, priced at $400 or better, in order to sit down for a measly 5 minutes to rest my aching feet. No sir! I looked at him like he was crazy and walked off. I ended up sitting down at an empty booth when no one was looking and took my chances on getting scolded, thrown out or arrested, whatever the punishment is for sitting down at a club without permission. Go figure.

At any rate, I was able to rest my tired dogs and pretend I had no idea sitting wasn't allowed unless you paid for it, and ended up having a good time. Here is a photo of one of the guys who was partying nearby, that I pretended told me that the table I was sitting at was his table and he allowed me to sit, before I brushed passed security and made a dash for the main dance floor before they could find out I was lying...

THANK YOU LAS VEGAS, FOR A WEEKEND TO NEVER FORGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nephew Photos

My nephew, born on election day! HISTORY IN THE MAKING!!