Why So Serious?

I don't even remember any longer where we were or what we were doing, but those words from her sweet, little mouth are seared into my memory.  Bella looked at me and asked "Momma, why are you always so serious?"  The truth is I don't know why.  I have so many reasons to be sad or thoughtful or even a touch angry, but no good reason for being so serious.

For the first time in my life, I can actually say that I have been battling depression.  The other night, I actually sat on my couch in the middle of the evening and just uncontrollably sobbed.  I want to talk about this a bit.  Ever since my Dad took off a bit over a year ago now, I have on more than one occasion reached out and made several phonecalls to try and find  therapist because I knew that this was going to be a hard one to process and I should probably get some help working through all of this.  Do you know how many therapists and counselors have called me back?  One!  One! This ladies and gentlemen is a HUGE problem.  If someone has actually gotten to the point where they are actively seeking out help and nobody calls them back, this is a problem!

For all of you who watch the news and wonder why these people who are so sad or completely mad didn't get help ...maybe, just maybe they tried and couldn't even get a call back.

I have endured and thrived in life despite having been molested at a young age, regardless of the fact that my grandmother was robbed of her life way too soon and that I sat there and held her hand as she took her last breath, notwithstanding the tragic death of a man I loved very much due to a suicide bomber, I have always been able to keep my head up, love in my heart and a smile on my face.  However, the postpartum depression I went through after Bella was born followed shortly thereafter by my fathers act of cowardice to just disappear, walk out on his wife and want nothing to do with his children ... these events over the past four years, have pushed me to the brink of losing my smile.  I know it, I can feel it, I have asked for help and my call has gone unanswered.

I am so thankful that I have been mostly able to keep a level head and certainly have not gotten as dark as some other people I know that have been afflicted with depression.  I know that I have to be my own advocate and just keep calling until I get a call back from someone that fits my needs, but the point is that we need to be honest with ourselves and with each other.  If we don't, we are harming ourselves, but also possibly teaching our minis that we should be serious or glum or angry ... that's no way to live.

My truth is that I was very affected by becoming a mother and than losing my father.  I have a beautiful life and a ton of reasons to smile, but it can be easy to lose focus of that and this time finding my way back has taken more work that I ever recall it requiring in the past.  In all this, I am starting to learn to give people more grace because none of us know what they may be battling with or who they asked for help that didn't return their phonecall.

I am still knee-deep in this lesson, I don't know what I will look like on the other side of this, but I do know that I have been cold to some people when I was angry even when I know they real answer is love.  I vow to be love, to try my hardest to not be so serious,  and I promise to return phone calls

My Reasons Why: Essential Oils

I have recently dove head first into the world of essential oils. Some of you know that my day job is in the pharmaceutical/biotech realm and the contrast between my day job and the implementation of essential oils may seem incongruent and to others of you it may make perfect sense.

To this story, I add a piece of history. When I was in high school and volunteering at a local hospital because I dreamed of going to medical school, I had a positive PPD (the skin test for exposure to tuberculosis), in short, it was determined that I had latent tuberculosis and the doctors decided to put my on a drug known as INH (Isoniazid).

At the time, they believe that patients should be on the INH therapy for two years in order to be effective. During the time I was on this treatment, I experienced most of the side effects listed on the package insert (fainting, dizziness, numbness and tingling in the extremities, fever, upset stomach, excessive tiredness, weakness, lack of energy, loss of appetite and on at least one occasion, convulsions. The doctor's response was loosely " just take the medicine at night so most of the effects hit you at night during your sleeping hours." Fast forward 11 months and the rules for INH therapy had changed and it had been determined that 9 months were likely to be as effective as the previously supported two year therapy and I was removed from the therapy and received my INH completion card.

Fast forward a few years and I began to suffer from chronic back pain and migraines, so debilitating that some days I could not bring myself to get out of bed. Fast forward some more and you see me gain 40lbs and have headaches so severe that on top of the migraines, I have an unending residual tension headache and spend a lot of time crying from the pain. I saw general practitioners, physical therapists, neurologists and they all just threw more pharmaceuticals at my and six weeks of traction which just exacerbated the situation. I eventually went to a chiropractor for the first time who deduced that all the fainting, dizziness, convulsions, etc. from the INH had caused so much trauma to my spine that I had developed vertebral subluxations which are when one or more of the bones of your spine (vertebrae) move out of position and create pressure on, or irritate spinal nerves. the subluxations were so bad that i had lost some of the natural curvature in my spine and the nerve disturbance so sever that the chiropractic stated that he was amazed that I was not suicidal. I wasn't ... thankfully. However, I had reached my breaking point. I was a finishing up college at San Diego State University when my dance professor saw how much pain I was in and introduced me to her husband who would become my acupuncturist. That man literally saved my life! This was my introduction to a more naturalistic approach to self-care and overall healthcare. He introduced me to Chinese herbs and supplements and through my time getting to know him and his family, I learned more about the importance of whole foods. I could write a whole separate post about that altogether, but the point is that was tipping point in my life. That's when the history of medicinal herbs and foods and the centuries old practices of energy healing came into focus for me and became my first approach to everything.

Let me be clear, science is amazing and there have been some remarkable advancements in western medicine. I am not by any means belittling western medicine. My point is that I believe strongly that there is a time and place for both naturalistic approaches and the more scientifically or technologically driven approaches. Yin and Yang when in balance.

So many years later I meet my husband, he suffers from chronic pain due to a life of ruff and tumble and jobs that require brute strength combined with endurance. He's been hard on him. Ever since I have known him it has been whiskey every night and anti-inflammatories or extended-release pain meds during the day ... just to get him through the aches and pains of being in his own skin. i of course with my own experience and reading drug side effects everyday worry about what that could be doing to his body in the long run.

When we had our daughter, we were blessed to have a healthy baby - she did have a bit of colic, but no reflux, no chronic ear infections, no diaper rash or yeast infections, she didn't even really spit up much, but when she was 15 months old she had her first febrile seizure. It lasted seven minutes and I thought my heart might just break into a gazillion pieces. We learned later that they are benign and she will likely outgrow them, but that we need to manage her fevers when she gets them very aggressively ... which means acetaminophen and ibuprofen, cool wash clothes, light clothing, and occasionally cool baths. That's when I started hearing people recommending peppermint oil on the feet of babes to help reduce fevers. My interest was piqued, but I honestly didn't move on it until she had another seizure and another. She's had three now that we know of ... each one different, each one I feel like I might just die watching her little body seize and jerk.

This was about the same time that my husband was developing a hand injury from his 'hands on' work and was in another level of pain that also happened to interfere with his everyday functioning. Imagine not being able to pour a cup of coffee because your hand gets stuck in the gripped position around the coffee pot handle.  Frustrating!

That's when the essential oil conversation got louder and louder in my world. I began to listen and do my research and that's when I was introduced to Young Living Essential Oils. I sat down with some friends who had integrated essential oils (EOs) into their lives. Their testimonials were inspiring, exciting, and promising. I read more, asked more and I decided to try and integrate EOs into my life.

Since we have started using EOs, I have found a combination of EOs that my husband applies topically to reduce body pain and another one for headaches. He has since reduced his intake of ibuprofen by 95%. I have used peppermint oil in combination with pharmaceutical fever reducers to get my daughter's fevers down in less time with less need for rescue medications.





Oh and did I mention that she was suffering also from chronic nosebleeds (sometimes 3 a day) which have been reduced by 99% since I started using geranium oil on the bridge of her nose twice a day.

My husband and my daughter both fall asleep quicker and stay asleep more peacefully since using lavender and cedarwood oils on them every night. And I avoided a swollen ankle and days of an awkward uncomfortable gait after I took a tumble and twisted my ankle by simply applying lemongrass oil to my hurt ankle.

I friend suffering hair loss is seeing increased regrowth after I made her a blend of EOs. All of this accomplished with a reduced presence of pharmaceuticals in our life. Again, I am not anti-pharma. I work in pharma ... it's my day job, but I am an advocate for safe medications, patient-centric medicine and a healthy lifestyle.




So when people ask me why I am so passionate about EOs, Less pain and suffering for my groom and my daughter all due to a naturalistic, less toxic approach to treating what ails us. I have been on the receiving end of the side effects from pharmaceuticals, those risks aren't to be taken lightly. Sometimes the risks are outweighed by the potential benefit, but why take that gamble when it's not necessary.

I had lots more to say

My beautiful health coach cousin, Heather, invited me to talk about Nutrition on our SHRED Challenge call last night.  I had a ton of notes and only 10 minutes to talk about it all.  I got so excited about what everyone was saying and sharing a single epiphany I've had about teaching my daughter nutrition that I fear I failed sharing probably some of the wisdom that was most applicable to the entire group.  So here's what else I wanted to share:

 

1) Herbalife is amazing and tastes great; my 2-year-old daughter begs for sips of my shakes.  Perhaps that is why Herbalife makes this.

 

2)  My husband started drinking one shake a day and just taking a lunch to work and lost nearly 25 lbs.  He was barely trying.  That speaks volumes about the impact even little purposeful changes to your nutrition can make huge differences in your health.

 

3)  Parents - please don't avoid working out at home because you have an audience (aka: our kiddos who laugh at everything).  My daughter thinks me doing push-ups and squats and crunches is hilarious!  Laughter is infectious and it works your abs!  Also, seize the moment, I had my best friend and her daughter, Daisy, over for a play date.  Daisy was doing something that resembled downward dog, so I said: "Yay!  You're doing yoga.  That's downward dog."  We laughed about the funny name and then she told me she is learning yoga in kindergarten.  So I ask her to show me what she is learning.  next thing you knew, we were having a little yoga session in my living room.  It turned out to be a great workout, my daughter was trying it too, and we made memories and got the kiddos excited about movement.  Win!  Score one for the parents.

 

4)  When making food choices for your family.  You can make the same dishes that you always did, just keep these things in mind: 

    a) Flip the ratio (make sure that the protein and veggies outweigh the starches on the plates)

    b) Dish up dinner on smaller plates (it tends to help people who are proned to clearing their plate  

          eat smaller portions)

    c) Keep the food on your plate colorful!  Naturally, colorful food is an indication that it's full of the good stuff (omegas, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals) and the kids looooooove color. For my   little one, I ask her to point out what food is green, blue, red, purple, etc.  It keeps her engaged.

    d) Just because someone in the family didn't eat a veggies or a healthy grain prepared one way   doesn't mean they'll hate it every way.  Don't give up; try new things.  Your family may think couscous is boring, but try adding toasted pine nuts, roasted garlic, some chopped parsley or arugula and a little feta ... orrrrr diced tomatoes, basil, and some grated parmiggiano reggiano. BOOM!  Yum fest!

    e) If veggies aren't your thing or your families thing, hide them!  We put chopped spinach in our meatloaf and grated zucchini in our home-made lemon bread.

   

I am by no stretch of the imagine a perfect mom, perfect wife or perfect human ... none of us are.  I make mistakes everyday.  What worked yesterday won't always work tomorrow, but I refuse to give up.  The key is that we are all human which means we have the awesome ability to adapt, overcome, improvise, and be a better version of ourselves than we were the day before.  Keep trying.  Keep in mind that fueling this gorgeous machine of our body is our number one responsibility, it affects every other aspect of what we do, see, and say.

 

OK, that's what I wanted to say.  To the SHREDDERS on the call last night, sorry I got off track and didn't get to share it all.  To my other readers, take care of yourself.  You wouldn't put off-brand regular unleaded in a Maserati, so why would you put artificial food with questionable ingredients and quality control in your body or the bodies of your loved ones.

Herbalife SHRED Challenge

So as some of you may know, I began on a health and weightloss journey in September 2011.  Bella was eight months old and I still had 7lbs of baby weight I wanted to get rid of.  I'll save the story of how it came to be for another blog, but I started Herbalife and began a mission to fit into all my suits again.  That was my goal.  Not a final weight or a final measurement, but just to be able to fit into my favorite black suit again.  So with the amazing modifications a woman's body makes to accommodate creating another human, losing the 7lbs was not enough to fit into the aforementioned suit again.  It took three months and 33 lbs to fit into that suit again, but I made it and I can rock it once again.

 

I have stayed on a maintenance plan with Herbalife, using the shakes and the supplements to stay healthy and have the energy to keep up with my growing toddler.  I love it, I feel amazing!  However, I have not made as much time to work out as I would like.  Did you notice the word choice there ... not I am too busy to work out, but that I have not made as much time to work out as my heart would like.  Thus, I am not as lean or strong as I dream of being.

 

So with the turning of the new year, my Herbalife family started a SHRED Challenge.  6 weeks, before and after pictures, top 2 men and top 2 women win a cash prize.  Perfect!!  Competition is a good way to encourage and in this competition all of the Shredders are sharing and encouraging each other, sharing recipes, workouts, motivational quotes and all things glorious and loving and encouraging.  I'm amped!  I am constantly being thoughtful and deliberate in my food choices.  However, we are at the top of Week 4 and my progress pics show no progress.  *sigh  The scale at one point showed 5 lbs. gone, but now I stand at only a 2lb. weight loss. *sigh 

 

I find myself being jealous of all the young 20-somethings in the challenge that do not have to cook for a family and thus can plan out an entire week of premade, premeasured low calorie, high protein meals.  They don't have to get home to bathe a child and thus have time to go to the gym everyday for 2 hours and burn 1200 calories in one gym session.  Then I snap out of it and remember that I am a 33-year-old mother who shares a home with my mother, father, husband, and daughter.  I love the challenge of finding ways to make healthy, nutritious, exciting, sensuous food for my family.  I remember that I live 15 miles from the closest gym and there are no lit sidewalks out here in the part of the county I live in.  I remember that I am an executive under extremely stressful, high pressure deadlines right now and I have managed to make time to do 30-minute Jillian Michaels videos here in my home office.  I remember that although my progress picture is not showing the physical transition that I have hoped for, the mental progress I have made is profound.  I love where I am in my life and I do not need to envy anyone else's reality.

 

For instance, last night rather than making the normal chicken enchilada casserole that used to consist of chicken, green chiles, tons of cheese, tortillas, and green chile sauce (from a can) that would usually be accompanied my Mexican-style rice or refried beans. I made the following variation:  Chicken and vegetable enchiladas (chicken, corn tortillas, half the cheese that would normally be included with corn, zucchini, squash, cilantro, and scratch-made tomatillo sauce) which was accompanied by a green salad with avocado, carrots, pepitas, organic heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and low-fat Trader Joe's Cilantro dressing.  My family ate it ... some even gave huge, glowing compliments of how delicious it was.  That, my friends, is success!  Success is not solely present in the number on a scale or whether or not your pants are looser.  Last night, it was present in the herbal tea I was drinking sweetened with organic agave rather than a Coke Zero.  It was present in the vitamin packed, reduced calorie, well-balanced, nutritious meal I made for my family.

 

I am so inspired by my Herbalife family and I want them to be inspired by me as well.  We are learning skills on how to improve our lives, by improving our health ... we are not solely learning how to have the most drastic before and after photo.  I am still fighting to win the competition, but I am being realistic and counting my daily victories and want to share it with all of you who may not be seeing the movement on the scale or your waist measurement that you were hoping for.  Success is defined by how we feel about ourselves everyday; are we proud of who we were today? I am; I am stoked on the shift I have made in myself!  I am so damn proud of how far I have come.  I am proud of the healthy habits I am teaching my family and modeling for my young daughter.  That success will never be present in a photograph other than the size of my smile in said photo.

 

Much love and health to you all!  And as a nod to the physical transition I have made.  Here is my before and after photo since Bella  was born and where I stand now in my current form.

What inspires you? What keeps you keeping on?

I have been so bad at keeping up with my blog; it always seems like something is going on.  I am so good at getting things done, making things happen for those I love, but I haven't been making time to write.  Tsk, tsk to me!  I am on the road today ... one of my infamous quick trips to Boston ... back on a plane tomorrow to head home to my handsome groom and my beautiful daughter!

 

We are in the midst of a huge life shift right now, the details of which will unfold and disclose themselves in their right time, but in the midst of this shift I have found myself really focusing on health.  Mine, Sean's and the health habits we are building in our daughter.

 

So I am human - a mom, a sister, a daughter, a friend, an executive (that travels a ton), a role model, and an enthusiast of life.  My default position is positive (albeit it took major life events to lock my dial on positive).

 

So in the midst of all of this, I find myself consciously acknowledging the things that keep me inspired.  So since every success we have as a human depends on how we feel ... every success depends on our health - mind and body.  With that said, I share with you the things that I fight to keep in the forefront of my mind because they keep me inspired to keep my chin up, eyes focused, and moving onward and upward.

 

This is what inspires me to keep healthy, to fight for my best health:

 

1) my daughter

2) not needing caffeine or energy drinks or sugar to keep my eyes open

3) not wanting to miss my bliss because I am not alert or able

4) wanting to be the bitchin' grandma (30 years from now when my daughter is a mother) that can go hiking with her grandkids, that can ride bikes, and jump in waves with my kid and the kids she may or may not choose to have one day

5) 50-year-old, mothers of three who practice Bikram six days a week and have a stronger, leaner body than i have ever had

6) those crazy Phoenicians who at 60+ years old still RUN up Piestewa Peak on Saturdays (you hear me, PHX?)

7) 60+ year old men who still paddle out to the breakers every morning

8) keeping my husband discovering new bliss everyday

9) inspiring my husband to continue discovering how healthy changes in his life overflow into every aspect of his life

10) feeling great on these long business road trips, so that if I have to be away from my family I can be confident that it was worth it and I did work worth being proud of

11) the complete and utter giddiness that washes over me every time an aesthetician or dermatologist tells me I have great skin!

12) wanting to be a positive role model for my two sister-in-laws who are nearly a generation younger than I

13) my undying desire to travel and learn more, see more, experience more

14) my fear of ever not being able to walk on my own

15) my fear of preventable disease

 

These are just a few of the things that have encouraged me and kept me on task as I try to build, shape, and refine my own health practice.  Good health means body and soul.  It starts in our cells with what we feed ourselves and everything expands out from there.  I am finding what works for me and I hope that you all take the time to actively acknowledge what inspires you and allow it to give you power to accomplish what you think you are not capable or worthy of.  Little hint:  you are capable and worthy of so much more than you give yourself credit for.

Biggest, Hugest case of the "I Don't Want Tos"

I officially have the biggest case of the "I Don't Want Tos" today.

I feel like a wandered seized by the quicksand of reason and rationale.  Ugh!  I think my lack of want for doing what I am supposed to be doing right now may be indicative of a need for a change.  I've felt the winds of change coming for a while, but they are really starting to blow hard.

Looking forward to seeing what it stirs up in me.

She's 12 weeks old already!

She is almost 3 months old and she is brimming with personality. Her hair is hilarious these days - a mix of the long hair she was born with, the bald sections where some of it has fallen out, and all the new lighter hairs that are growing in. It's constantly a mess. I pretty much decided this is the only hair style where every strand cooperates. hehe! Daddy loved it!
In honor of the fact that she has blessed me for five nights straight now of eight straight hours of sleep or more. this is my new favorite picture of my sleeping beauty.

... and this is what happens when Daddy and Bella spent the morning together. Sooooooo cute!

Her major development of this week is that she now giggles! ...and each time she does, my heart melts. I look forward to hearing that laugh every day I am lucky enough to share this Earth with her!

Baby Brookshire Update - Pregnancy at 32 weeks

I am now 32 weeks along. Baby is now head down and the fetal heartbeat is at 140bpm. Strong and healthy! My weight gain is at about 18 pounds and the baby's measurements are right on target. The doctor's have no concerns about this pregnancy at all.

My belly is getting bigger although women on the street love to tell me how small I am or how I am way too small. All I know is the doctors are saying all my stats are perfect, so I stick with that.

Bella moves all the time now and like to remind me when I am slouching with a nice strong kick! Sean can feel her moving now and I often spend time sitting on the couch or laying in bed watching my belly move. I have even had coworkers notice as my belly leaps and lurches during meetings, so I guess I can't be that small ... ha!

Anyway, that's really all the news I have for now. Doctor appointments are every two weeks for the next month and then I go in every week. We're in the homestretch with just 8 weeks left!

Baby Brookshire Update - pregnancy at 28 weeks

Another really bad picture of me, but a great look at my beautiful Bella bump! I really need to have Sean take better pictures of the belly!

Baby Brookshire Update - pregnancy at 23 weeks

Not the greatest picture, but had to share that Bella is definitely starting to make an appearance.

The Proud Parents at 22 weeks

So as you may know, I was in my dear friend, Ann's wedding this weekend. My marvelous mother was kind enough to make me a dress that worked with my growing belly. We had this picture taken of Sean and I and our Bella bump. Sean is making her look bigger than she really is, but it's still a fun picture!

Beautiful Princeton

So with the frustration of Sean finding himself unemployed this summer came the benefit of being able to travel with my on some of my business trips.

Sean joined me on my week in San Diego in June for the DIA conference and then a couple weeks ago, Sean and I flew together for the first time as he joined me on my trip to the East Coast.

I had to go to North Carolina for about 18 hours for a couple of meetings and then off to Princeton, NJ by way of Philadelphia. This trip was not only the first time we have flown together, but also the first time both Sean and I got a chance to visit Princeton. For this trip, we had a couple days in the middle of it all to just poke around and see what we see.

The first afternoon there in Princeton, Sean and I noticed this building right next to our hotel in Carnegie Center. This is an old home turned office space that is vacant and available for lease.

It's beautiful and I am thinking it might make a superb spot for the future East Coast Regional Office of Compass IRB. Hehe! Just kidding .... kinda.


Sean and I walked around and looked in the windows and drooled over the lush trees and the moss covered stone walls. Then we stumbled upon this massive fungi. It was so beautiful!

The next day, my husband humored me and let me geek out and walk around Princeton University's campus. It was so amazing to walk around this historic campus and witness something so special ... to walk a place where so many great minds have studies, theorized, and/or taught. People such as one Albert Einstein who spent the last 22 years of his life teaching at Princeton.

I have never seen a university campus of this age. The campus was full of layers upon layers of magnificent buildings; each seemingly the best of each architectural era. Sean and I spent a good 30 minutes just staring at the exterior of this building.

We ended up spending about three hours just walking around campus, checking out the gardens, statues and monuments.

Walking around this campus was inspiring, I even started daydreaming about how magnificent it would be to go back to school and get a graduate degree from an Ivy League school. I would be in debt for the rest of my life and I am pretty sure that second semester of my undergrad freshman year would prohibit me from living my day dream, but it certainly was nice to dream.

This will be a summer I never forget

It's summer ...well almost and the local weather anchors are telling us that the start of monsoon season is just 3 days away, but somebody must be confused. I say this because when I got home from work yesterday evening it was only 89 degrees and when I left for work this morning it was a perfect 74 degrees.

Last I checked this was the Valley of the Sun and last I checked the weather had to be substantially hotter for the monsoon phenomenon to ever occur. Hey, I'm not complaining. I am just astonished! Thank you Mother Earth for this astonishingly beautiful ease into our summer.

Oh and Sean, hater of all air that is hot, loves and appreciates it too!

Today was pretty dang great!

Today, despite the absence of my beloved husband, was a pretty dang good day. It was a gorgeous Phoenix spring morning with the promise of a storm blowing in which just happens to be some of my favorite weather and then the day just seemed to unfold quite nicely into perfect Saturday loveliness (except of course that my Sean wasn't here to share it with me).

Here are the reasons why today was a good day!

1) I mowed a lawn for the first time. Growing up a girl with a dad and a brother, I never really had any reason to be the one responsible for mowing the lawn and then until now if I lived somewhere with grass it came with a landscaping team to take care of it. So now, Sean and I are here in our rental house with a nice size lawn and Sean always takes it upon himself to take care of the mowing. So of course, with Sean gone, I now had to step up and take care of it myself. So today I mowed! I think I love it. I think I might steal it of of Sean's list of responsibilities. Fresh cut grass is one of my favorite smells in the world and I found it to be quite relaxing. A favorite smell, outside activity, and relaxing ... win, win, win in my book.

2) on my way to yoga today, I saw a man and a woman teaching someone how to ride a bike along the greenbelt ... bonus cuteness ... the person learning how to ride was probably in her late thirties! They all had these fabulous smiles on their faces and the student was sporting a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads. It really was such a rare moment that I got to be privilege to ... adults being astounding friends to one another and relishing in the joy of it like sweet innocent children. Fabulous!

3) I went to yoga! That is no officially the eighth time in 2 1/2 weeks including five days I spent in Arkansas with Sean and no chance of going to Bikram. So really that is eight times in about 13 days. I am very proud of myself and I feel so amazing. I am officially addicted to the Bikram yoga experience. The sweat, the meditation, the journey, the way it challenges my body in a different way each time. Love, love, love it!

4) I got a manicure and pedicure at my favorite place by my favorite girl! 'nuff said.

Today was a study is fabulousness for which I am thankful to have participated in. Now if I was just lucky enough to get to crawl into bed with my husband too .... ohhhh that would be sweet! Alas, that apparently is asking too much since I won't have Sean back in our home 'til April at the earliest. Oh well! I will keep counting my blessing and focusing on the positive. I hope you all are having an equally as lovely Saturday.

still smiling ... and laughing at life's little qwerks

So working in my industry and spending my entire day corresponding with people. The following are the list of pet peeves I have acquired that usually cause fits of annoyed yet entertained laughter:

1.) people who speak in pronouns

2.) emails with no subject lines

3.) emails where the entire content of the email is in the subject line and the body is empty.

4.) people who ask questions in a reply to an email that they obviously didn't read because had they read it they would have the answer to their question.

5.) voicemails in which people don't leave their phone number or they do leave their phone number but only say it once and at lightening speed.

Hahaha ... I swear I am going to start a business etiquette consulting firm! Until the economy is a little more conducive to me starting such a venture I will just keep giggling and keeping a list of these things and call it research.

Oh, how I love the characters that are human beings!