I have this daily desk calendar. It may be a Barack Obama calendar. *ahem* OK, so it is a Barack Obama calendar. The page for each day contains a quote from our president. My mother-in-law got it for me for Christmas, and I’m enjoying it so far. Obviously, some days’ quotes are better than others. Like today.
“Our future is what we build it to be.”
– Barack Obama, March 23, 2009
– Barack Obama, March 23, 2009
I’m not one to believe in destiny. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. I sometimes like to believe there is a plan for our lives. I like to believe there is a purpose.
But I also don’t believe that we can sit idly by and our lives will unfold as they should. Perhaps there is a current leading the way, but still, I’m the one steering the ship.
I hate to hear people complain about situations in their lives. I’m not innocent; I do it, too. But when someone is miserable in their current state of living, my question is always, “Well, what are you doing to change it?” I know that often times, change is not easy to come by. But if the “American Dream” has taught us anything, it is that anything is possible.
Conan O’Brien actually said something to this effect on his last show on Friday. He said,
“All I ask of you–especially young people–is one thing. Please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism. It’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”
It’s not a unique message, but it’s a good one. You have to work hard. You have to push through. You have to make some tough decisions. You have to put in the time and effort. It’s not usually fun. In the end, though, you will end up in a better place. Maybe it’s not exactly where you hoped you’d end up, and maybe you didn’t achieve exactly what you set out to achieve. But you will have made changes in your life and you will be better for it. And if you’re not, keep working and keep pushing, because change will come again.
Lately, we have made moves to make some pretty significant changes in our lives. At this moment, for these particular changes, we’ve done all that we can do. It is during the “wait and see what happens” period that I believe in the plan. We’ve played all of our cards and now our future is in the hands of something or someone else. And it is now that I turn to the mantra, “What is meant to be will be.” We’ve set the wheels in motion. We’ve made the choices, and now we wait for the outcome. If this doesn’t work out, we’ll press on and try another route.
Because the future will be what we build it to be.
I hope it’s a good one.
It’s Ketchup Day: January 2010 Edition. Enjoy!
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Life has been busy and keeping us on our toes. Blogging has been difficult this month, but I’m trying to keep my head above water. I’m happy that January is almost over, because February is a short month (even though it always feels long), and once March hits, it’s almost spring.
Every year that I live through winter, I hate it more and more. Don’t get me wrong; I like having four seasons. It’s just that I wish winter only lasted through Christmas. Really, I’m starting to believe I’m not meant for the cold. I dream of picking up everyone we know and love, and moving (all together!) to a warmer climate. Wouldn’t that be nice?
As much as I’m bitching about the cold, we really had a nice weekend. Yesterday was sunny and relatively warm, so we took Tessa for a really long walk. Today wasn’t as nice (it rained), but the temperatures were in the 40s so it is hard to complain. Although I always appreciate the warm days that are a reprieve, I’m always a little bit bitter about them because I know they’re just a tease. This week, we’re back into the 20s and snow, snow, snow. BLAH BLAH BLAH.
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Remember the heart-wrenching story about little Maddie? Her mommy, Heather, had a new baby on Friday. I couldn’t be happier for an internet stranger. The child she lost cannot, of course, ever be replaced, but I feel like love is so tremendously healing, and that darling little Annabel is the best thing that could have happened for her parents.
Ironically, someone else had a baby this weekend, too. Jenny, who I’ve written about before because her blog was the first I ever saw and read, welcomed her third daughter on Saturday. Like Heather, Jenny lost her first daughter much too soon. Allie died of leukemia in 2004 at just 9 months of age. Today, her second daughter, Maggie, is 4 years old, and the family is now complete with the addition of little Katie.
Happiness all around!
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A few of you have asked (in the comments of other posts) about our upcoming vacation plans. Well, the truth is that we don’t have any. Yet. But we’re working on it.
We have several ideas, but we have quite a few balls up in the air right now and we need to get everything straightened out before we start making decisions about any vacations. We’re hoping that our next trip will happen around the end of April, but we’ll see. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted about where we’re going next! :)
I think that by the time our next one rolls around, this will have been the longest stretch we’ve gone between vacations since before we were married… so I’m sure I’m going to be really ready!
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I’ve made quite a bit of progress on my 101 in 1001 list lately! I went in on Friday and crossed off and updated a bunch of things. Woohoo! Check it out, if you want.
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We’ve been watching football all day. Earlier, we went to Champps for the Jets vs. Colts game. I didn’t really know who to root for, as I hate Peyton Manning, and I couldn’t in good conscience root for the Jets (they are division rivals for the Bills). By the end, however, I realized that I would have preferred the Jets. I think. I guess I’ll never really know. But I found myself scowling when I realized that Peyton and the Colts would be going to the Super Bowl again!
The second game, Vikings vs. Saints, is still going on now, and it’s a pretty interesting game so far. I’d really like to see the Saints pull this one out! I like Drew Brees, and let’s face it–I’ve made no secret of how I feel about Brett Favre. We’ll see what happens. No matter the outcome, we’ll be gathering a small group at our house for the Super Bowl again this year. I always look forward to that!
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And with that, another weekend comes to a close. I am not looking forward to going back to work this week. It seems like the work weeks are continuously getting longer, while the weekends are getting shorter. *sigh*
I know I already bitched about this a couple of days ago, but I couldn’t help but comment again, now that “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” is officially a thing of the past.
When we got home from having dinner with friends last night, I was too tired to stay up and watch the last episode of Conan. However, I definitely didn’t want to miss it, so I made sure to DVR it.
Tonight, as we ate dinner, we watched Conan’s last show. Throughout the whole thing, I couldn’t help but feel really sad. Especially toward the end when he got all teary and explained what the whole experience meant to him, and how grateful he was for his staff, crew, and fans. Maybe I’m overly emotional, but I was pretty damn close to tears myself!
I was going to post a video clip from the last show, but NBC’s “share video” function isn’t working. (Surprise, surprise. Can they do ANYTHING right?)
I found myself remembering back in the spring, when I was sad to see him leave New York and his late show. But it was different then, because we knew we’d still be seeing him on TV. Now, no one can be sure where he will end up.
I hope to see him back on the air–somewhere, somehow–in September.
I’m pretty behind on reviewing books! I read this one back in November. Whoops.
Perhaps part of the reason I neglected this write-up for so long is that I didn’t find this book particularly inspiring. To be fair, I wasn’t expecting much. It’d been a while since I’d read any “chick lit” and I figured this would be a fast, easy, and probably fun read.
Girls’ Night In is a collection of short stories written by a variety of chick lit authors, such as Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, Jennifer Weiner, and more. Some of the stories are engaging and entertaining, and some–well, aren’t. I flew through the first 2/3 of this book, but had a hard time finishing it. By the end, I found myself skipping some of the stories after reading only a page or two into them.
The other problem was that I found the short story format to be limiting for these types of tales. I couldn’t get into the characters because there just wasn’t enough time to do so.
Honestly, I’m not much of a chick lit kind of girl, so this just wasn’t my thing. Still, I like to read the light and easy stuff every once in a while, so I gave this a fair chance. And while parts of it were fun, I certainly wouldn’t file this under my “favorites” any time soon (or ever).
I’d like to tell you all that I predicted this. And I sort of did.
You see, I knew that Leno’s primetime gig was never going to last. Still, I could never have predicted what a clusterfuck of a situation this whole thing would become.
Conan has effectively been thrown out on his ass for no reason at all, except that Jay Leno is a selfish douchebag. It is being reported today that Conan has officially signed paperwork that releases him from his contract with NBC. And so it’s over. OVER FOR NBC, anyway. I hope that Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” and the network burn to the ground. I don’t watch anything else on NBC, and I have never been so grateful to not be supporting a particular network.
NBC’s treatment of a man who was a long-time, dedicated employee is completely sickening to me. I know it’s not the first time someone has been wronged for the sake of “business,” but the way this has played out has been ludicrous.
The worst part of it all is that Conan O’Brien is truly a class act. I loved his statement released earlier this month, when all of this controversy really started to pick up. I especially loved the end (after several paragraphs of expressing his disappointment and explaining his position):
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.
LOVE.
Conan has handled himself with grace and poise throughout the whole process during which NBC completely screwed him over. (To be fair, he does get $45 million out of the exit deal. Not too shabby!)
Most frustrating is the fact that everyone knows that NBC and Jay Leno are wrong… except NBC and Jay Leno. Jimmy Kimmel made an absolute fool out of Leno (on Leno’s own show!) last week. And then, just this morning, I saw this clip on Michelle’s blog:
Here’s hoping Conan ends up with a much better gig and Leno falls in the ratings (AND off the face of the Earth).
TEAM CONAN, baby. TEAM CONAN.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
