Why I Laugh During Rough Moments

The Bob Newhart ShowI read this quote today by Bob Newhart (for you younger readers, a big time TV comedian awhile back)

Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.  ~Bob Newhart

Many folks ask me how I can laugh and find humor in situations that most people would crawl into bed over. It’s simple actually. I refuse to give in to emotions that only hurt me and are counterproductive to dealing with the situation at hand. Don’t get me wrong, I do get bummed over stuff, but that is as far as I allow myself to go.

Usually it starts with a giggle on something I see or think. Then I start shaking my head that I’m even laughing. Pretty soon I’m just smiling and laughing, thinking about various ways it could have been worse, or how funny it looks, or maybe even how funny I must look. But whatever the nugget I latch onto, it pulls me out of whatever funk I find myself falling into.

One should NEVER make decisions when in a negative emotional state. Your thoughts are filled with negativity and rarely are pushing you to the right thing. Think about it, when you are in a negative mood, you don’t care. So if you have to make a decision, you will not care about your choices. Does the worl WHATEVER mean anything to you?    🙂

Once you begin laughing, your head clears, your heart opens and your mind can now address the situation.

So next time you are facing a bad situation, open up to the thought of a chuckle, then a laugh, then a smile. You will physically feel better and realize that while the problem didn’t go away, your negative mindset did. Now you can deal with it.

Don’t believe me? Try it. What do you have to lose?

Oh, and if people look at you like you are crazy? (yea, because this might happen) Just tell them laughing is better than crying any day of the week.

~~~till we laugh again~~~

Donation Requests… Trying to Buy My Love

I had a weeks worth of mail on my desk that I haven’t had time to open, so I made it my mission today in between customers to tackle this pile about 3 feet tall.You think I’m kidding. I’m not. Ok, maybe it really was really 2  1/2 feet tall but that sucker was huge.  To top it off, it fit the 80 / 20 rule. Yep, 80% were bills, 20% were donation requests.

My original post was going to be about bills, but honestly, there was nothing humorous in all the money I owed. So I decided to tackle the other 20% of my mail.The Donations

I’m pretty much thinking if the donation request people could see what the bill people were requesting, they would understand more on why they pretty much aren’t getting their fair share of my money.

However, I do have a way for the donation people to make more money off me with out me having to double up my efforts. I could save them thousands if not millions of dollars. Stop trying to bribe me. If I give you $100 please do not spend that $100 turning around trying to re-bribe me a month later or bribing others like me.

It seems like this tough economy is causing the donations requesting teams to send me all kinds of goodies in hopes of me getting so excited by this gift, I’ll look in my bank account and discover an extra $50.

The favorite bribing tool? Note pads. Lots and lots of note pads. Good thing I need them. (we use at work). Today’s picture is of all the note pads I’ve received in December and January alone.

Here are the other items I’ve been bribed with recently….

  • Note pads (the gift of choice it seems)
  • flags
  • world maps
  • nickels
  • stamps (and free paperclip)
  • ribbons / bows
  • Christmas cards
  • decoration stickers
  • address labels
  • Magnets
  • Key chains

Don’t get me wrong, I love the vast majority of the causes and give when I can. But seriously, do they think they need to bribe me?

How much could stay to their bottom line? It makes you wonder how much actually gets to the cause they are trying to help.

Have you gotten anything weird not mentioned here?

 

~~~~till we laugh again~~~~

My mom wrote a blog yesterday that I realized fit on our mission. She discusses having a moment where you allow yourself to be a kid once again. I hope you like it as much as I did (and not because she is my mom, trust me, she can be a little “odd” in her own right – but hey, I love her anyways) 😀

Brain Freeze or Back Freeze?

I Get a Back Freeze – How About You?





We have all done it. And we have all had it happen to us. In our excitement to suck down our Slurpee we forget for one moment that torturous result of not paying attention to our slurping technique. Then it hits you. Yep… The Brain Freeze.

If you are like most people, you get a boring Brain Freeze. Otherwise known in my circle  – A Headache.  🙂

Maybe it’s because I’m a lefty or maybe it’s because I’m just odd. And as you know, I’m ok with my oddness as it makes me unique. You see, me and my fellow oddballs never get brain freezes. We get something way worse. We get Back Freezes.

And what does a back freeze feel like? Glad you asked. It feels just like someone is stabbing you through your back with a knife. Then as they laugh at your pain, they twist that knife just to add extra pain.

When it hits, it makes you stand up straight, push your shoulders back and stick your chest out. (And no, the ladies are not making you guys an offer to check out their boobies)

But like you “normal boring people” the pain does subside in a minute or two and we all just go back to sucking down that Slurpee. Just like nothing happened.

Do you know other back freeze oddballs? Don’t hate. Trust me, we wish we got a Brain Headache like you.

 

~~~till we laugh again~~~

 

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Caption Time! What do you see?

OK, let’s have some fun.

I saw this picture and cracked up laughing. Hopefully you will get a smile as well.

So, today’s post will be short and sweet.

Remember our mission. A smile, a laugh, a chuckle a day. Even if it is a small one.

As for the picture, I’m not sure if the dog is trying to lick the puppies or if the puppies knocked him down and started to tie him down thinking he was Gulliver.

Here are two captions to get us going…

  • He looks into the lens and screams…. Help Me.
  • Puppy says… Funny, he doesn’t smell like Fabreeze…

Feel free to come up with a few of your own to help others laugh…I might even add a few of my own.

~~~till we laugh again~~~

OMG – How Cruel Was This?

Ok, so if you have been reading my blog, you know I decided to make a few changes with the new year. Riding the Orange bike, attempting to use a stair stepper and the hardest of all… Cold turkey stop of my Coca Cola addiction. Yes, I say addiction. For the past few years I have drank so much coke that I’m surprised my insides are still there. Have you seen this stuff work on battery acid?

I probably drank anywhere between 24 – 55 oz a day. (Collective Gasp heard around the world). I know. Bad Tammy. But hey, that was sooooo 2011.

Today is officially Day 27 of this new Coke free me. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Well, it’s been more than 21 days and I still miss my baby. Not like I did, but it is just like my baby is off away at college. I don’t want it move back, but I do miss it.

And just like a child away at college, I do have a room dedicated to it. Calm down, I’m not like that crazy cat woman (sorry Kitty Bloger – who I LOVE by the way). I just happen to have a game room full of coke memorabilia. So each day I come home to a room full of puzzles, toys, collectibles and old coke bottles (some with old coke) still in them.

But this morning a true crime was committed. Yes, it may have started out innocently as a token of love but instead was an act of cruelty.

This morning I open my fridge and what do I see? Yep the picture above. A nice, fresh, bottle of my drug of choice. Staring me, taunting me, right in the face.

What is a girl to do? Slam the fridge real quick and run? Pretend it isn’t there? Drool begins to form in the corners of my mouth and thoughts of that sugar water race through my head. Maybe it is a sign? Maybe I’m suppose to go back to my lovely addiction. Maybe I’m suppose to rot my body from the inside out.

Afterall, it was bought with love (Although the perpetrator claims they “forgot” – likely story)   😀

But being the good girl I’m trying to be, I grabbed my keys and quickly ran out the door. I was not going to cave. Not today anyways. I would be strong and triumphant. I got to work, hopped on the Orange bike and road like a mad woman for 15 minutes. (Hey, it’s only been 27 days, go easy on me).

I will be strong for now. I will not be tempted. But I definitely will call home and remind the perpetrator that they need to drink it by 8pm. Get rid of the evidence and I’ll pretend I’m Pam waking up to find Bobby in the shower.  (Old Dallas reference for you over 40s). And it never happened.

Well, my rant is over. I shall survive. But it will be a long day of memories. Remembering the good ole days. A nice 32 oz coke to sip on all day. So as I drink my water and ice tea, I’ll pretend it was still 2011.

So as you fight your resolutions, just know those that love you don’t mean to be cruel. They just are.

ROFL  (sorry, busting up laughing now)

 

~~~till we laugh again~~~

 

Related

Don’t Laugh at the Girl on the Orange Bike

Don’t Laugh at the Girl on the Orange Bike Part 2

Lefty in a Right Handed World

What seems like a long time ago, I was in a shop with my mom and she pointed to a clock similar to the one pictured here and asked me what time it was. I read the time without skipping a beat which shocked her. For example this clock shows 10 o’clock.  However, you Righties might see 2 o’clock. Don’t believe me? Take away the numbers on the clock and it would be 2 o’clock.

Welcome to our world.

I was born left handed. My mom is left handed. Everyone else in our family is right handed. Most of my life I have been around Righties. Right now, I’m the only one here at my store that is a Lefty. I did one time have a team of 9 of us and 3 were lefty. That was fun.

Growing up, I did almost everything Right handed. I use to play a lot of sports as a kid and learned them all as a Righty since that is how I was taught. I was big into baseball / softball and would catch with a right handed mitt and toss the glove to throw it. I did learn to throw right handed but it looked like I threw “like a girl” as they say. As a lefty, I had a way better arm. Later I would get a left handed glove and was amazed how much better it was. I remember one day I was batting and a teacher pointed out I was left handed, so why did I always bat right handed. I shrugged saying “I don’t know”. He had me switch sides and WHACKKK a home run on my first try. I definitely liked the left side better after that.

I didn’t always have my left glove so I continued to play either way and years later when I learned to golf, I learned right handed at first for the same reason. No left handed clubs were available. When I borrowed clubs, these courses were lucky to have a putter and 2 other left handed clubs. No wonder I tend to use the same clubs for all shots.

Don’t even get me started on scissors. To this day, I can not cut as a lefty to save my life. Growing up with Right handed scissors ruined me for the rest of my life. Even when using Left handed scissors, I can’t cut a straight at all. If you want a rolly line and all kiddy wampass for your scrapbook, just hand me some left handed scissors. I’m your gal. Even when I worked for Home Depot and we got those safety knives with the button you hold down then release, they were right handed. I had to learn to flip them over and use my finger vs thumb. When they finally had left handed ones years later, I almost cut myself so many times since I was so use to use them upside down. I never could use them.

The great part of being left handed is I have neat Stupid Human Trick I can do. I can write upside down and backwards. It comes in handy when sitting across from people. You don’t even have to flip the paper. If you are a lefty, try it, I bet you can do it too.

We lefties also rarely- if ever – use cursive. We tend to print. Why? Take your left hand and pretend to write. You notice we push our pencil and you righties pull yours. So our palms becomes instant erasers. (this fact does save thousands on little pink things on end of pencils).

And before you ask, no I write correctly. I don’t do that left handed twist my arm all wacky to write. Although my best friend in High School did. Just watching her made my wrist ache. This probably came about from those sill desks that were set up for right handed people. We had to hold our pencils funny to use it.

Most left handers are naturally ambidextrous in many things. I guess it is the perk we get for being forced to learn most things twice. Once the “Right” way, then the “Correct” way.

Yep, you might be right, but we are correct. Lefties rule. Plain and simple. We are more unique. That is why there are so few of us. Ha Ha, I’m making you jealous now. You are wishing you could join our club. But nope, just like the club house sign says – “NO RIGHTIES ALLOWED”     🙂

So unless you can read our clock, don’t even knock.
~~~~ till we laugh again~~~~

Get Smart – Happy Childhood Memories

I remember clearly the day I accidentally discovered what would become my favorite TV show ever. I was 13 years old and I read in the TV guide about a show called Get Smart. Now, there was no explanation of what the show was about just the two words GET SMART.

You have to understand my 13 year old self. I loved game shows and I loved to learn. And if truth be told, I was a little smarty pants even back then. So for some reason, seeing something that said Get Smart, I just had to check it out. Little did I know, that that day would begin a 32 year passion for a show that is rarely on TV anymore. (Darn you Nickelodeon!)

That day I discovered Max, 99, Chief, Sigfried, CONTROL, KAOS and Hymie.

A show so stupid and smart at the same time. A show that I would do whatever it took to watch all 138 episodes. Which back in the 70’s was not easy to do since there wasn’t a thing called TIVO, Hulu or even YouTube (GASP! I know). I was dependent upon the rerun universe. I would search through that TV Guide each week circling every time I saw the show was airing just to make sure I didn’t miss an episode.

I was so obsessed, I even took out my tape recorder and made a cassette of the shows and would listen to them over and over. It was years later that I finally got to see some of those shows again and I had completely forget what the visual was due to the one I replaced in my head through re-listening to those tapes over and over. And today, I’m proud to say I own the box set that finally came out a few years ago.

So what was the fascination? You know, I really have no idea. I just loved Max’s bumbling, the way 99 would roll her eyes at him. How he would drive Chief crazy by insisting on the Cone of Silence. I loved the friendship that Max had with Sigfried even though they were bitter enemies. The silliness of the whole thing really. You always knew when Max would say “Missed it by that much” or “Would you believe?”.

I could go on and on, but the point of my post today is that as I was driving home I started to think of when I was a kid, the one thing I knew that would make me smile and laugh was always this show. There are no words to describe the happy feeling I get watching it. I could watch it for hours.

Then I started wondering if any of you had a show from your childhood that even to this day, you could sit for hours and watch it. A show that could help you escape the world around you and for even a few short 22 minutes, you could return to a simpler time in your life and just be happy.

So when you have those tough days and long for a smile, just think back to that show that helped you find your smile. Your laughter. Think about certain episodes. And if you are looking for a great laugh and have a warped sense of humor, go ahead and YouTube those old 60’s episodes of Get Smart. I’ll share my passion with you. There is enough laughs for both of us.   😀

~~~ Till we laugh again~~~

Do You Sneeze for Odd Reasons?




I Sneeze After Ice Cream

Ok, I have a quirk that is getting worse. It is my sneezing. And after I share this, you will realize why I am not normal (not that I ever claimed to be).

Most people sneeze to clean out foreign objects that get trapped in their nose hairs. Not me. (well, maybe occasionally)

For  the longest time, I rarely sneezed. It seemed the only time I did was when would go out for ice cream. Leaving the cooler building into the warm air would almost immediately start a sneeze attack. I assumed it had to do with the cold and warm colliding and forcing a ninja fight in my nose until one over took  the other.

Now that I own an ice cream store, I’ve come to realize how naive I was. Silly girl. It had nothing to do with the warm air (although that did feel good walking into the warm air).  You know what it was?

I’m freaking allergic to ice cream! I sneeze when I eat it. Period. Especially if I have soft serve. And not just 1 or 2 sneezes. Or maybe you are a tri-sneezer.  Oh no. I have to sneeze like 7 or 8 times. And not little sneezes either. Big ones that hurt sometimes. The kids that work for me, just shake their head. They say “bless you” like once or twice then give up on me since they know I’m not done yet. They yell at me when I go to eat it, since A) I will sneeze and B) I usually don’t feel good afterwards even though I only have a small scoop.

Yep, my favorite thing in the world has turned against me.  It is a sad day in the neighborhood for sure.   🙁

To make it worse, over the last year, if I eat to fast, I start to sneeze. Huh?? How and why did this start? I just can’t do a polite burp and get it over with. Oh no, I have to be odd and start sneezing.

I’m telling you, my body is making up for rarely sneezing early on in my life. This getting old stuff sucks.  LOL.

So, it begs the questions…..

Do you sneeze for odd reasons?    And do you have a pattern with how many times you sneeze?

HERE IS AN UPDATE:  Looks like I sneeze now when I eat. Check out this updated post PART 2 of SNEEZING

 

~~~till we laugh again~~~

 

~~~

z




Ramblings of Nothingness

Honey SmacksSo I’m sitting here knowing I need to do a post to keep my record going and I’m at a loss of what is funny. Been a long day and still more to go.

I could give you a visual of me sitting here eating Honey Smacks cereal as I stare. That is pretty funny. Not really, only funny if I miss my mouth and milk drools down my chin. (oh you know you have done it too!)

Ok, I could tell you about me having jelly legs this morning as I actually got up to 260 steps on my stair stepper. Hey don’t laugh, a week ago I only lasted 100. Sad huh? But hey, every little bit helps towards being healthier. I know what you are thinking….. I do really….. You are thinking that I really shouldn’t be eating those Honey Smacks.

At least not for dinner.

Or I could tell you about how I have 50 million (ok, I might exaggerate – 40 million) things to do yet I sit here trying to be funny with the milk drooling down my chin. Thank god I have a shirt sleeve to wipe it on.

But in the end, I will have to hope this little rambling of nothingness is sufficient enough for at least a chuckle for your daily laugh. I promise to come up with a better one tomorrow. At least one that doesn’t involve a cereal with a  Frog on it.

PS.  What’s really funny is I’m eating Honey Smacks at my store, not even at home in the kitchen. But I guess it is better than me eating ice cream. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to push myself that extra 15 seconds on the stair stepper and get to 275 steps tonight when I get home.

PSS. Not sure why Honey Smacks either, I’m a Flintstones Cocoa Pebbles kinda gal. I wonder if the checker at the store switched them when  I wasn’t looking. Probably the bag boy, they can be shifty you know.

Oh well, off to knock out at least 10 million of those things before I leave tonight

 

~~~Till we laugh again~~~

 

Smiles / Laughs / Inspiration from Twitter

I’m not sure how many of you have ever looked at Twitter or have a Twitter account. But if you don’t, you are missing some cute little tid bits. Things that will make you smile or laugh. It’s not just about what celebrities will say. There are quite a few folks out there just sending random thoughts or things that make you go hummm.

I thought for today’s smile / laugh or even inspiration, I’d pull up a few of these 140 characters or less tidbits to share. Some are funny, some will make you smile and some will remind you to do either.

So in no particular order, these few stood out to me from the past couple of hours

  • Some times one of the hardest things to do is controlling your laughter at serious moments (I so struggle with this one – LOL)
  • They keep saying the right person will come along, I think mine got hit by a truck
  • Yes, I sing in my car. Yes, I see you staring at me. No, I do not care.
  • My mom thinks my friends are bad influences. but honestly, I’m usually the one coming up with the ideas.
  • It’s really awkward and embarrassing when you accidentally spit on the person you are talking
  • No one will manufacture a lock without a key. Similarly, God won’t give you problems without solutions.
  • That awkward moment when you’re trying to end a conversation and the other person won’t stop talking.
  • When someone says Never-mind – it really means —  You were too stupid to understand the first time, so I give up trying to explain it.
  • Best friends: They know how stupid you are and still choose to be seen with you in public.
  • The awkward moment when you think someones waving at you but theyre not so you run your fingers through your hair & pretend nothing happened
  • Are you always this stupid or are you making a special effort today
  • The awkward moment when you tell people a funny story and no one laughs so you cover yourself up by saying, “you had to be there”.
  • I’m not an alcoholic ..alcoholics go to meetings. I’m a drunk, we go to parties!
  • I’m never sure what to do with my eyes when I’m at the dentist. Do I close them? Do I stare at his face? Do I look at the ceiling?
  • We all have three lives: public, private, and secret.
  • No matter how old you are, when a little kid gives you a Toy Phone and says its for you, You answer it
  • Just because I’m not talking, doesn’t mean I’m in a bad mood. Sometimes I just like being quiet.
  • Dear Family: Thanks for putting an empty box of cereal back in the cabinet. Now I can have a bowl of disappointment for breakfast.
  • I’m not lazy, I’m on energy saving mode.
  • Hippos kill more humans annually than lions, crocodiles or snakes.
  • One thing I learn about life: It’s not something to survive. It’s something to live
  • Tears are not a sign of weakness, but proof that you are human and that you care

Hope you liked some of them. Like I said, you don’t have to really talk to people or engage, but sometimes they are just good for small laughs or inspiration throughout the day.   I even added this to Twitter @Laugh365Days

~~~till we laugh agian~~~

Are You Addicted to Words for Friends?

I have a confession. Yes, I am addicted. But I am probably not as addicted as you new people.  Been there done that, got the T-shirt.

I started playing Words for Friends months and months ago. A friend got me playing when it was just starting to take off. He and I had like 10 games going between us.Then when Facebook opened it up, new “friends” just started to discover what we had known. Next thing I knew, I maxed out to 20 games. So many friends, so little space to add new games.

I’m pretty competitive and in the beginning I hated losing to my friend who played Scrabble competitively. You know the type, the ones that use words you have never heard of? I mean really… Who uses the word QI? or ZOYSIA?

But one thing I am good at is picking up words. Especially those little suckers I can remember like HAJ or SUQ and score big!.

  • So I thought I’d list a few of the things I’ve learned and pass them along to you new folks joining the Words for Friends Revolution

5 Things I’ve learned from Playing Words for Friends…

  • I never thought I’d be waking up at 4am  just to play a vocabulary game (I mean go to the bathroom)
  • You will grow from 1 game with your friend to 3 in a matter of days since neither of you will think the other one hit the Rematch button
  • Your friends and family will never play fast enough for you. What are they doing???  How dare they have a job, a life, better things to do???!! damn them!
  • Not all friends and family are created equal – You have several groups you will play against
    • The Word Game Challenged – You know the ones with the good decent words but no game play. It kills me not to take advantage of those open Triple Plays… It is such a tease!  But in the end, the game will end before it gets half way if I have 400 points and they have 100 and we still have 24 tiles to go
    • The Dang, How did you get Better Group – These folks grew out of the first group and started making me work for my win. My competitiveness comes out – Oh no you aren’t getting ahead of me by 20 points….. It really is a sickness….
    • The Ones who MUST be using Cheats for Friends – I mean really. If you are semi close to me and you start whipping out words I know you can’t even pronounce never mind spell, you either have a smart mouse in your pocket or little help going on. Or how about the ones that always have a 7 letter word to play? Not cheating my behind…
    • The Smart Ones – the Readers – Yes, those that actually read books and know words with more than one syllable. They will frustrate you. But I promise, they teach you new words so you can whip other peoples butts. You many not learn the meaning, but you will know how many points you can get!
  • That I would delay going to bed until I cleared my board only to find 1 or 2 of my friends refuse to sleep until they are cleared as well and we both end up staying up an extra hour or two playing a stupid vocabulary game!  (sorry, got a little riled up there)

Finally, there is Hanging with Friends. Yea, not so good at this one. You may not be able to beat me on Words for Friends but you can demolish me on this one. If I had a spell checker I might be ok. But it is only about words. Not so much up my alley. I think that is why I like Words for Friends and Scrabble. I like the strategy of them. I love blocking your moves. But hanging, I’m lucky if I get the word – BUTTER. I just can’t see the words. It is sad.

Well, if you haven’t started playing this obsession cuz you are too busy tending to your Farm(ville) I can say it is an excellent thinking game that will challenge you. I promise you will learn new words that you can amaze your friends with. Kind of like stupid pet tricks.

And if you want start this addiction, come find me either on Facebook or using my screen name – tadams4u. I’m always up to a new game.   😛

 

~~~~till we laugh again~~~

Before the Fire – The Prequel

First off, thank you to all my Facebook friends for the kind words yesterday after I shared about the house that caught on fire. Today, I thought I’d share what this same house looked like when I picked it up as a flip several years ago. By showing this, maybe you can see why this house just keeps on giving and how I was able to find something to latch onto so that I could laugh vs cry.

As I stated yesterday in my post (I Didn’t Know if I Should Laugh or Cry) I originally purchased this home back in 2007 before the markets tanked. I was going to do a flip with it. The previous owner turned the 2 bedroom into a 5 bedroom. But lost it in a foreclosure. He was so mad at the bank, he let his kids loose to destroy the house in retaliation. 

The following are some of the pictures I took. There was graffiti on most of the walls as you can see. In one room they even outlined a dead body. There was a small knife even stuck in one section of the wall. They filled the tub and toilet with poo and ripped out everything they could.

Walking through the house, all you could do is say the same WOW I was saying yesterday (Although for different reasons). This house made us laugh back then. While it was sad parents thought this was smart to teach their kids it still made you laugh in amazement that someone would go so far. It was another example of laughing when most would find it not the right emotion.

The reality is…What is the right emotion?

To me, the right emotion is the one that helps you get through the tough times in your life. The emotions that are healthy and help you heal. Hopefully, by sharing my story the past few days, I can help others see that sometimes, finding whatever piece of humor you can in the situation might help ease the pain just a little. Hopefully enough to help you make it through.

I’ll keep you all posted… and tomorrow we will resume our normal laughing schedule… LOL

 

~~~till we laugh again~~~~~~~~

 

l