~Addiction~

Way too much coffee. But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever. ~David Letterman

Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee. ~Stephanie Piro


Today I had two Starbucks cups of coffee...hmmm, and on my way home I actually contemplated swinging by Starbucks for a night cap...this is potentially an addiction.

But, the thing is that it really is a good thing that I am drinking coffee...because I have sort of a whacked out personality that is slightly addictive...soooooooooo, I have to have something to feed it. Coffee is slightly inexpensive, legal, and has few calories (unless you go for the 5 pump version, and I do not). So, what harm could it do, right? It could be worse, I could be addicted to something much worse...

~Friends~

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.
~ Aristotle


"You only meet your once in a lifetime friend... once in a lifetime."

~A Cloudy Night~

Love this song...offers peace on a cloudy night...:)

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me
Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me
Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control
Fearless warriors in a picket fence,
reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences,
the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle
Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves
Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle
You'll find me
Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control
Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle.

~Thankful and Blessed~

So... I made a conscious decison today to turn my attitude around as quickly as possible when I get in "the funk"...so that I don't bring others down around me...BECAUSE, we all have fabulous lives, it justs takes a moment or two (or a week!) to realize that!

I have a job (hopefully my contract was renewed tonight!), a somewhat dysfunctional family that includes people that all mean well, some money in the bank, a roof over my head, two beautiful, healthy children and great friends...what more could I ask for, right?

So, when work OR tires OR major decisions get in my way, I promise to snap out of "the funk" as quickly as possible and remind myself of the fabulousness that is MY LIFE!!...I will turn to those people who mean the most and SNAP out of it!

Things I am thankful for:
-a car that runs (even if the tires SUCK!)
-a great house with a yard that my kids can play in
-close friends that mean the world to me...those that I see daily and those that I see not as often
-a fabulous, opinionated, pushy, loud family
-emergency money locked in the gun safe
-a full mailbox
-health insurance (just heard on the news that in 2008 Medical Center spent 54 million dollars on the uninsured!!! for medical treatment...SHOCKING!)
-internet access most of the time
-a cell phone that calls out but keeps my talking to a minimum as it shuts off after about 12 minutes
-cute shoes!
-a brain that allows me to make somewhat educated decisions
-a heart that allows me to change my mind about those educated decisions
-AND every single day that I am given and every breathe I take!

:)

~Laugh~

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.
--Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

This quote made me laugh hysterically because I would do anything to avoid cleaning!! Interesting, though, that I always have to have a clean house...:)

~Work, Work, Work~

Spent the day slaving over household chores! I completely realize that these are part of owning a home and having stability in life, but for goodness sakes it would be great to have someone else do the work...basically, my family needs a wife!

I have never been good at domestic endeavors and never plan on improving...so, is it so horrible to refuse these chores? What would happen if I stopped cleaning and doing laundry? I can't even imagine the answer to that question, so for now, I will continue to keep my family living in a clean house with clean clothes on their backs!...! Even though the process is miserable for me!

The goal, however, is to make enough money to have someone else clean weekly and do my laundry...I don't need help raising my kids, just help with the things that get in the way of living life! Because, I am positive that no one will remember how clean my baseboards were or how perfectly ironed my kids' clothes were...those things aren't really important in life...well, at least not to me.

~Looking Up~

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
- The Reverend Jesse Jackson

This is how I want my image to be...truly one that helps others regardless of material possessions and minivan nightmares...will be working on this...

~The Minivan~

After spending several days amongst friends who care desperately about material possessions and about being the best/having the most, it really made me think about my own image and what I want to portray to others.

I have never really thought about "keeping up with the Joneses" but spending time with the Joneses will really make you look carefully at your own actions. The first thing that I noticed about myself is that driving a minivan really got under my skin...I still have the minivan and the thought of driving it to work makes me crazy! I can't quite figure out if it is because I am afraid that others will judge me to be a "soccer mom" OR if I really want people to see me as classier than a minivan. Because, certainly, someone like me can have better taste than a minivan, right?

But, should it really matter? I typically do not really care what people think of me because I know that their opinion doesn't really matter...but usually, I am more educated and more on top of my game than the person judging. In this case, I am just another minivan driver and that is driving me completely insane. I just want to hang a sign outside of the window that says, "THIS IS JUST A LOANER CAR!"

It makes me wonder why I can't just be satisifed no matter what kind of car I drive. Should I really care about the image that I portray to people as long as I know what kind of person I am? I know that I do not drive a Dodge Caravan so it shouldn't matter what others think...and what do others think? Unfortunately, I am quick to judge even though I also want my image to be one of acceptance no matter the education, the income, or the type of car driven...I need to work on this more often...since when did I become an elitist?

Even though most of my girlfriends have equal education (or at least close!) as I do, most seem satisfied with not moving their career forward and instead most of them seem happy with the image of the soccer mom...even though none drive a minivan!!...In this circle of friends, I am really the only one that cares deeply about professional image. I want people to see me in a career role and sometimes fail to let my guard down for others to see me as also a mom and a wife. It seems that I have worked so definitively over the years to create this image that the thought of even changing the car I drive from a professional look to a different look is setting me over the edge...well, not really the edge, but close...

So, I guess I do really care what people think about me...even down to material possessions. This is on my list of things to work on...well, as soon as the minivan returns to its home!

But, this too shall pass and in time I will have my car back and feel whole again.

~Greener pasture?~

Day 1 in Dallas yields me to believe that I could definitely live here...I think it fits my speed....

Is the pasture greener? Hmmm, who knows...

~Saturday the 14th~

Today was a much brighter day than yesterday...

The day began with a trip back to the car dealership...it was definitely a radiator and water pump problem which in the beginning seemed catastrophic and expensive. The "service" people were in no way willing to get us a loaner car and continued to explain over and over again that they have a policy prohibiting this. I found that particularly amusing because this same dealership has given us a loaner car numerous times before...even after explaining that this wasn't my first rodeo, we got nothing...:(

Anyway, we were in the process of basically cancelling our trip or at least postponing the trip when the "fixer" guy walked up to us along with the men telling us they could not help us with a loaner car. Cue Davis crying...on purpose...just to make the situation worse...that must be my evil side again...:)

The "fixer" guy asked, "Did you have your tires rotated?" We responded with, "No, those tires are non-rotating." The "service" guy explained to the "fixer" guy that they had already had many issues with the Seybert's tires and that the dealership had replaced them a few months ago for this very issue. So...the "fixer" guy said, "Well, we have a problem then because those tires are on BACKWARDS!~!"

(THIS TIRE ISSUE HAS CAUSED MY CAR TO WORK OVERTIME THUS RESULTING IN MY ENGINE BASICALLY EXPLODING)

SO FRICKIN' HILARIOUS!!!!!!! Well, I was laughing so I wouldn't cry!!!!!!!!!

At this point, our friendly "service" guy was speechless and basically "FOLDED LIKE AN ACCORDIAN"...he excused himself, got the owner and within 2 minutes we had our pick of car off the lot...

So, Saturday the 14th has been a much better day than Friday the 13th...

~Is it a sign?~

Noting that one of the major annoyances in my life right now is my car...the Cadillac SRX...it would only be normal in my life for something to go wrong yet again with this vehicle.

Late this afternoon, only hours before leaving for a week long vacation, this car decides to basically blow up...antifreeze spraying everywhere...oil leaking at a rapid rate...and smoke. This definitely could not be a good sign...so, after hours of the service people trying to fix it, we finally made it to the owner's office...who, of course, was not that helpful. Anyway, we must return tomorrow to see if it is fixable or if we will have a loaner car for the trip...I am betting against both...but, we'll see.

So, the question is...Is it a sign? Is this a sign that we should stay home, tend to other matters, spring clean, organize, rest...Or, should I just chalk the entire experience up to the fact that it is Friday the 13th...??? Who knows...I guess our fate rests in the hands of the so-called service experts at the dealership who will potentially fix this issue before 9am...to be continued...

~Annoyed~

As I drove home today...rather late...I made a mental list of what is currently annoying me:

-people that refuse to seek help on something that is completely out of his/her league

-people that only see rules as rules with NO EXCEPTIONS

-people that yell at children...even the biggest, worst kid

-friends that keep certain things undercover

-people that don't turn cellphones on silent in meetings

-FAKE facial expressions

-harnessing things!!!!!!!!

-people that don't see the big picture

-that we have to get mail everyday...who has time to get to the mailbox??

-rude people

-ignoring equity or even proportionality at all costs

-Cadillac SRX

-oaoa.com

-that Starbucks is frequently out of coffee when I arrive and I have to wait...how can a coffee shop let the coffee run out????????????

-impatience

~Stupidity~

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
--Albert Einstein

~Stand up~

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
-Winston Churchill