Hey yo, I did some things but that's the old me!

For approximately the past 14 days, I have thrown caution to the wind; I have shut my inner voice off and set aside everything Charles has taught me. I have been eating like CRAZY… chocolate, burgers, ice cream… drinking coke, that delicious lemonade from the mall, you get the idea. I have gained 5 lbs… count them, 1…2…3…4…5 lbs!!! Yesterday I got back on my regiment as far as eating and today I got back in the pool. I knew what I was doing, I know the comfort I was looking for, but I just couldn’t stop myself. I refuse to go back to my old ways! In the past I would of let these 14 days dictate my course from here on out. No more! I know a lot of you have been on this same boat time and time again… we cannot let these feelings beat us!!! We are so much stronger then that. Mind over matter right? It’s easier said than done… but the important thing is that it can be done.

My friends and I switch our Sunday games from kickball to flag football… so much fun!!! But one of our best players already got injured… granted, he plays on the opposing team… but it still sucks to see him hurt =/.

We are thinking of starting our own little sports league… I’ll keep you guys posted!

=D

Who is Wonder Woman?

My friends Ani & Jesus are HUGE Wonder Woman fans... She wrote this cool little article about what WW means to her... check it out!

Who is Wonder Woman? A question that took me 28 years to learn….

Wonder Woman, Love and Murder (comic book series): Questions like: “Who am I?”
How come the one thing that should be obvious to all of us is the one thing we spend our entire lives trying to figure out?

It’s a question I once asked myself. It started with a book my uncle lent me to read, in the book Wonder Woman forgets she’s WW (ironic you may think). Shortly after the book my uncle gave me a Wonder Woman doll for my 28th birthday. I will never forget the words he whispered, I give you this doll because one day you will realize that you are Wonder Woman. For 28 years I had forgotten or may I say I never realized that the person I was looking at in the mirror was WW and though the mirror still gets foggy I try to remember to wipe it and look at the Amazon that stands before it. It was William Moulton, Wonder Woman’s writer and creator that saw through the hearts of women, not only because he was emotionally intelligent but spiritually intelligent (as my friend Caro would say). Then came a writer like Jodi Picoult who showed us that WW is not a God but a person that makes mistakes, that reacts and sometimes feels lost but faces adversity and realizes that what she thought was right at that time may not be right now. But most of all realizes that mistakes are a fact of life and it is the response to error that counts (in the words of Nikki Giovanni). In simplest terms she is wise because she realizes that she has much to learn and can turn a wound into wisdom (as Oprah said), intelligent because she knows she cannot change others, for change is within herself, strong because she’s able to make those changes and see herself for exactly the person she is and love herself regardless. She is honest with others and honest with herself, brave, because she stands for what she believes in and a hero because she inspires others by just being who she is. Wonder Woman is much more than just a comic book character, she is a
super-hero that believes in “liberty and freedom for all women kind“. WW is within all of us, most find it too difficult to let her out but as my hero once said, we become the majority because it’s easier than being the minority.

I started writing this article because in truth I was tired of the idea most people had of Wonder Woman and I wanted to educate them. As I finished the article I realized that what I really want to do is inspire women. As Gloria Steinem once wrote, “perhaps that’s the appeal of Wonder Woman.” It’s not only a child’s need for a lost independence, but an adult’s need for a lost balance between women and men, between humans and nature. However simplified, that is Wonder Woman’s message: Remember Our Power Sisters.

Here's looking at you, kid!

I’ve never been a mushy girl, affectionate on occasions yes, but never mushy. I’m not one to go around hugging people or telling just anyone that I love them. I think the people closest to me can attest to the fact that I show my affection mostly through actions and not words. Lately I have been working on that and once in a while I will verbalize my feelings for others. So, y’all know how much I love my brother and how special he is to me, even though in the past he has thought I didn’t like him much, it wasn’t the truth. Growing up I was always annoyed by him as a big sister usually is, then when I was in my late teens and he was in his early teens, I inevitably became a parental figure… that responsibility was thrust upon me, not by any malicious acts on behalf of my mother, it’s just the way things worked out. I found myself taking care of situations and issues that weren’t mine to take care of, and eventually those things hardened me up. I have to admit I am not very proud of the way I used to treat and talk to people (especially those nearest to my heart). But somehow they always remained at my side and supported me through all my endeavors. I guess in a way they always knew that I was hard on them because I love them so much. Still... it doesn’t excuse my behavior, and for that I have apologized to every single one of them. I’ve since turned to comedy when things get too mushy and real, but I figure its better then just shutting people down when they are being sincere. Sometimes I feel like an apology hasn’t been enough and feel guilty all over again… then people do things for me that make me understand what real love is. When someone can over look all your bad traits and still love you the way my family and true friends love me, then it makes me realize that there might be something to this greatness everyone keeps talking about.

That being said, I have always without a doubt or hesitation been willing to give my life for my brother, through the good and the bad. I think part of that hard attitude was my way of protecting him from the world. So you can understand why him going off to war was such a hard thing for me to deal with. It’s hard for all military families, really. Believe me, I have three soldiers in mine! I guess for me it stemmed from that need to keep him safe. You see, it’s always just been the three of us (my mom, my brother and I), so I am very protective of them. (Don’t even get me started on when he would bring some new trollop all up in my house!) This is why I am so touched every time you guys write to me to tell me that my brother, as well as all the other soldiers in his platoon, are in your prayers. I’ve said this before and I will say it again, no matter what your views on this senseless war are, no matter if you are a republican, a democrat, a liberal or if you don’t give a flying raccoon’s ass about any political issue, you must respect what these men and women are doing. They are fighting for something they believe in (most of them anyway), they do it with pride and with their head held high and that is very respectable. Volunteering to join the military at a time of war takes a lot of courage! Point blank!

This is one of the things that motivated me to finally go through with fulfilling my dream of finishing a triathlon. And now thanks to my little brother (he paid for my registration) I will do it on October 18th, 2009. He sent me the following message yesterday after I was registered:

“This is cake for you, Caro. All you have to do is make the person in front of you your finish line, then once you have passed them you do the same with the others until you finish! This is nothing for you!!!”

That is all the motivation I need to own this bitch! I have a great training partner and all the support a girl could wish for. So here I go guys, 137 days ‘till T-day!!!