The World Will Know About Newsies The Musical
As a girl in Junior High, I was not what people would call, “Cool”. I had really big eyebrows. So this post is all about how me and my big eyebrows would go home from school everyday in the eighth grade and watch Newsies. Newsies is a Disney musical that premiered in 1992 and was considered a box office flop. I didn’t watch it in the theater. I did not see how a musical about boys selling newspapers would be appealing to me. It was not until Newsies was on the Disney channel that I watched it for the first time, taped the next showing on a VHS tape and watched it nonstop. I mean nonstop. My sister to this day hates the movie because of how our only TV in the house was always playing Newsies. What’s showing in the LeMaster’s house on Monday? Newsies. What about Tuesday? Newsies, followed by an encore showing of Newsies. You get my drift. The good thing was that I wasn’t alone. My friend Jenny was also taking over her family’s one television set.
So when my friend Stephanie saw the Macy’s Day Parade this last Thanksgiving and discovered that Newsies was being made into a Broadway musical, it took her about six minutes to have our flights and hotel booked. Steph, Rachel (Steph’s sister), Jenny and I were lucky enough to see Newsies on Broadway the opening weekend. I can not explain the excitement of this event. Jenny and I cried several times, people were screaming like it was a Madonna concert and the young boy sitting behind me admittedly peed his pants a little. It was incredible. The singing was amazing but the dancing, jumping, flipping and spoon playing blew my mind. I’m not sure if it is my love for Newsies that made it the most wonderful Broadway show I’ve ever seen or because it really was that incredible. I think it was a little of both. It may have been four women in their thirties sitting in the Nederlander Theatre last night but it felt like a row full of our eighth grade selves watching our old VHS tapes come to life.
If you have any love for Newsies or for Broadway musicals, I would recommend not for you to walk, not for you to run but for you to pirouette to Manhattan and see it! You will not be disappointed! Just ask the boy sitting behind me, it’s worth peeing your pants over!
Blame It On Connie Chung
Now before any of you die-hard Connie Chung fans get your underoos in a wad, let me introduce you to Connie Chung.
This is Connie Chung (my macbook). She got the name because I waited for her forever from Shanghai. Everyday I would track my baby girl Connie and for at least five days, I couldn’t get her to leave her homeland. Quite a grueling adoption process. Anywho the real Connie Chung was not actually born in China but I didn’t know that until about five minutes ago. And yes, I am watching Melissa and Joey on Netflix as I type this. I have a rule: If Melissa Joan Hart is in it…watch it.
So back to how all of this is Connie Chung’s fault. Connie Chung is my poster child for technology. As much as I love her like I would my biological children, I worry that she is part of the movement to make us all more like robots. I know a lot of people loved the Jetsons but it scared the crap out of me. If you want to be my friend you need to know that I don’t want to live in space. Space scares me. Was it really that bad way back when..in the 90s? Most of my favorite memories came from the 90s. What have we lost by being so technologically forward you ask? Here are a few things you didn’t know you were missing.
1. Mixed Tapes: 
Need I say more? Probably not but I will. Remember when you had to listen to the radio until your favorite song came on to tape it? You had to be sure you didn’t get the DJ gabbing or commercials so that your tape would sound legit. Too legit to quit. Don’t forget to add a personal touch at the end by recording your own message. I always had such pride in my hard work.
2. Real Words:
Maybe this should have come before mixed tapes but the lost of the written language is quite sad. I’m worried the kids growing up in this day and age won’t know how to spell. I still type out almost every word when I write a text (sometimes I type u instead of you or bc instead of because but that is it and that is rare). Just to get this off my chest, LOL is a deal breaker for me. If I don’t really know you and you type LOL, I probably won’t try to get to know you.
3. Mystery:
Remember when you didn’t know what your old Sunday School teacher was doing every five minutes? Remember when you use to say, “I wonder what ever happened to Alf my friend from Melmac?” Now we know what happened to him because we see it on Facebook. He is married with five kids and they have a Christmas picture all dressed in red sweaters. Facebook has made stalkers out of us all. I didn’t really need any encouragement in that department. We all know if I knew where Justin Timberlake lived, I would sleep on his lawn.
4. Knowing Someone’s Phone Number: I can call all my high school friend’s parents if need be but how is that going to help me tomorrow if my phone falls in a toilet and I need a ride home?
5. Answering Your Phone:
As much as I hate space, I also hate talking on the phone. It started with ordering pizzas as a child. Most of my phone bills look something like this:
Minutes used: 26
Texts sent/received: 2,089
It is kind of sad that we can and DO dodge people’s phone calls. Remember when you first started getting phone calls from the opposite sex and that rush of excitement when a family member would hand you the phone saying, “It’s a boy!”. That’s gone. Now you know it’s a boy before you answer. Or in my case, you know it’s Stanley Steamer. Give it up Stan!! We are finished!
These are just a few of the things I miss…the things I blame on Connie Chung. The things I’ve gained from Connie Chung, well that is another story. I’m on the bandwagon of technology I really am. I’m just worried that kids these days are missing out on the fun! They are missing out on getting lost from your group at the mall, writing notes ON PAPER during class, looking up facts in actual books, being able to entertain yourself and others on twelve-hour car trips, being able to read a map and knowing what cut and paste actually means (it means cut with scissors and paste with glue ON REAL PAPER). Most importantly I’m worried we are losing human relationships. I don’t want to become a robot and I don’t want my best friend to be a computer or a cell phone. I am pretty attached to Connie and Xavier Roberts, my cell phone but they won’t hug me if I have had a bad day. My new goal that I am coming up with as I write this blog is to focus on humans before technology. I will succeed! You do not own me technology!! OH!! I just got a text!
Use Your Best Soap
I have an obsession with soap. I know we all love soap to some degree but my love is kind of intense. I’m not sure when it started. I think I was pretty young. I remember growing up and having to use yellow Dial soap. I hated the way it smelled..still do. Around middle school when I would get money for babysitting or birthdays I would buy fancy soap. At that time fancy soap to me came from Victoria’s Secret which I know now is really just a gateway soap. I would get home, look and smell my beautiful soap and then I would do the weirdest thing with it, I would display it. I guess I came by this soap displaying trait honestly since my Grandma had the same shell soap displayed in her bathroom my entire life. Now you other soap displayers know that if you don’s use your best soap it cracks and I know for me, once the soap cracked I threw it away. I never used it for it’s intended purpose.
What a waste! I vowed many years ago to stop displaying and frankly wasting my soap and to use it up..use it up good.
Wasting your best soap reminds me of how sometimes we waste our greatest talents. We sit them on the counter until they are all dried up or like the parable of the bags of gold, we bury them. If you are not familiar with Matthew 25:14-30, it is a story told by Jesus about a master who entrusted his gold with his servants. Two of the servants doubled their master’s money while the other servant buried it in the ground. The master was pleased with the first two servants but called the final servant lazy and wicked.
Now for me, it is pretty obvious about the gifts that I do not have and not always obvious about the gifts I do have. The great thing about throwing yourself into all sorts of situations is that you can find out pretty quickly about what gifts are God given, what gifts you have to work at and what gifts just aren’t there no matter how hard you try. There is nothing wrong with using your best soap as well as your cheap dollar tree soap. Effort is just as much a gift as talent.
This picture is my favorite picture of a mission trip I took to Kenya. It’s my favorite because it is one of the few moments on that trip that I knew I was using a God given gift. I speak kid. I speak it pretty well. I had spent the entire trip uncomfortably fumbling my way through ministering to people with a language barrier. You see I can not share the story of Jesus or pray aloud without crying uncontrollably and crying uncontrollably makes me extremely uncomfortable. I spent a lot of time dreading the next visit when someone would ask me to pray. I did it because God wants me to use my cheap soap too but it wasn’t easy. This picture is me using the soap I was given. It might not be the most effective soap but it’s my soap and I’m going to use it all up.
Are you using your best soap?
Romans 12:6-8
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The Post I Wasn’t Going to Write
Ever since I started this blog, I’ve had one blog idea stuck in my head. I could never make myself write it because I didn’t like they way it would make me come off or look. I’m only telling you about it today because I think I’m a growin’ and a changin’. Some people may say I’m becoming a woman although by other accounts, I became a woman in the 8th grade.
The whole idea was basically for the past three …four years, I really have had no interest in a relationship. I felt like one of those sticky hands from a 25 cent machine. You know how you get the sticky hand, throw it on a door, the dresser but after a while all the sticky is gone and no matter what you do (even washing it), the sticky isn’t sticky anymore. I had some fantastic guys come my way the past few years but I just couldn’t commit. I just didn’t stick. Many things could be the cause of my unstickyness but I think it all goes back to the last relationship I had that ended and hurt. You know the I can’t breath hurt. I remember praying that I would never go through the pain of a break-up again and even though I’ve been through break-ups since I haven’t felt any pain…at least not my usual, cut all my hair off, listen to Coldplay and sit in a dark room kind of pain. I was okay with my new-found independence, dating who and when I wanted. I felt like my entire dating life I had been Michael from My Two Dads but now I was Joey. That reference may be lost on a lot of people but I feel like explaining would just ruin it. Pressing on..pressing on. Sooo…I signed up for match.com when I moved to Nashville because I needed friends and maybe a husband but this website is not good for a girl with lack of sticky tendencies. It is hard to commit to one person when you don’t know what is behind door number 2. Aargh! Curiosity gets the better of me every time. I must know what is behind that door. So my dating habits were just like putting my sticky hand on a sweater…more sticky gone.
So I was unstickingly dating a guy who is a strong believer in setting me straight and he said something that my Dad had mentioned to me a year earlier. He told me (just as my Dad did) that you can’t be stuck on a desert island, turn down all the boats passing by to save you and then complain about how you were stuck on the island. Yeah, yeah..I hear you. I believe the reason I haven’t been saved isn’t because I haven’t had the opportunity but that the wrong boats keep offering. They are all heading the wrong direction. I’m not just going to get on a boat and float off into the sunset (or lack of sunset) to Alaska. I suffer too much from seasonal affective disorder for that to be a good choice. The point is however that I need to stop getting on the other boats, eating a steak dinner, watching a movie and then declining to continue on the voyage. If my goal is really to marry an awesome man and have wonderful kids with a knack for pop culture factoids then I need to straighten up my act. I’ve decided to stop dating all my options and wait until I find someone who strikes my fancy. Maybe Zack Morris…maybe A.C. Slater! It doesn’t matter as long as they were on a sitcom in the 90s.
Okay..I’m a work in progress.
Robby Rambacher
You don’t always know when an event takes place, that it is going to be one of the most talked about events of your entire life. My Dad and I were waiting in the oral surgeon’s office today and he was talking about a book where people describe their entire lives using only six words. I’m not saying these next six words describe my life but I think I have said them more than I have said any other words: Robby Rambacher ran into me. yeah. *shrug
WARNING: This blog may contain sarcasm and a bit of whininess. I know I am truly blessed and a tooth is just a small thing.
This is me..the brownie. Life was pretty good back then. I had lost a few teeth and my new front tooth was growing in. A new tooth was certainly going to catch my crush Josh Click’s eye. I couldn’t wait to see the finished product but something happened that made seeing all my grown up teeth only a dream. Something I would never know or understand. What happened you ask? Sit back, relax and let me tell you a story.
When I was in the first grade, I was playing a nice, friendly game of tag in the church gymnasium. I’m not sure if I wasn’t watching where I was going or Robby Rambacher wasn’t watching or both. All I know is that my tooth hit Robby’s new glasses and broke. So from before I even had my entire front tooth, It was broken. I had a cap on my tooth (that broke several times) for about twenty years until my tooth turned brown and I looked like a pirate. Aargh! So I saved up all my money, threw away my eye patch and bought myself my very own tooth. Hip Hip Hooray. A year after buying myself a beautiful tooth however, it started to hurt, my gum turned purple and I got an infection in my mouth. I went to a root canal specialist thinking that was the problem only for him to show me this x-ray.
This was my tooth. The root was disintegrating due to childhood trauma or as I like to call it a game of tag that went terribly, terribly wrong. The only option, have it removed. It was starting to hurt so bad that having it removed seemed lovely. I could take out my flipper tooth..it would be a great party trick, right? All until the day I had it removed and couldn’t control my weeping. Teeth don’t just grow back, ya know! How am I going to move to a new city and make friends while wearing dentures? How do I eat with dentures? How do I kiss a boy? These were all very important questions. So when my self-esteem went in the toilet, my online shopping therapy began. You see, getting an implant is a ridiculously long process. First, you have to get a flipper tooth (or a tooth on a retainer) made by one dentist, then you have to get your tooth pulled out by an oral surgeon, then you move to a new city (this step is optional), then you wait two months for your gum to heal, then you have to find an oral surgeon to put in your implant (or screw that is moonlighting as your old tooth root), then you have to wait three months for that to heal, then you find another dentist to make you a crown and THEN THEY PUT THE CROWN ON THE IMPLANT AND YOU ARE DONE!
I had the implant put in today so I’m half way done. It wasn’t so bad. The only problem is they did a lot of work and graphing on the roof of my mouth so now my flipper tooth no longer fits and falls out when I talk. So self-esteem back in the toilet and online shopping back on. It’s a shame all I can do is put items in my shopping cart and then log out. I would have preferred going on an exotic trip rather than buying something God gave me for free. Glass half full, glass half full.
At least I’m not alone.
Note: No names were changed for this post and no hard feeling for Robby Rambacher. He was actually a really sweet first grader.
Note number 2: If you would like to donate to my online shopping therapy, let me know. Just kidding.
How To Make Friends in Your Thirties
I haven’t posted anything in awhile. Mainly because a lot has been going on. After nine years of living in Louisville, KY, I needed a change. I quit my teaching job and headed to Nashville. I’ve been here a week and I’ve been thinking about a few things. How am I going to make friends? It was pretty easy to make friends in college. You just walked into the dorm bathroom and come out with a new friend. It was pretty easy to make friends after college. You just go to a church group or party and leave with a group of friends. What about now? I am in my thirties (very early thirties. very early). Is making friends going to be as easy? I have a few ideas and I’ll let you know how they are going so far.
Church:
I’ve always found church to be a great way to meet new people. At this point in my life however most of my peers have moved on to the next stage in their own lives and would see me as more of a baby sitter/friend. It may be a little trickier to meet people in their thirties and single. Good thing churches have just the place for us losers..um..I mean single people to go and hang out with weirdos..I mean other single people. Life groups. I haven’t tried any yet but it’s on my “make new friends to-do list”. I’ll let you know how it goes. My one fear is that these singles life groups can often seem like meat/meet markets. I am after all looking for friends that are girls as well as a guy that is going to sweep me off my feet.
Piggy Back Friends:
Even though I just moved to Nashville, I have a handful of friends/acquaintances here already. A great way to make new friends is to get to know your friend’s friends. I’m a firm believer in the idea that everyone has room for new friends and if that is in fact true, surely I can weasel my way into some group of friends here in the music city.
BEWARE! Not everyone wants a new friend to weasel into their group. You can put the extra work into cracking the code of that particular friend group if you want. After all, people that are protective of their friends are most likely loyal OR move onto another group of people. Making friends should not be like breaking into Fort Knox.
Online Dating:
Let’s be honest, dating isn’t what it use to be. Remember college when everyone was available and you had a new crush each week? Those were great times but THEY ARE OVER. Being a school teacher is basically the same as being in a female prison. I did not run into single man over the age of 9. Ever! So I did it. I tried online dating and I’ve actually met some cool people. It’s not like To Catch A Predator. You can spot and weed out the weirdos pretty quickly. The greatest thing about it is that you can see new places in the city and if you are with a gentlemen..see them for free. You might not meet your soul mate (you may) but you can have new experiences with new people and even make some friends.
Be A Joiner:
You know how you can tell someone has just gotten out of a relationship? All the sudden on facebook and twitter you get posts that they are eating here, hanging out with them or pictures of them doing that! It’s probably why some people remain single because it can be a lot of fun. If it’s not fun at least other people might assume you’re having fun based on your profile and invite you to other possibly enjoyable events. Same thing when you move to a new city. You have to join things to meet people and eventually find like-minded friends.
Volunteer:
Volunteering can be not only awesome and rewarding but it is a good way to meet people as well. Of course some people have been court ordered to volunteer but others just have giving/serving hearts which make for great friends. So many places are looking for volunteers, so find something that tugs at your heart strings and help out.
Make An Event:
There are all kinds of fun things to do and there are event goers and event makers. If you only know a few people consider having a game night and having the few people you know bring themselves and a friend. Remember in Vacation Bible School when you would earn points for bringing a friend? You can even give imaginary points to anyone who brings a friend to your event. Why not? It’s your party. There are no rules that you have to become boring once you reach a certain age. Be creative! Have a prom or a I love the 80s party. People love reasons to celebrate. Have a “It’s Tuesday Party”. If you send out an invite, people will come.
Do you have any other ideas? Or better yet, do you live in Nashville and want to hang out?
A Covered Bridge
When I was little my Grandma Hazel had this painting of a covered bridge on the wall over the couch. I remember as a young girl I would stare at it and imagine what it would be like to be young boy fishing in the picture. As a kid I was a believer in the impossible , and I believed I could jump into paintings like Mary Poppins. When Grandma went into the nursing home I didn’t get that painting. There are 9 children, 36 (I believe) grandchildren and even more great grandchildren. I searched for that picture everywhere on ebay hoping to get a copy of it for myself. I searched for a year with no luck. One Christmas, my sister and I both believed we had gotten the best most obscure gifts for each other. I had gotten her the 70’s Barbie camper she always wanted as a kid but my gift did not compare to her gift of the painting I had searched and searched with no luck for. Best Christmas gift I ever received.
The guy I’m dating, we will call him “Jeremy” (since that is his name), suggested we do maybe the coolest thing I’ve ever done for Valentine’s Day. Yes, I vowed to never celebrate V-Day due to my adolescent scars but some times you have to compromise. I wish I could take the credit but I had absolutely nothing to do with the plan. He put the roses in the car and we headed to our destination. I was a little nervous. I knew where we were going but I didn’t know how I would react. My Grandma Hazel who just passed away last year spent her last days in a nursing home and I knew just being in one would make me tear up. I’m a natural weeper by nature anyway but especially when it comes to my Grandma who was attached to so many memories. I am a teacher and had received a lot of boxes of chocolates that day so along with our roses we brought the chocolates in with us. A very friendly activities director met us at the door and showed us to the rooms of elderly people who might not have received a Valentine that day. We went around room to room and met many fascinating people. Some who were cheerful and full of joy and others who were apathetic and didn’t know what day or month it even was. I remember walking into a room with an elderly woman wearing a tiara on her head with her daughter laying on her bed chatting up a storm about their lives, but the image that will stick with me is the other woman in the room quietly sitting in a wheelchair. She was turned away from the other woman and her daughter and staring out the window. I remember thinking a rose from a stranger won’t make a difference to anyone’s day but the way she lit up when we handed her the rose and touched her arm made me think that she felt that on this day she wasn’t forgotten.
After all the roses were handed out, we stopped by the room of a 100 year old man named Sylvester. Sylvester used to be a painter but after a botched cataract surgery his sight was taken from him. His wife had lived with him in the same room until last year when she had passed away and now he was the only one left. The activities director wanted to move on from Sylvester’s room pretty quickly but I was fascinated by everything that came out of his mouth. We stayed for about 20 minutes talking about his paintings of various chickens that he had hung on the walls in his room. On our way out he mentioned that he knows “us youngins” probably didn’t think a painting of a covered bridge was anything special but the one “over there” was one of his favorites. I looked at the wall on the way out and saw a painting of a covered bridge and then I saw my Grandma, my childhood, my memories. I told Sylvester that I’ve always loved pictures of covered bridges. Maybe Valentine’s Day isn’t so bad after all.
Not Only The Month For Love
Oh, February the month of Love. I have to be honest, I have never really celebrated Valentine’s Day. I think it all goes back to Jr. High when I would be sitting at my desk hearing all the names over the loud-speaker who have flowers, balloons, or teddy bears holding hearts down in the office. I never heard my name…not once. I don’t know why, I was obviously a fox. My braces always matched my outfit. Anyway, when I got a little older and had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday of LOVE, I decided to forgo it to celebrate the Chinese New Year instead. It has become one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. The Chinese do things like clean their house, pay off debts, get new haircuts and purchasing new clothes for the New Year. I usually just wear red and go to PF Changs. We all have our own traditions.
Below are more holidays to discover and celebrate.
February 1: National Freedom day
This day is a day to celebrate freedom. The roots of the holiday are associated with the end of slavery and the signing of the 13th amendment.
February 2: Groundhog’s Day
Maybe this year is finally the year to make a trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for the annual Groundhog’s day celebration. Phil sees his shadow 9 out of 10 times which means six more weeks of winter according to the legend.
February 3: That Day The Music Died
This day recognizes the untimely deaths of Richie Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper who all died in a plane crash this day in 1959.
February 3: Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year begins on this day and lasts 15 days. The 15th day is called That Lantern Festival which is celebrated by a lantern display and kids carrying lanterns in a parade.
February 4: Thank a Mailman or woman Day
They deliver our mail rain or shine. The least we could do is say “thank you”.
February 5: Weatherman’s Day
Honor your weatherman today!
February 7: Wave With All Your Fingers At A Neighbor Day
This day is to do just what is says. Wave at your neighbor today but be sure to ten finger it!
February 7: Send A Card To A Friend Day
February 8: Boy Scout Day
Boy Scouts were founded on this day in 1910!
February 9: Toothache Day
I was unable to find out much about this day but I could only imagine brushing and flossing would be an appropriate way to celebrate.
February 10: Umbrella Day
Celebrate the invention of the umbrella.
February 11: Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
This is a day to look on the bright side and maybe realize that our “big deals” really aren’t big deals in the larger scheme of things.
February 11: Make A Friend Day
Facebook has made this easy. It can be accomplished in one click.
February 12: Plum Pudding Day
Never made (or even tasted) Plum Pudding? Get to it! http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Superb-English-Plum-Pudding-20010
February 13: Get a Different Name Day
If you don’t like your name this is the perfect day to legally change it.
February 14 has many holidays but I think the most popular is Clean Out Your Computer Day
Time to empty out your inbox. It will feel good. Promise.
February 15: Singles Awareness Day 
This is a day for singles to get together and mingle.
February 16: Do a Grouch a Favor Day
This is a day to cheer up someone who is temporarily grouchy or someone who is always a bit grouchy. my favorite way to cheer up people is to bring them Starbucks. I assume since it always makes my day that it will make someone else’s day too.
February 17: Random Acts of Kindness Day
Maybe it’s time to surprise someone with Starbucks. Is there any other way to cheer someone up?
February 18: National Battery Day
Time to celebrate the invention of the battery! Maybe I will celebrate by finally putting batteries in my smoke detector in my hallway.
February 19: National Chocolate Mint Day
February 20: Hoodie Hoo Day
This is a day when people go out at noon, wave their hands in the air and shout, “Hoodie Hoo”! Quite possibly the best holiday yet. Apparently doing this will chase away winter.
February 21: President’s Day
It is time to say. “Thank you Abe and George!”
February 22: Be Humble Day
February 23: International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
February 24:National Tortilla Chip Day
This is a day I can get behind!
February 26: Carnival Day
The best way to celebrate this day is to go to a carnival..if you can find one in the dead of winter.
February 26: Tell a Fairy Tale Day
February 27: Polar Bear Day
Did you know polar bears can be up to nine feet tall and 1400 pounds?
February 27: No Brainer Day
This is a day for you to do only what requires little to no brain activity. Stare at a wall, blink, and growing hair are all good options for this day.
February 28: Public Sleeping Day
We all know someone who thinks everyday is public sleeping day but on this day it is time to join in on the fun.
February 28: National Tooth Fairy Day (also August 22) 
Time to celebrate the lovable fairy who manages to get the tooth out from under your pillow and leave money. I remember the day that I found out the tooth fairy was not real. I found a $5 bill under my pillow and when I showed my Dad what the Tooth Fairy had left me, he grabbed the $5 bill and said, “Oh she made a mistake” and then handed me a dollar. Oh, little girl dreams and an imagination, who needs them!
Time to Celebrate
When I was a kid I use to say Winter was my favorite season. I loved playing in the snow. Growing up in a small town, I remember my friend Katie’s dad tying a plastic sled onto his truck and driving slowly down the small town streets as we held on for dear life. I loved the feeling of being exhausted and numb but coming back inside a warm house to thaw out and drink hot chocolate. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed January and February are the months I dread the most maybe because I’m not celebrating these months like I use to. I’ve decided this January and February (and probably some of March) I will spend celebrating. Want to know how to celebrate your January? Below are actual holidays to celebrate the first month of 2011. There is one for each day some days have two holidays. Let’s get rid of this dreary winter by making it something to celebrate.
The Entire Month of January we celebrate:
Month:
- National Bath Safety Month
- National Blood Donor Month
- National Braille Literacy Month
- National Hobby Month
- Hot Tea Month
- National Oatmeal Month
- National Soup Month
Week Celebrations:
2nd Week Letter Writing Week
Daily Celebrations:
January 2: Run up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day
This is a day to be creative. Share your ideas and see if any of them take off or just wear an outfit that isn’t normally your style or fix your hair in a creative way.
January 3: Festival of Sleep Day
This Day is for sleeping in! I have to go back to work on this day so I will have to celebrate this day from tomorrow until January 3rd.
January 3: Fruitcake Toss Day
Time to toss that Fruitcake your Uncle Roy gave you for Christmas
January 3: Humiliation Day
This day is not meant for humiliating someone but instead time to recognize the negativity some people show others by humiliating them in public.
January 4: Trivia Day
Time to share trivia with family and friends or maybe play a game of Trivial Pursuit.
January 5: National Bird Day/ Jenny Bear’s birthday!
This day is set aside to recognize birds. I don’t really have a soft spot for birds so I will celebrate my good friend Jenny’s birthday!!
January 6: Bean Day
This day is basically about eating beans.
January 6: Cuddle Up Day
This is a night to cuddle up with someone you feel comfortable cuddling up with. Perhaps your sweetie or your dog. If you are lucky, you get to cuddle up with both.
January 7: Old Rock Day
This is a day to appreciate old rocks and fossils…maybe a trip to Tiffany’s would do the trick. This is also my friend Ali’s birthday so I might be celebrating that instead.
January 8: Bubble Bath Day
Time to take a bubble bath! I celebrate this day often. Guys, don’t feel left out. Time to celebrate your feminine side.
January 8: Male Watcher’s Day
Time for the ladies to watch their men! Watch them at work, at the beach or watch them change your air filter. Does any male want to change my air filter on this day?
January 9: Play God Day
None of us could really attempt to play God but we could make someone’s day brighter. Might be a good day to bring Starbucks to someone at work. This always makes my day brighter.
January 10: Peculiar People Day
Finally a day to celebrate the peculiar people in your life. Celebrate them by doing something peculiar yourself. I know you have it in you.
January 11: Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day
Good thing I am a first grade teacher, I know if there are puddles on this day then this day will be celebrated by my first graders.
January 12: Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day
I was unable to find the origin of this day or how you are supposed to celebrate. I guess you just use your imagination.
January 12: National Pharmacist Day
If you know a Pharmacist or visit Walgreens today, might want to wish them a happy day or give them some candy or maybe even a hug.
January 13: Make Your Dream Come True Today
This is a dat spent making one of your dreams come true. Maybe it means making plans to finally go on that trip to Hawaii. Whatever your dream is, take a step in the right direction of making it come true today!
January 14: Dress Up Your Pet Day 
Watch out Gwynnie! Time to put your sweater back on.
January 15: National Hat Day
Wear a hat of your style and preference on this day !
January 16: National Nothing Day
This is a day of doing nothing or perhaps watching Seinfield.
January 17: National Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day
Been dieting for 17 days…well quit it!
January 17: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Time to celebrate how far we have come in the last 50 years.
January 18: Thesaurus Day
I think this video says it all.
January 18: Winnie the Pooh Day
This is the birthday of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne. Celebrate by reading a Pooh story to a child of your choice or just to yourself. Who doesn’t need a little more Winne the Pooh in their lives?
January 19: National Popcorn Day
Pop up some popcorn and enjoy!
January 20: National Buttercrunch Day
Today you can enjoy buttercrunch candy, ice cream or anything buttercrunch.
January 20: Penguin Awareness Day
Maybe your nearest Aquarium has Penguins you can go visit. They like an audience.
January 21: National Hugging Day
Watch out world…and possibly penguins. I might have to combine the days.
January 21: National Squirrel Day
Maybe bring some nuts to give to your favorite nut-loving creatures.
January 22: National Blonde Brownie Day
This day is set aside for making blonde brownies. To make blonde brownie, light brown sugar is used in the recipe instead of dark brown chocolate.
January 23: National Pie Day
I will spend this day eating Caramel Apple Pie from Homemade Ice cream and Pie Kitchen
January 23: National Handwriting Day
Time to get out your pen and paper and write. How long has it been since you had a cramp in your hand from writing for too long?
January 23: Measure Your Feet Day
I think this day seems optional.
January 24: Beer Can Appreciation Day
Did you know some people collect beer cans? If you have an old beer can it can be worth a lot of money. Check with collectors or ebay.
January 24: Compliment Day
This is a great day to give others a sincere compliment.
January 25: Opposite Day
I will be sure to not tell my first graders that it is Opposite Day. “Get out your pencils. It’s opposite day, she means don’t get out your pencils.” That would be a long day!
January 26: Spouse’s Day
This is a day to celebrate your better half!
January 27: Chocolate Cake Day
For you cake lovers, do you a need a day to celebrate cake? If so, here is your day. Enjoy!
January 27: Punch the Clock Day
No one really knows how to celebrate this day. I would suggest punching the clock with gusto and celebrate being employed!
January 28: Fun At Work Day
Make work fun this day by being creative. It might be a good day to show a co worker how well you can rap, “Bust a Move”!
January 28: National Kazoo Day
This is a day to celebrate musical instruments specifically the Kazoo.
January 29: National Puzzle Day
This is a day to celebrate puzzles all shapes and sizes. You might want to help a toddler with a 25 piece puzzle or you are a puzzle fanatic who can do a 1,00o piece puzzles. Either way, get your puzzles out and your brain working.
January 29: National Cornchip Day
Come on America! You know what to do!
January 30: National Inane Answering Machine Message Day
This is a day to change your answering machine outgoing message to something stupid, silly or well inane.
January 31: National Backwards Day 
A day to do anything you want backwards.
January 31: Inspire Your Heart With Art Day
This is a day to observe Art. Go to a museum or create your own art. We all have an inner artist. Here is one of my art pieces. Who doesn’t love Peanut Butter! Feel free to appreciate my art. 
Have fun celebrating January! Look back next month on ways to celebrate February.
May The Lord Make Us Truly Thankful
It’s that time of year again, when we get together and eat turkey with our family. It kind of makes you wonder what this holiday is all about because when I think of Thanksgiving, I think of traveling to my Mamaw and Papaw’s house for lunch, hop back in the car to travel to my Grandma’s house for dinner and then head to the movies with my four million cousins. Those days are sadly gone but even when they were here we were more focused on getting places on time and making sure the parents didn’t forget that going to the movies is a tradition and everyone must attend than it was about being thankful.
I have to admit that when I get a new Pottery Barn catalog, especially a holiday one…I don’t feel so thankful. Instead I feel envious of those who can afford to buy the Thanksgiving collection complete with Mayflower Treat Holders and who have children to dress up like Pilgrims and Indi…Native Americans. At least that is how I use to feel. This year things have changed for me because I saw what it actually means to be in “need”.
I was blessed to get to go to Kisumu, Kenya this summer on a mission trip. I had never been out of the country before and I decided if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right. I was going to go as far away as I could. Once we arrived in Africa, I noticed quickly that I wasn’t in America anymore. I had never NOT BEEN in America before (except for the two days we had spent in London-but that was close enough to America). There wasn’t a Starbucks to be found. We weren’t just in Africa, we were in the slums of Africa. All the sudden I had jumped right into the pages of National Geographic except these people were real with names and stories.
I always knew, I guess, but for the first time I felt overwhelmed with blessings. I felt ashamed of how much I have and how little I appreciate it. As we walked though the neighborhood, I watched my perspective change. I became very patriotic. My room-mate on this trip and I at night when we were desperately missing anything that resembled American food, would sing Patriotic songs until we would fall asleep under our mosquito tents. Somehow that spiraled out of control to where we wrote songs constantly and sang them to the tune of America, the Beautiful and sung them with an African accent. Most of my songs were titled, Starbucks. Riveting tunes, really.
I was filling my shoebox for Operation Christmas Child up to the top last night, thinking of the trash covered streets, the little boys wearing girl’s clothes because that is all they had, the wild animals walking around eating trash from the slum streets, the butchery that had no refrigeration and was in a building no larger than a refrigerator box. I was wondering if the little giggly girls who followed me through the slums and would copy all my well performed dance moves were going to get a Christmas gift…or even a decent meal. I was thinking about the lady we met who was pregnant and was worried for her unborn baby not to mention her sister that had been missing for six years, I was thinking about all the street boys who sniffed glue to keep themselves warm and to curb their appetite.
The first Winter on the Plymouth Colony, the Pilgrims were truly in need. Many of them grew sick and died of pneumonia, malnutrition, hypothermia or a mixture of these. The Pilgrims truly were thankful for their Harvest the next year because they understood what it was like to go without. Most of us have never had a Thanksgiving that wasn’t filled with food, laughter and the joy being with loved ones. For that we should be truly thankful and for those who are not as blessed as we are, we need to share our many blessings.
My Life With Freckles 
