A Letter: Girl Talk Through Tunes

To All My Single Ladies -



As for the guys who read my posts, sorry; this one's for the girls. Too many of my friends have come to me recently sharing stories of heartbreak and Lord knows I've experienced that, too. So this is a letter for them and any woman who has learned that:

• men and mascara always run
• their guy should've said no to another girl
• love done gone
• they're now rollin in the deep of what might have been
• they'll forever be asking "why not me?"
• and any other thing that led a boy to break their heart

Ultimately, it's ok because everybody hurts sometimes.


Just tell that boy to leave the pieces when he goes and find a picture [of him] to burn. Next, and most important, get yourself to your closest good friend and a glass of wine.


In case you're in a state where you can't tell yourself, a good friend can point out that "he" is clearly insenstive and that you are:

• nobody's fool
• tough and a fighter
• going to grow a little bit stronger every day 
•  wrong again if you think you won't find someone better 

In fact one day, you'll look back on him and be able to say "There's more to me than you and I'll never again want to go back to you." And if the guy never gave you a chance at a relationship, you'll be able to say "You're the best thing I never had because I'm not settlin' on anyone but my Mr. Right."


And have no fear, there are Mr. Rights out there that do know how to treat ladies the way they deserve to be treated.


Besides, if I were a boy, I'd know that there could never be a more beautiful you because you are perfect just the way you are.


Take heart that God has blessed the broken road. Though your guy maybe hasn't met you yet, you'll find him and he'll say "let it be me" that you choose. 


Until then, head on out in your red high heels and make any man dumb enough to let you walk away realize that when he was with you, those were the best days of his life.


And these single days you're in now could be the best days of YOUR life.


Take advantage of them.

Don't tell me you need a man because there are plenty of empowering and inspiring independent women out there.


Join their ranks and put your records on to rock out, single and ready to mingle ;)




                                                                                                       You Are Loved,
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                              Love Me

The Death of a Child - Media Coverage (or lack thereof)

I'm sure that, by now, you have all heard about the Casey Anthony case.

How could you not with all the media coverage devoted to it???

And with all due respect to the memory of sweet and innocent Caylee, I just wish the media would pay even HALF as much attention to other children who are dying too young.

Poverty.com has a tally of how many lives are lost each hour to poverty-related issues.

According to their website, hunger:

• kills about 25,000 people EVERY DAY
• this is one person every 3.5 seconds
• most of the victims are children

And as for AIDS: 

• it is second only to Black Death as the largest epidemic in ALL of history
• 1.5+ million people die from it each year
• this amounts to 1 death every 20 seconds 

Similarly, tuberculosis:

• is thought to have killed more people than any disease EVER
• one million people die from it each year

The website also details the deaths from other poverty-related diseases like malaria and measles. 

But we NEVER hear about them.


Each of those lives lost deserve as much attention as Caylee Anthony got.

Here is a way you can help out by writing a letter. While you're at it, send one to your local newspaper or television station to request their coverage on the issue.

Or support World Vision. Their tagline is "Poverty kills 24,000 children each day. Help one child."

I hope you'll do that - help (at least) one child.

How Our Luggage Had a Better Vacation than Us ( and other tid-bits of bad news from our Andrews Family Adventure to Nova Scotia)

It's true. Our luggage had a better vacation than we did.

We left America together with all of our luggage BUUUUUTTTTT we didn't all make it to our destination that way.

DAY 1 OF OUR VACA:

Bad News Number 1: 

We were on the tarmack for an hour and a half in Atlanta. They kicked 3 people off the plane because we were "over crowded." Thank goodness none of us were selected as one of the 3.

Bad News Number 2:

They pulled some luggage off the plane.... "some" being 30 bags and there were only 70 people on the plane!?! We thought there was a bomb or something because what looked to be a swat team of sorts came rushing out to remove the luggage. Fortunately, there was no bomb BUT they said the bags were removed because there was a weight imbalance due to too much fuel.

"Too much fuel"????? Dear God, how do you not anticipate the equivalent of 30 bags worth of extra fuel?

That sounds like poor planning to me. I was beginning to get VERY nervous about this plane taking off.
But, thank the Lord, we took off - and landed - alright and made it safely to Halifax.

Bad News Number 3: 

We made it; our bags did not.


Well, in full disclosure, I must admit that one bag did make it: mine. This, however, was for the best of the group, I swear ;) Not only did it mean my spirits would remain high but also, I am the notorious over-packer of the family. Had my Daddy's bag been the only one to arrive, we would have been screwed; he packed like 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts for the whole week while I, on the other hand, had like 10 pairs of pants, 12 shirts, 4 jackets and lotion, band-aids, Q-tips, etc ;)

Ok, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration but you get the picture: I came prepared! So I had lots to share :)

Bad News Number 4: 

We were told that the other 3 bags would all arrive together via Detroit that night at 9:30 pm.We had reached the airport at about 4 so we figured we would just explore the downtown area and grab dinner before swinging in to get the bags once they arrived.

They. Did. Not. Arrive. At. 9:30.

There were storms in Detroit so the plane was delayed til 12:30am.

DAY 2 OF OUR VACA:

Bad News Number 5: 

We checked into a hotel for the night. The bags still had not arrived at 12:30; the flight from Detroit was canceled. Annnnnnnnnnnndddddd, it still had not arrived the next morning. The next available flight out of Detroit was not until that night so we pressed on to our final destination leaving our address for them to courier our bags to.

Bad News Number 6:

Our address we had been given (and the one we gave to the airline to send our bags to) was incorrect.

No lie.


Not only did that throw us off when we were trying to find the house we were renting for that week but we thought there was no way in heck the courier would get our bags to the right place now.

Bad News Number 7: 

My period arrived a week early. I don't say this to gross y'all out or to explain my pissy behavior with the airline (believe me, their lack of efficiency would have brought out my frustration regardless!) BUT I tell you because it is relevant later ;)

Bad News Number 8: 

When we finally reached our rented home at the correct address we had to find the key. It was left in the bbq pit... sketch. BUT it wouldn't open the door!?! It was getting stuck and wouldn't turn. We didn't know what we were going to do.

While my brother and Daddy - both engineers - were diligently working on jiggling the lock just right, all of a sudden my mom appears from inside the house and opens the door.

She had walked around the house and found an open window, managed to climb in and saved the day :)

This was a re-enactment to document mom's determination... nothin' a woman won't do to get to the bathroom a lil quicker ;)

Bad News Number 9:
Next, after having to wait an hour, we finally meet our land lord, big Dave. He informs us that the dishwasher definitely does not work and that the washing machine may - or may not - work. We were really counting on that washing machine to clean my mom, dad, and brother's one pair of clothes. Fortunately, it did work and we washed their outfits each night. Bless them.

Bad News Number 10: 

Big Dave also informed us about the recent coyote attack on a nearby hiking trail. When we asked what had happened he said, and I quote:

"A young woman was attacked and killed by a coyote... they're not sure what happened but they figure she was probably menstruating - somethin' like that that attracted them."

In case you've forgotten, refer back to Bad News Number 7 ;)

Oh, joy to the world. Now I was certain I'd be attacked and killed out on the trails. My family had the same thought as they quickly shot me a glance after he mentioned that; I forgot to mention that they were all well aware of my predicament because we had to make an emergency tampon trip to the grocery store!

Good and Bad News Number 11: 

Mom's bag arrived in Nova Scotia :) But not my Daddy's or my brother's :(

It seems our bags were not all together as we'd been promised.

But, as I noted, our bags had a better vacation than ours. It seems mom's had taken a trip from Detroit to New York??? However, we still did not have the bag. We were FOUR HOURS away in our rental home. They promised to fly it over first thing in the morning.

 DAY 3 OF OUR VACA:  

Bad News Number 12: 

Mom's bag was not flown out first thing in the morning which would have gotten it to us in an hour. Instead, it was sent via car which would take 4 hours AND, in case you've forgotten, refer back to Bad News Number 6: they did not have our correct address. Though we had called and given the airport the correct one, we had no way to know they had forwarded that information onto the courier.

Fortunately, though, Mom's bag did arrive by early afternoon :)

Bad News Number 13: 

Big Dave had warned us about bugs being out. We figured we're from South Carolina and have dealt with mosquitoes out the wazoo so we'd be fine.

Wrong.

Their mosquitoes are like small birds.... easily twice as big as ours.

When we saw the locals wearing these, we were worried:

We bought bug-spray or "fly lube" as the locals called it but the bugs were persistent. When we smacked at them it looked like we were mass murderers because blood would get alllllll over our hands : /

Bad News Number 13 - Part 2:

Their mosquito bites turn into huge welts so it effectively looked like I had contracted chicken pox or something! I attracted a LOT of them so I guess it just means I was really sweet ;)


Bad News Number 14: 
We finally tracked down my dad and brother's bags... in Bangor, Maine. I told you our luggage had a better vacation than us! However, we could not confirm if they made it to the Nova Scotia airport or not because we could not find the phone number to the airport they had been sent to and for some strange reason, the airport we had flown into did not have this other airport's number either.

Bad News Number 14 - Part 2:

We called 411 for information to get the airport's number... but the automated response was in French. We don't speak French. I'm sad to say my semesters of French were of no help to me so we couldn't understand it :(

DAY 4 OF OUR VACA:

The final 2 bags arrive at last!!!!!!!!!!!! 

And, though we had a lot of bad news in the beginning, our vacation was ultimately a success. 

We went on beautiful hikes: 

Saw gorgeous scenery:

 

Kayaked St. Ann's Bay: 

And even took in a little Canadian history at Fortress of Louisbourg and the Alexander Graham Bell museum.

 Me and the people of the fort after dancing "Lord Byron's Maggot" - I wish I could say I made the name up BUT I didn't

But, wouldn't you know it... 

Bad News Number 15: 

Even though my Daddy said lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, optimistic that we'd have smooth sailing all the way back to South Carolina, our flights were delayed coming home :( 

Despite 14 hours of travel back home, I'm happy to report that ALL of our bags made it back the same time we did!

And while I would NEVER recommend Delta airlines to anyone after this fiasco, I highly recommend that you visit Nova Scotia :)

Your Dash: sharing a thought-provoking poem

I'm in the "real world" now.

I get up early and grocery shop and even was lucky enough to find a job.

Though my job may not pay a lot and it will only last the summer, it is going to be the best foundation I could hope for to begin the rest of my career. I'm starting out in the real world as the Mission Team Coordinator for Lowcountry Ministries.

Aka: my job is to go out in the community, serve, and love on people - and help others to do the same.

See? I told ya. It is a great first step into the real world.

It is helping me keep things in perspective as I figure out what to pursue in my future profession.

Thanks to my job and my great boss, Larry Leming,  I was recently reminded of The Dash Poem by Linda Ellis which also helps me keep things in perspective.

So, regardless of where you are in your profession or the real world, "would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?"