Sunscreen and my life

About 100 years ago or so there was a song or chant? Called Sunscreen. I heard it today on my iPod and I thought. I should do a blog on how it relates to my life.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99  This applies to me because I'm high school class of 1999: I'd put a picture here of my senior class but it was taken back in the stone ages before smart phones. So...contrary to popular belief...... YES THERE ARE SOME THINGS NOT ON GOOGLE! If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

   MOVING ON:  well he's absolutely right after years and agonizing days of sunburns from beaches and lake trips. SUNSCREEN IS MORE VALUABLE TO ME THEN GOLD. SPF 50 please. Tans are soooo last decade. Well at least real ones. 

 The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by 

scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable 

than my own meandering 

experience…I will dispense this advice now. My advice may not be very valuable to anyone else but me, but here goes anyway.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not 

understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. 

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and 

recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before 

you and how fabulous you really looked….

I'm still considered young and approaching my 33rd birthday. Yes it's true readers I'm not a random rambling 20-something anymore. I have reached and passed and cried over reaching and surpassing into my 3rd decade of life. 

A rare post 30 pic of me. They don't happen often because I hate all pictures of me but for you dear readers. I will suck it up. So yo! Sup?

You’re not as fat as you 

imagine.

I know for a fact this is true. When I look in the mirror I see this

 I've been told this is in fact NOT ME. So I guess I'm not as fat as I imagine. Just a lil less fat than this. 

See? We could be twins. At least that's what I SEE. Could there be some kinda mix up with the mirror or something? Oh well it shall remain a mystery.             

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as 

effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing

bubblegum.

Well...... Pass the bubblegum which I could never figure out how to blow bubbles with. SO FAIL! I worry about everything. It's in my DNA. If there was a magic pill you could take to stop your worries and never worry again. I'd take it before you could say.......wait there might be side effects....aren't you worried? Oh wait there are. They're called Xanax and I'm already taking them have been since idk. Birth. But worry is something that still haunts me and most likely always will.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that 

never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm 

on some idle Tuesday.

Mine was some random Saturday in October at 5 AM.

My beloved older brother Richard called me and told me "The doctor's got my blood work back and they said I need to go to the ER immediately." In my early morning fog I thought this was some kind of sick twisted nightmare.  

8 hours later my brother was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocitic Leukemia or for those of you who are unaware of health stuff unlike me and my OCD knowledge....C-A-N-C-E-R

 My most beloved brother called me to tell me he was headed to the ER and later was diagnosed with Leukemia. It's a moment I will truly NEVER forget. There was a scar on my heart that day, one that will never heal.

                        

He's not perfect but he's my big brother and I love him more than anything in the world. Kisses BUB! He's got some form of Leukemia you can "live with" so for now he's living with it. But that Saturday morning was the scariest I have ever had. He wasn't even 45 and he could've been dying. Actually he IS dying it's just a matter of how quickly, which scares the daylights out of me. Yeah, I was BLINDSIDED to say the very least. More like hit by a Mack Truck.

All I could think about on that idle Saturday was WHY? Why him? What did he do to deserve this? That was one thing I never worried about. In his hard and tumultuous life Cancer was NEVER anything that ever crossed my mind would befall my beloved oldest brother.  The man who I put on a pedestal and worshipped as a little girl and still (don't tell him) do to this day!

He's my hero.  He's the person I count on when something needs fixing whether in my house or in my life. He's my role model and most importantly he's my friend. I've always felt welcome in his life and I know that he truly loves me completely and unconditionally.  That is one gift I can never repay except to love HIM back unconditionally.  But he taught me what that truly means.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Being ME random moments scare me and recently I drove on ice on the interstate. That was scary for sure. In general two words.....NASHVILLE TRAFFIC!

Sing

I don't think anyone wants me to follow THIS particular advice since I'm utterly and completely tone deaf.
 I rock out like I'm a frickin rockstar in my car by myself...let's keep it that way! 

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with 

people who are reckless with yours.

I am not reckless with anyone's heart. Not purposely at least. But unfortunately I put up with a huge number of people that are reckless with mine. I'm working on it but it's not so easy.

This is advice that I wish over the years I had truly heeded, but unfortunately I didn't and I have trouble doing it to this day.  I don't break many hearts but I've had a ton of people be reckless with mine. I've let them get away with it and therefore have scarred my heart in the process. This is not easy to do by any stretch of the imagination.

Floss

I do this but definitely not often enough. Sorry to my dentist and my gums. 

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes 

you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with 

yourself.

Depends on what the jealousy is about. When it comes to relationships I'm not that bad. With friends I strive to not be jealous but to be happy and try to hold on to the belief that one day the world will pay me back. You know karma. 

My biggest worry is that I'm losing this race against myself....how that's possible I don't know but right now it's how I feel.  I've never been a jealous person I always felt like my time and turn in everything would come. Yeah, I'm not so sure anymore....cause patience is not my strongest virtue by any means and I am so close to giving up and starting to be jealous.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you 

succeed in doing this, tell me how.

I cannot find one person in my small corner of the world that ACTUALLY succeeds in doing this. If the rare person crosses my path who CAN. They can never tell me how. 

I FAIL EVERYDAY!!!!! HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO EVEN BEGIN DOING THIS....I TAKE WAY TOO MUCH TO HEART.  SO IF ANYONE WHO MAY POSSIBLY BY SOME MIRACLE READ THIS BLOG.....if you know how to do this....PLEASE GOD I BEG OF YOU! TELL ME HOW!!!! PLLLLLLLEEEEEEEAAAASSSSSSEEEE detailed instructions preferably in an instruction manual. :)

This song/chant is right. We all remember the bad and are lightning quick to completely forget the good. :(

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

I don't think I even have any love letters or I would keep them. I definitely throw away my bank statements to my mom's complete and constant annoyance :)

Stretch

Duh, every time I can I stretch and make a stupid "stretching noise" to accompany it. 

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your 

life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they 

wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year 

olds I know still don’t.

Yeah. Um. I don't know what the hell I wanna do with my life. I'm not 40 yet but it's creeping up on me. If I don't figure this out soon I'm going to be one of these so-called "interesting" 40 year olds.  I'm getting closer every day.

Get plenty of calcium.

Ok THIS I do. I love all things dairy and I have milk in my skinny vanilla lattes from Starbucks every morning. CHECK THAT ONE OFF THE LIST! 

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

I'm very kind to them. I tell them everyday they are great benders! I do a cheer. Yay Knees! Mine are in DECENT shape luckily but if I keep hitting them on my desk at work that might not last for long. 

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe 

you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky 

chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…

 Not getting married and not having kids is my worst nightmare. I will NOT be dancing at my 75th wedding anniversary unless I live to be like 200. Or something. I can't do math. 

what ever you do, don’t 

congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your 

choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

 Um ok. Sure but why have my chance choices lead me here? Oh well. I guess we will find out someday. I berate myself way too much. I don't congratulate myself enough. I need desperately to find a balance.

Enjoy your body, 

use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people 

think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever 

own..

Whenever I hear this part I think of naughty things. Use your body. Hmm how so? I'm deathly afraid of it and I'm scared to death of what other people think.  I don't know how to face this fear.

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Well several years ago at a dance club my BFF told me I looked like I was doing a Jane Fonda workout. That scarred me for life. So my living room is the ONLY place I will dance and usually just when ELLEN does on her talk show and only if I'm alone. Otherwise it's chair city for me baby, but I can rock a chair dance like no body else. 

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Sadly, I'm one of those sad people who always reads all the directions. My friends make fun of me until they need me to help them with something then it's like who made fun now? Booyah!

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

I do and they do. Easy as that. 

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for 

good.

Yeah I did this CHECK NUMBER TWO ON THIS LIST. I talk to my Mom on a pretty much daily basis and see her for some quality time at least once a week.  My Father on the other hand is a completely different story. It's strained at best and down right f-ed up every other time. 

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the 

people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Except for aforementioned brother it is impossible to be nice to my siblings. So I will just say. Nahhhh to that one. Not for lack of trying on my part but my other brother has never acted like I was welcome in his life and I have never felt that way.  

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you 

should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and 

lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you 

knew when you were young.

There are some people in my life who I have done the above for they are listed here:
NORI:

I take the second "F" in Best Friend Forever VERY seriously.  She will always be a completely necessary part of my life.  Taking any part of my time with her out of my life would be like cutting off one of my arms.  She is like a star in the sky, always there shining down on me even when I'm not looking or noticing.  She's always on my mind.  Not a day goes by where something doesn't remind me of the crazy amount of memories we've lived together.  If not for this woman I don't know if I would have made it through my 20s.

RACHEL:

God, there is so much to say.  How do you even describe a friendship like ours? It's crazy, tumultuous, nutty, fun, dramatic, and treasured.  We fight a lot, but we love each other triple the amount we fight.  I'd do anything for her and she would do the same for me.  She's stuck by me even when I've done everything I could think of to push her away.  She is the most tenacious and loyal person I know and it's only a couple of reasons why I love her.  She and Nori are my soulmates and my life cannot be if either one of them is taken out of the story.  She is one of the faces I would see when my life flashes before my eyes and I can't wait to make more memories.  I know a lot about her but I learn new things every single day and I never want to lose her.  I will do everything I possibly can to keep her my BFF.  She's the sister I should've had and I thank God every day that she entered my life over 11 years ago.  

BARBIE:

She's the newest of my friends but I knew from the moment I met her when it should've been awkward and uncomfortable it was completely the opposite.  It was like I was visiting someone I had known my whole life. I've laughed more with her in one weekend than with other friends. She's my inspiration and I admire the hell out of her.  She has this amazing quality about her that you just know if you are with her everything is going to be okay.  She's a survivor and one of the few people in my life who can take care of me without me resenting it even a little.  That's soooo rare for me.  I haven't spent as many memories with her but I hope so much to make so many more in the future.  She and I were like two pieces of a puzzle that just clicked and fit together perfectly.  The saddest thing about her is that she doesn't understand why I or anyone else thinks she's so amazing.  She's so blind to how great and inspiring she is.

STEPHANIE:

Stephanie has truly been someone who shaped the person I am today.  She was my first friend and she will always be special to me and always fill my heart.  We've kind of grown apart lately, but her importance in the story that is "me," is too important to even put into words.  

KELLEY:

Kelley and I are so on again, off again, but always on.  That makes no sense to the average reader but she will understand.  We either spend too much time together or not enough.  She will be in my future as she is in my present and my past.  I mean we do have a blog together ogling hot men, so she has no choice really.  No matter how different our paths go, they always converge in the end. It's just the way we are.  She's an important part of who I am and will continue to be.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live 

in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
I could see myself living in Cali later in my life but I've visited NYC and as much as I'd like to think I'm a "city" girl.  I'm not a NYC girl.  It's too fast paced and intimidating and cold both emotionally and in weather.  It's somewhere I would love to visit countless times in my life, but living there just ain't gonna happen.

Travel.
Thanks to my Mom this is another big fat CHECK MARK on my list because of her I've been to Europe and all over the US and experienced so many things and places and I managed to get her on airplanes so that is amazing.  She made me completely fall in love with traveling and I will do it for the rest of my life because of her. 

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will 

philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize 

that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were 

noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.
This is something I have ALWAYS DONE it's just the way I was raised.  I already see that children today don't do this nearly enough.  I'm not even old YET but I KNOW I will get old and one day the politics of today and the prices of today will be considered those of "yore." Or "the good old days" I just hope I can achieve the things in my life before I get old that I can look back on and tell great stories to my children and grand-children and if I'm lucky great-grand children!

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, 

maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one 

might run out.
I've seen both these things happen to way too many people. I dont' do this enough. It' s something I'm working on. I want to not have to depend on my parents as much financially.  It's hard to do, it's hard to cut those final strings that make life a little less scary.  It's time to grow up and become a real bonafide adult. I'm so close just a few steps farther!

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will 

look 85.
This will not even be an issue MOVING ON! I never do my hair to Rachel's complete annoyance.....and Nori's lol

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who 

supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of 

fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the 

ugly parts and recycling it for more than 

it’s worth.
I will never underestimate the power of good advice from those that have lived to experience and learn all the lessons that this song and it's lyrics has to teach.

But trust me on the sunscreen…uh...yeah...me fair skinned...I burn. It's bad.   It works! YOU CAN NEVER GO WRONG WITH SOME SUNSCREEN! 

You also can never go wrong with a song that reminds you of the important things that you should focus on in life. It's why I love this song so much and why I learn something new every time I listen.  Thanks for reading.  More to come as life goes on so will my ramblings....

I love you all so much and I'm very blessed even when I THINK I'm not. When I think I'm not, I will refer to everything said above! STAY TUNED.....I have to go apply sunscreen! Laters baby!
Love,
Julie