T.M.I.

T.M.I. in case you are wondering, stands for too much information. It's another way of expressing an what is commonly know as an overshare.

My question is this...what do you do when you are encountered with something like this?

Here's the scenario. Last week, an acquaintance of mine shared something with me that is well beyond the scope of something I should know. Suffice it to say, the information that was shared to me has the potential to hurt quite a few other people. This information is something that I am not comfortable knowing.

The problem is, I know the reason this person chose to share the information with me was to have a sympathetic ear. While I will always do my best to support a friend in their time of need (and I did have an open conversation with some candid thoughts as well as some general advice), I am still reeling from this little piece of information myself.

I did tell this person all of what I have shared above...that I will be there for them, but in the future, I would not like to be privy to this type of information. I also shared that I was a bit angry they had shared it with me...because, well really, I am supposed to walk around with knowing these things that I am not supposed to know and am not comfortable with it.

Here's a general rule I have come up with after all this...if this is something you would not feel comfortable knowing about someone else, than it is not something you should really share with someone else...it makes me feel like I too am carrying this burden.

Did this sound selfish? How should I handle this type of thing going forward? What would you do?

-Gina

Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend was a nice one this year.

Saturday, I had the pleasure of watching a friend of mine take a HUGE step with her family...they took the next step by participating in our Family Dedication ceremony at church. For those of you who are not familiar, this is a small ceremony in which the parents (with their children with them on stage) take the very public step of committing to raise their kids with God's influence. It's such a touching thing, and a very public one, as they do this in front of all who are in attendance. Congrats Dawn and your entire family...I am so proud of you guys!

Also, as I was in service to watch this, they announced the winner of the "Mother of the Year" award. The recipient was someone whom I have also served alongside of and I feel is very deserving of this award. It was even more touching to hear the touching words from her husband (who serves in the Reserves). Lia is an amazing woman, while raising her sons has given them a wonderful family at home and a church family. While her husband serves, she fills in at Cub Scout functions, including their camp outs. She also found time to serve in the Children's Ministry on top of all of this!

Today, my mom and I slept in a bit and then went to have brunch with my brother and niece. It was a bit awkward (some of you know our family situation...we called an Amnesty Day for today), but was OK in the end. Mostly, because my brother let us take my niece for the afternoon...the best gift he could have given her! My mom and I brought Nina back to the house to visit with Holly (our dog) and play for a bit. We then went to the movies and saw Earth (Nina picked it). I truthfully didn't think I would like it much but was in such awe at the wonderful sights in this movie. We all enjoyed it and then had ice cream and we took her home.

It was sad to see her crocodile tears when she realized we were taking her home...she (like most kids) doesn't really understand what is going on and has been used to weekend visits as far back as she could remember. But, we explained simply that she has school tomorrow and has to be home for that...in all earnestness, with big tears, she says "Family is more important than school." How do you answer this...she is right and hopefully we will all see the light soon!

On a happier note, I must brag on my niece for a moment...she is so stinkin' smart! This kid can read anything you put in front of her. At first when we were at brunch, I thought she must know what the writing on the bottle says from having seen it enough (juice). So, I took out a clipping from the newspaper with the movie times and some other stuff...she read almost 100% of the words on it...including "directing". She is only in kindergarten and has been identified as gifted, but not having seen her in so long...I was floored! We spent lots of the time in the car playing a game we made up...we would choose a letter and then name all the words we could think of that began with it. She loved this game, and sadly, was much better than I at it!

To all of those that I didn't get a chance to say this to (many of you, because my text messaging for some reason wasn't working today!), Happy Mother's Day! This includes those who don't have children...we have dogs, friends, family and many other ways that we "mother".

Love,

Gina

The Last Lecture

If you haven't heard of either The Last Lecture or Randy Pausch, you must be living in a bubble.

The story goes something like this...Pausch - a Carnegie-Mellon professor, father and husband is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He gives what is referred to as a "last lecture" at his university. Hundreds of friends and colleagues attend and the lecture itself is taped for prosperity and put on the Internet for those who were unable to attend to view. The video goes viral...the rest is history!

The topic of his speech was "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams".

Once I heard the story behind this, I was curious and ended up watching the lecture online like millions of others. It wasn't what I expected...it was upbeat, funny, entertaining and so very wise! It definitely wasn't sad or morbid, as I had expected.

On my Santa list this past year, I asked for a copy of the book. I didn't get it and ended up purchasing it for myself a few months ago.

I read the book about 2 weeks ago now and still think it is one of the best books I have ever read! I believe, as with everything else - that things happen when they are supposed to happen...that being said, this book sat on my shelf until I finally got around to reading it...about 2 weeks after I lost my job.

I highly recommend this book to anyone...it really makes you see things in a different way.

-Gina

P.S. - I still have my copy if you would like to borrow it...just leave me a comment & it's yours for the borrowing!

Must See TV

Lately, I have had the pleasure of being able to watch The View almost every day (one positive side-effect of being unemployed). Now, when I was working...I would catch clips of the more memorable moments on my lunch hour via the Internet. That was my only exposure to this show other than the occasional sick day, clip on the news, celebrity news shows or hearing my mom tell me about it.

Now, I see what all the fuss is about! There is something so very refreshing about a show that brings together all viewpoints and allows them to debate such important issues such as politics, religion, current affairs, news and of course the bad behavior of certain celebrities! And to have smart and entertaining women being the ones that open this dialouge...priceless! It's like sitting around with your closest friends and discussing current affairs over a good cup of coffee.

Growing up, we all heard at one time or another the old adage "There are 2 things you never discuss in mixed company...politics and religion". I have learned over the years that as long as you can express such opinions and share ideas with another (especially with someone of different viewpoint as yours) with respect and candor that this practice is out of date. I have spent many hours having such discussions...even though I am hard-headed and have strong opinions...I usually learn a thing or two from these discussions. I have learned things I didn't know before and have become a more informed adult for it! I have an ex-colleague (he got the boot the same day I did) that fits this bill. We went at it and at it leading up to the last election...he didn't change my mind, but he challenged me to see things another way, as I did for him.

Anyhow, that is what The View is all about. The Hot Topics section is my fave! They go at it every morning for about 15 minutes on various subjects. They make me laugh and they help me learn something new and see things from another viewpoint.

Last week, the women of The View (as a whole) were voted to Time's 100 Most Influential list for this year. I think this is a well deserved honor for a show that has opened up a dialogue within many Americans that they never would have had!