Mustard, Relish, and Ketchup

Sometimes those three things are all you need to make you happy. What? How? When you're coming out of a serious funk where nothing seemed to go right and you're hanging by a thread, your only refuge...mustard, relish, and ketchup can save the day and restore the hope.

When I was a child, I used to eat mustard, relish, and ketchup sandwiches. Ewww, you think. Not so. They were my favorite next to popcorn! I had them in a time in my life where I was innocent, young, safe, and most importantly loved. I loved those sandwiches. When things seem out of my hands, the one thing I can always rely on...mustard, relish, and ketchup sandwiches.

Faux-Friendships

I had coffee with a dear friend this morning. It's nice catching up with friends you've been out of touch with for a while. I realized something. I keep a limited amount of people I call friends - I can actually count them on one hand, and amazingly only two of them are on facebook. We spoke about friendships in this faux-friend town. Real friendships are rare. Most people like to call themselves friends because they want something. At first I was sad that I had so few friends who cared about me, but after our conversation this morning, I realized how lucky I am to have more than the average amount of true friends! The statistic in ones lifetime is to have 2 true friends. I have five, and I haven't lived a lifetime. I am a good friend to many, yet the reciprocal is not true. People in Los Angeles are used that, those of us who've been here for a while. The new folks to Los Angeles undergo a total culture shock! Everyone is selfish to a certain extent, but here in LA it's almost criminal (if not) how selfish people are. This really is the town of "unworthy egos." Everyone wants to be heard, yet very few listen. I am no longer sad about only having 5 true friends. In fact, I am no longer sad about anything these days. I've very happy with the woman I am becoming. I've let go of the girl of the past. Thanks to those five.

Next Challenge starts in four days!!!! But there's more...

In Four days I will start my 30-day Arms Challenge. I've also decided to add another challenge and that is to take two weekends a month and go somewhere either alone or with someone. I love Santa Barbara, Temecula, San Diego, and Joshua Tree. Anyone want to join me? Here is sit having coffee in Santa Barbara on this beautiful and crisp morning posting from my ipad. I felt the need to get away and so after Trader Joe's this morning, I just kept going!

The arms challenge:

Have an awesome day everyone!!!

It's August and a Great Time for Change

I'm excited about moving on from my seemingly endless temp status to a permanent job outside of the entertainment industry! Kinda scary.

The weather has been perfect for hiking. So I put this group together and everyone has backed out! So I went to facebook to find more friends and sadly, those who live close don't feel their in shape enough to hike. Who knew I actually graduated from an inactive sedentary shlub to an active on-the-go woman!! Ya know what? I Love it!!!

I'm excited about the Breaking Bad marathon I'm holding on Sunday. It seems appropriate in celebration of my new job and position at...oh wait, I shouldn't say just yet.

Have a great weekend!!

Relationships Rant

Lately I've been thinking about relationships. Maybe it's because I'm doing more research. I'm currently reading a book called "The Johns: Sex for sale and the men who buy it." This is off the heels of a book I finished called "Girls Like Us." I'm doing research on my novel and both television pilots.

Anyway, reading all of what's going on under our noses (for those who are not in the life) got me to thinking about relationships in general. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs state we all have five basic needs, one of them is love/belonging (friendship, family, and sexual intimacy).

A friend asked me last week, what happened to me that I am so unwilling to allow love to happen? Of course, I think to myself, does something always have to happen by opting for a life of solitude? Without getting into the entire conversation, the end result was me outright refusing to allow myself to fall again. My thinking: I tried it, I put myself out there. It didn't work. I move forward. The experience was such that, I'm not really “wanting” to put myself out there again, not for a while. In fact, I'm still processing the experience since it was totally unexpected! I have more important things to accomplish in my life than to want a guy to like me, right?

In a conversation with a guy last night, who seems to be smitten by the fact I am not in a relationship and was fine with it, I realized Maslow was right in his assessment of basic needs. This guy believed lack of communication was the reason for his relationship breakdown. Yet, through all of this, he still found the time to hit on me wanting to start something new. His not so subtle hints of sex and relationships didn’t fool or motivate me to investigate further. The conversation ended with the ball in my court to contact him if we want to be friends.

Then I see women, like this morning with such low self-esteem wearing skin-tight, low cut and short dress ( temp at that on a new assignment) with red high heels in a legal department seeking attention (or maybe she likes dressing that way - I don't want to seem envious, I've got my own hotness going on). Maybe she REALLY needs a job? Or maybe she didn’t get to do laundry this weekend and all the clothes she had left were her party clothes? I think to myself, was I ever like that? Not really. I have a healthy awareness of self that I am happy with me. Of course I grew up in a house of love. I never felt the need to impress someone, relationship-wise that is.

Watching #FirstComesLove last night (a documentary featured on HBO) made me see yet another side to relationships. For the first time I was able to see what many men complain about in women. Nina Davenport's overwhelming need to be accepted by her father was very annoying. On one hand you see this seemingly strong and determined woman setting out to have a child on her on. And on the other, you see her vying for her father's acceptance and affection. At one point I thought, forget it! The man is set in his ways and forcing him to accept/approve/love you at this stage will do no good. You've now brought in a new life into the world and your full attention should be on this baby. Teach him to love and show him the love you feel you're lacking from your father. Then there is the "I want a baby and want everyone else to help me raise it" attitude. I think it's wonderful that women want to have a child but at the same time, look at your situation. Can you afford a child? Are you prepared to raise a child alone? Nina assumed everyone, including the father (even though she told him he wasn't responsible for the child in any way), was Gung-ho about helping her beyond the birth. She was seriously disappointed when her friends backed off and left her. Even the boyfriend, who seemed to want to be in their life and was somewhat cool with the child ended up leaving, Yep, there was much we didn't see. Of course this was about a single woman having a baby and not about relationships, right?

Have I really become that hardened? Do I really think relationships are so simple? Why are women so desperate to be defined by a man? Or a baby? Was Maslow right? Relationships are complicated no matter how simple you may want them to be. There is always some underlying stuff that eventually surfaces.

I better get another dog.

TODAY!!

After listening to Joel Osteen's inspiring message this morning, I've decided to make this a day of giving compliments (more than usual). The few friends I have already know how much they mean to me. I feel its important to continuously, yet genuinely let people know how you feel about them or their actions IN A POSITIVE WAY! I'm not saying lie to them but pick out something positive about a person and let them know you see the good in them.

Try it. Reach out to someone you haven't connected with in a while and tell them something good. Leave it at that and don't explain, complain, or detain.

Happy Sunday!

What's New?

I'm still working out and on day 21 of my AB Challenge. I'm actually doing it and having a good time! I feel stronger and focused. I've realized something, I'm an excellent motivator. Once I decide on something, I do it. It's very rare that I back out or give up on anything, even people.

I started journaling again, writing about events that happened since the last time I wrote in it (11/11) - so over a year of events to write about. After seeing it all written out, its crazy but things are getting better, I'm getting better. Change is happening, one failed moment at a time. Ironically things are a little up in the air right now meaning they could go either way. It's hard not to focus on the negative since it's so easy.

Today I will not allow negativity to take over my thoughts and I will not do zero to one-hundred thinking. I will also stop being so hard on myself. One day at a time.