Taking A Compliment...

I know that I am guilty of not being able to take a compliment. I am working on it and not being obstinate when someone says something nice about me. I smile and thank them and I start to believe them most of all. I mean I know I am a nice person. It just really bothers me when I compliment someone and they most of the time say not really or not so much. I can understand having low self esteem but really, I have no reason to lie or embellish the truth to them. Then I start wondering, do they not trust me? I mean do they think I am up to something? Do they think I have some ulterior motive? Of course I don’t. I say nice things to people because I mean it. I like to make people feel good about their selves because I care about them. I wouldn’t make up something just because I could, if I tell you something about you then it is because I really think that about you.

I don’t understand why it is so hard to be able to take a compliment for some people. I wonder if it has to do with some kind of deep seeded thing that happened in the past that like makes them feel like someone said something nice to them and it ended up being the butt of a joke because they believed it and it really hurt them. I am not sure and I probably will never know the reason why. It is just annoying to me because I don’t like when people get down on themselves and say insulting things. Maybe I feel like they are dismissing my opinions of them. I know everyone has an opinion but really I wouldn’t lie about it. I guess some people just really think that way about their selves. I do understand that as someone who was in an abusive marriage and now still suffers with the emotional scars from my ex and the damage he did to my self esteem.

Maybe some do it for attention, fishing for compliments as it sometimes called. I mean everyone likes their ego stroked once in a while. You just have to learn to take a compliment. You might not completely believe it, but most people are not out to hurt you and some day hopefully see what it is that person sees in you and that you are really not an ugly ne’er-do-well after all.

I Love The Curvy Arch - Guest Post

Hi, my name is Noah. I wanted to share with you my favorite things about our trip to St. Louis. I can’t really write or type yet so I asked my mommy to help me with this post. I really loved seeing the curvy arch. It was really awesome. It was giantic, mommy says you mean gigantic, but I think it is giantic because it was bigger than a giant! The first thing we did was go on the riverboat cruise. Mommy got us popcorn to enjoy while we rode on the boat. I loved watching the paddle wheel go round and round. It was really cool. It makes the boat move and I love boats. We had a great time on the riverboat cruise. I didn’t really like the whistle though; it wasn’t that bad if I covered my ears.

We had a really nice hotel room and we could see part of the Arch from the window! I liked looking out and seeing it. It was fun to look at the lights of the city at night too. I got to push the elevator buttons every time we went up or down. Mommy said I did a great job because I pushed the right button every time. The hotel was really big and I liked to run down the ramp. I even made my car go down the long ramp to our elevator. We had special valet parking and I really liked the men that brought our car down. They would all talk to me. Everyone that works in the hotel was really nice. They all would talk to me. I was sometimes shy though. We went swimming too. I like the pool. I swam with mommy and we danced in the pool and mommy sang me songs. It was fun! We had a very comfortable bed and I had my toys to play with when we weren’t busy around St. Louis.

I didn’t know we were going to go up in the arch in a little elevator. I think it looked like a space elevator, but we went up up and away! It was so neat to ride in the elevator with the nice man and woman. They even offered me a piece of gum but I would just swallow it, so mommy said no thank you. When we got to the top I looked out the windows and wow it was really cool. Everything looked really small. I felt so big! I am big though since I am 4 now. I brought my Thomas flashlight that my uncle Mike gave me and it was so curvy at the top that I set it down and the Thomas Flashlight rolled away. I am glad it stopped and a nice man that works at the Arch was able to get it back to me. I didn’t want to come back down when mommy said it was time to go. I finally decided it would be ok because we had something else planned.

After we left the Arch we were going to The Magic House, Children’s Museum. That was really cool. I had to wear a sticker so they knew we were allowed to be there. I got to play! I got to explore everything. I thought it was awesome. I played with all the Legos you can think of. I have never played with that many Legos! I raced cars I made with other kids. I really wish we lived closer to this place. I also played in the big water table and got soaking wet, but it was fun. I went to the play stores and pretended to work at a grocery store. I found a loaf of bread and I tried to take a pretend bite of it. I got to change tires and fix a car too. Mommy even drove the play delivery truck. I could stay there for days. We didn’t get to see everything but we had fun. I already told mommy I wanna come back to St. Louis.

We also went to the Zoo one day. We saw bears, penguins, tigers, elephants to name a few! We rode on the train too. I liked the train. It was fun to take a little break and just hang out and look around. The conductor was very nice. They had some kids that were little conductors. Mommy said we could maybe come back when I get a little older and I could work on the train too.

We had a lot of fun and ate a lot of yummy food at St. Louis. We ate at a factory with spaghetti. It was really fun but, my favorite was The St. Louis Bread Company because they have bagels. I love bagels. Grandma and I walked over there in the mornings because it was so close and it was fun. I did a lot of walking and I can’t wait to go back to St. Louis really soon.

Thank you to the people at the St. Louis CVC for sponsoring this awesome trip for my family.

It's Time to Buy New Luggage.

In June, I am planning on visiting my best friend Brandy. She lives in New Hampshire which means I will be boarding a plane to do so. I am really excited to go out there and spend some time with her. I am certain we will have a great time just hanging out and doing some girl things. Brandy is such a positive person and she is very funny. We even plan on getting all dressed up and going out, which is luxury for both of us. I have never been to New Hampshire or Vermont, I am sure we will go out to her dad’s farm while I am there too. I definitely need to buy new luggage sets before I go. The suitcases I have traveled all over the place. They are starting to get a little too worn. The wheels and/or the handles on each suitcase are messed up in some way. I have been pretty creative at rigging them so they work but it would be nice not to have to worry about my suitcases falling or running over my feet or someone else’s.

I also want to get Noah a little suitcase that he can manage even if it is just a small one. I would love to get him one he can pull behind him because he is getting too big for a stroller. We are planning a trip for Noah’s 5th birthday and my 30th birthday too. This is a trip I have been thinking about since I knew the date of my scheduled C-Section and realized our birthdays are so close together. I am so excited about these trips but going to the airport, riding on a plane and sometimes handling an adorable yet curious preschooler can stress this mama out. I am hoping that if Noah has his own little suitcase he can pull along it will make things easier for us all, and that the next time I fly with him that I don’t start crying going through security.