Nervous? Try this...

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone... maybe a hot guy or a hot girl... or maybe someone way out of your league, at least in YOUR opinion.  So your hand start to sweat or you start to twitch...or if you're super nervous you start to shiver...
Maybe you're at an interview and the dude interviewing you is somehow super intimidating or you really want the job...
This is how you feel... regardless of what you actually look like:

We've all been there.  I once got so nervous I started shivering and I was like oh no, they can't see me like this.
Nothing says confidence like shivering from nerves!  Nooooooooot!!
So...  I did this little trick.
I sat up straight and leaned over.  I put my hands together in front of me.  Luckily there was a table so this didn't look so awkward.

It was something like the little hands in this, but with one hand more into the other and it formed a "circle" in the middle.

The circle is formed when your index and thumb come together and touch the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger.
That's where the magic happens.  You take that pose just a little lower and voila, you pinch that little fleshy part and your nerves will go away because now you're focusing on the "pain" you're causing to that fleshy part.
If you pinch it now, you can feel how "intense" it can get the more you pinch.
Imagine a loose version of this..

It should look relaxed, like your hands just happen to lie that way.  Not aggro like the real hand over fist and not clasping like you're about to die.  If I had four hands I would be able to take a photo for you but until that miracle happens, I hope I have described it enough so you get what I'm trying to say.
Now if you're standing and can't really do this, there's the hand in pocket pinch your leg method or if you have a worry stone, you can use that instead.
The point is to distract yourself from the nerves to feel something OTHER than nerves.
Try it.  Let me know if it works out for you too! :D

I just read a story about a 41 yr old woman who is unemployed and pregnant.

She was obsessed with the teen mom shows and thinking she could do it, as those girls can/do.  And this article struck a chord with me...

So...if I had ONE thing to say to this mother is PLEASE adopt out that baby!!!

I kept mine, much for the same reasons she said.  I wasn't going to go basket case because my mother and my ex both wanted me to abort the child.  I knew that was the wrong option in about 5 mins... maybe 10 like she said.

I thought about adoption but like her I said, who could love this child more than I can?  There's no way!!  I can't provide everything but love... love is enough!  Isn't it?  That's what they say in commercials anyway...

At the time, I was 22 and I believed those commercials and Hollywood moments.  What girl wouldn't?  That's all I had!  My "parents" if you can call them that, were anything but what the word was supposed to be.  They were my DNA donors at best.

In my mind, I might as well have been 15...the counselor I went to see thought I was.  They were ready to send me to a program for teenage mothers where I would learn all these things that for whatever reason, they only teach if you're a teenage mom but honestly I think ALL mom's should learn those things!

What to do when the child is screaming and you're tired...what to do when the kid wants something but you have no clue what it is...how do you not eat your own young when you think you've had enough?!  lol.  You know, the usual challenges in parenthood plus how to get a job and keep it when your time is now divided.

I digress...  the point is, I at 22 was no ready to be a mom as this lady is at 41 or the girls in the teen shows.  But hindsight is 20/20.

I love my child.  Would not trade her for the world. She IS my world.  If she died I would have nothing.  I honestly do not know how people handle the death of their kids and live on.  They're stronger than me, that's for sure...

I devoted my whole life to my kid.  Put her above any job or relationship or anything else while she was growing up.  I swore off men and was just a mom.  I was completely celibate 15 years or so.

But that wasn't enough...  I was never able to provide her with the things a child should have.  Her clothes and shoes weren't always new and she had to wear them til they died, pretty much.  She couldn't have bright shiny toys and often heard "we can't afford it" too many times.  She knew she was loved but had to deal with public school BS.  She had learning disabilities to boot and I would take her there but only because they had grants.  Without those, she would have been further behind.  Her education, however, was like other kids in the public school system, dismal at best.

I helped as much as I could and I encouraged her.  She graduated high school now and is off to state college.  I can't afford a "real" college but that's OK, she likes state and now a days it doesn't seem to matter where the piece of paper comes from, only that they have that diploma.

But none of things matter as much as never been able to provide a stable home with two parents who love her.  A dad who can put things into a different perspective than a mom can.  No dad to say to me, hon, you're emotional, let her do x y z, she'll be fine.  No dad to take her to father daughter dances or to have a special day or talk with things only a dad can say.

I'm a bit of a hybrid so I did the best I can.  We went out on father's day just the two of us (which is normal) but I played 'dad' that day.  I tried not to be so emotional and encouraged her to try different things. And still I see it's not enough.  I tried to tell her about boys and drugs and all that other stuff.  So far she's doing well...but still... I feel she's missing something.

I picked the wrong man to be her father and though we married it wasn't enough. *I* wasn't enough.  So until I die, that guilt will be with me.  And so is the shame and guilt I feel over being selfish.  I didn't think about HER.  I thought about ME.  How *I* would feel if I had adopt her out.  Never did I think about how she would feel growing up... unbalanced...or in a home where dad and male figures just do not exist.  How could I explain to her how a relationship works when she never even saw a man in the house?  How does she know how she should be treated if she's never seen it?  I've told her and she has a nice boyfriend now, but does she *really* know?  Or is he only nice when I'm around?

Anyway, this is my story.  I would tell her, adopt the baby out.  Save yourself the guilt and learn to live with the empty hole that no doubt, will be in your heart forever.

What do I think of Skinny Cow's Snickerdoodle Ice cream Sandwiches?

This is what the website says the thing looks like and how many calories, etc:

Funny enough, this kind of what the ice cream REALLY looks like.  Actually, I think the real thing looks better, oddly enough!  See what I mean?

 I was expecting meh as I normally do on "diet" foods but this thing is tasty!  I have had Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches before and they were OK but nothing to jump skips over.  This one, however, I'll do a few jumping jacks for and be happy.

It's not overly sweet, which normally is the death of me because I love sweets so if it isn't sweet, I tend to not like it.  But the cinnamon makes up for the lack of sweet.  The oatmeal cookies also give it flavour so while the ice cream it self isn't sweet, it has a nice balance between all the flavours.

I had to stop myself from eating the whole box!  I had two... one to take pictures with and one to just enjoy.  I will definitely be buying more of these things as long as they're still there!  I don't know if this is limited edition as in we're trying the flavour but we'll see so it may or may not go away.

I say give it go.  They're not that expensive and it's a nice treat you can feel kinda good about eating.  It's not a lot of calories or fat grams for the treat.  I tell you what... if you don't like it, send it my way and I'll eat them for you!  (Yeah OK so over night it with dry ice, but you get what I mean)

All in all a good thumbs up! :D

A store just perfect for people who are left-handed!

So my daughter was touring around San Francisco's Pier 39 during her school interim's Photography class when she came across the store called Lefty's.

I remember seeing it before and not thinking too much of it.  I'm a rightie, so all that stuff in there was funky but neat.  Nothing useful for me in it but I do remember going now I know how the left-handed people feel.  As a rightie, trying to use a leftie's scissor was interesting to say the least...  Who knew it made a difference, right?!  Well it does, because I could barely use the thing!

Anyway, month's later, I saw it again with my then boyfriend and I don't think we went into it too much but he's a left-handed person so I thought it was fun.

In any case, my daughter took a picture of it thinking of my now fiance'.

https://www.leftyslefthanded.com

I actually wrote them asking about left-handed mice.  Something, we righties take for granted.  See all those fancy mice with the buttons all up the sides?  You seen the gamer mice with all kinds of gadgets that make them look like robo-mice right?  No?  Well... if you were dating a gamer you would know...

In any case, the mouse I have has two buttons on the left side of it and it's so you can go forward or back on your browser.  Pretty simple, right?  Well, if you're a leftie, you can't use those buttons. Why?  Because they're on the wrong side.  You try clicking those buttons with your pinkie and/or ring finger... it's not easy... and uncomfortable to hold your mouse that way.  So... I asked Lefty's, do you guys sell mice?

Unfortunately, they don't.  They send me an email within a day (super prompt! I love that!!) saying that they used to carry them but not too many people bought them.

My guess is they (lefties) got used to going without, like my fiance' who has to buy the el cheapo mouse because that's the only one without the buttons.  But wouldn't it be nice if there were more options?  Well... as it turns out, there is!  Lefty's was kind enough to send me the name of the mouse for lefties.  If you're interested, drop me a line and I'll tell you.

What I love though is the customer service from Lefty's.  They could have just said no, sorry we don't.  Or they could have ignored me or wrote to me days later like some other companies I've "talked" to in the past.  They could have done many a things.

But they didn't.  They got back to me quickly and I appreciate that so much!  I'll find something to buy from them. 

It is SUPER nice to know that there are still companies out there with a heart.  Those that REALLY know what customer service is all about!  So, here's my shout out to Lefty's!  If you happen to be around Pier 39 give them a looksie. :)   Learn how to write with your left hand and be ambidextrous like I am. 

At the moment, I'm looking at the left-handed notebooks and realising how annoying (not to mention painful) it must be to write with that coil digging into your hand as you write.  I'll most likely end up buying the pruning shears.  I *do* have a hard time cutting with my right hand because sometimes you need a left handed angle and it just feels weird with the left hand, I have to twist my hand around so it cuts properly. 

I think I was originally a leftie, to be honest, but where I grew up, they weren't "allowed" so I was probably forced to be a rightie as a child.  In any case, I'm glad there's a store like Lefty's.  If anything, to help lefties out there! :D

Here's their website if you want to check them out online: https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/default.asp