CHALLENGE.......jack of all trades, master of SOME

Nancy Drew and the Sweet Valley Twins (popular late 80's/early 90's book characters), were great friends of mine 15+ years ago. Together, we would hide away in the depths of my overflowing tween closet, racing to finish chapter after chapter instead of more "productive" activities such as cleaning or practicing the piano.

There are 5 children in my family. 3 boys, 2 girls. Without much objection, I am the bossiest and loudest. I remember growing up: showing off for attention, batting my lashes for praise and brushing my hair 100 strokes each night. That is what Claudia, from the book series, The Baby-sitter's Club, did to have gorgeous hair- and she never wore the same outfit twice.
Taking this great literary example to heart, I spent my spare time babysitting many unlucky kids in order to afford the luxuries of the local mall. Meanwhile, my siblings were working their tails off for more long-term rewards
Brother #1 is a doctor and does his personal home remodeling on the side. Brother #2 is an amazing musician- can play any instrument- and a published author. My sister can play the piano beautifully, teaches her small children sign language and never forgets anyone's birthday. I thought I had hope in my little brother- but nooooo- he has decided to get all impressive on me too- He just graduated with a 4-year degree and is now studying for graduate school.

Whatever.

Seriously.

Mom- I know you secretly read this blog- maybe you should have tied me to the piano bench and withheld my food until I practiced.

I loved to try new things- the love was always at first sight though- and never lasted long. There was the year of softball, the year of gymnastics, the years of karate and clarinet. My on again, off again relationships with piano and swimming lessons, 4-h photography & babysitting. I dabbled in crafts and sang a great lip sync to Ace of Base.

I was then, and am now, the classic jack of all trades, master of none.

CHALLENGE........jack of all trades, master of SOME

We all have something we are good at. The problem is if we can recognize it. As women, we compare ourselves so harshly to one another. In a poll a while back, 100% of you said that you compared yourself to others. I am going to take a wild guess and assume that these comparisons were in a self-depreciating light.
After a bit of reflection, I am forcing myself to acknowledge that my "talents" don't necessarily need to be flashy or showy.

This week's challenge rules:

Identify 3 things that you are good at- some sort of talent- whether it be an amazing voice or the ability to get your white laundry brilliantly bright. Maybe you can parallel park in 2 easy maneuvers like they teach you in drivers ed. Can anyone really do that?
Comment here with your skills or write them somewhere that you will see them all week long.
Take a few minutes to recognize a little lovely about yourself, and try to be proud of it!

If you have trouble, ask someone else- a close friend, your 2-year-old, anyone. Don't question what they tell you. Accept the praise.

This challenge is similar to one a few months ago, but I think most of you out there, me too, need a little nudge in finding the good within.

My "special talents" will be listed in the comments.

It's not what you see on the outside....

2 posts in one day- the week of a procrastination challenge? Obviously, I am having a little trouble on this one! Anyhow- my friend Abby has this link on her blog. I am stealing it. (Thanks for the discovery Abby!)
This video gives us something to think about- I am even going to show it to my 4-year-old son, who already at such a young age has a distorted view of what makes a woman pretty.
Click below & remember that true beauty is not what we see on the covers of magazines while in the checkout line at the grocery store.

Beauty.

RESULTS..... #1 Ponytail Challenge

Some of you should be finishing up with your week of no ponytails. How did it go? Hard? Easy? Comment with your results. Remember, you have to give some sort of feedback to get a chance for the prize.

Front Stage in the Ugly Stage

For quite some time now I have had a theory about growing up. You should be familiar with the "ugly stage." Most of us endured this stage somewhere between ages 9-14. In some cases (mine), the stage lasted for that entire 5 year period.

Now, this is where the theorizing begins. You see, I think the current "let ourselves go" part of life is not our own fault. We are simply enduring another ugly stage. Mother Nature developed this long, long ago.

For example: When you pick up an elastic and find yourself reaching up to the top of your head in a hair slicking motion, it is not your fault! It is instinct.
When you pull those pajama pants on at night before bed and they stay on until the afternoon of the next day, it is instinct!

The point of this blog is to speed up the recovery process of this "stage". Since laughter is the best medicine, today's recovery will be in the form of cheap entertainment. Laugh my friends, laugh.
I am not asking for sympathy. I am quite proud of my ugly stage. In fact, I think I would happily win a contest for the best, (or would it be worst?), ugly stage.

Seriously though, what was I thinking?

.....like when I had permed bangs and the elastic belt stretching in the tummy (or is it stretching out the chub?).



.....or how about a year later, still with permed bangs, but with the addition of kinky hair and plaid.



....lets jump ahead to when I thought it was cool for a girl about to be in high school to walk llamas in the 4th of July parade with yes, once again plaid. (I remember planning this outfit for weeks. Yep, plaid- planned weeks in advance- as a teenager.)



Let us not forget how I forgot (at 10-years-old) to count the correct number of candles for this cake, so I drew the missing one on all of the pictures. There are those bangs again- without the perm- a mini mullet if you will.



Now, to solidify my standing in the ugly stage finals....the "rat tail." I know it is hard to see in the picture, so let me describe.
6th grade, one piece pants/shirt combo outfit with shoulder pads and a new shorter haircut- oh wait, they missed a spot. Nope, I, the 11-year-old beauty queen, requested that. It was braided each day and I also strung beads onto the end of the braid to match my wardrobe, especially the one piece wonder.



Now, I eagerly encourage you all to email in your own ugly stage photo (from childhood- time heals you know... I don't think my ego could handle laughing at today's ugly stage- check back in 5 years). If you do, it will be posted on the blog and we will have another fantastic prize drawing for the participants. If you don't- thats ok, I will just put more of mine up to entertain you all.

By the way...
I am sitting on my couch in plaid....pajama pants that is.....and they are green.... and they have a lot of holes.... where people shouldn't have holes..... and I have on a neon pink shirt.... that doesn't exactly fit the leftover just-had-a-baby love handles....at least I have on a bra.

Time to dream up the next challenge.