Yuppies and my dad

My dad is a very funny guy. He has his moments where he is the most charismatic, likeable, funny guy, and then he has his quirky times. He is always amused by the twentysomething generation that work for him. He is training about 15-20 young managers, all under the age of 30, and he loves to call me and tell me these funny stories about "the yuppies." He calls almost anyone under 30 "yuppies." He is an amazing story teller and can imitate people to perfection, so growing up he was usually on center stage during dinner. Many times he would often rise from the table to tell a story and walk around the kitchen acting it out. Yes, he's a bit different, but he certainly made life very interesting. I still miss Sunday afternoons, watching football with him. Every Sunday he would carry 3-4 tv's in the living room, stack them on top of each other, and watch 4-5 games all at once. In addition to watching the game he would then have the bills game going on the radio, becuase he loved the bills radio broadcaster. He would clear the coffee table, fill it with munchies, and scream animated things at the television sets as he cheered his teams on. After all the tv's were set, and the snacks were out, he would look at my mom, sister, and myself, and proclaim, "this is freakin great." He would use those exact words, every Sunday.

So now that you have alittle backround, I just had to blog this story. Mostly for Jenn and my sister, and other blog reading family who know him well. They will especially appreciate this. I recently sent out evites inviting family members over for a small 2nd birthday celebration for Olivia. The next day my dad calls me and says "Whats the matter, yuppies don't know how to use a pencil and write invitations anymore!" First of all I would never use a pencil, but thats another dadism. He also calls backpacks "satchels!" Anyway, he then proceeded to tell me that pretty soon all of the yuppies in America will find a way to celebrate the "Virtual Birthday!" "The yuppies will just sign on their blackberry's into a virtual birthday chatroom, eat virtual cake, and open virtual e-gifts. You freakin yuppies will invent a way to live virtually. Everything will be virtual, even kids birthdays. You yuppies need to put down your blackberrys and stop text messaging and start reading textbooks again." He also loves textbooks and owns large quantities of them. He never does anything without looking in a book. Hilarous. So I told him that I was saving a tree by sending evites, and that I can easily track the rsvp's, to which he replied; "Thats another thing about yuppies. They like to control everything. Your mother and I had people over for cake and then they went home. Yuppies have to have a theme, special cake, special food, becuase yuppies think they're special. You and David are yuppies. Yuppies like email and text messaging. " For the record, I've never sent a text message in my life, but my dad thinks that if you email then you're a yuppy for sure for sure. Ok...guess my grandma Nan is a yuppy becuase she loves email! ha. And he loves to call Dave and I yuppies, except I really don't think that we're yuppies. What even is a yuppie? I assume its a young couple who live in a sweet house, and have lots of great matieral things, including nice cars. So we drive a 1989 volvo, and a 2004 Hyundai. Rock on if we're yuppies, but I don't think that we're in that category! ha!

Ok...long story short. He thinks everyone is a yuppy.

I am a giggle bug

Olivia loves to giggle, hard, and start what I call "Free for all giggle fests!" They start over nothing....I will trip, sneeze, cough, whatever, and she will use it as an excuse to begin the "giggle fest!" This means that I keep doing the gesture that I just accidentally happened upon, over and over, while she laughs beyond measure, and next thing we know its a Free for all giggle fest and we're all laughing. As the parent of any toddler knows, these giggle fests can last for awhile, and will usually be what we all need to end the day right! Arent' toddlers cool?

Cravings

I received this information about cravings from an acquaintance of mine today, and I loved it so much that I thought it was blogworthy. I enjoyed how she wrote that a craving could actually be a repressed emotion, and to take time and cultivate a loving relationship with your body. Read on.....

Deconstructing Cravings

The body is an amazing source of intelligence. It is always there for you, pumping blood, never skipping a heartbeat, digesting whatever food you put in it, and maintaining homeostasis. Is this reliable, intelligent bio-computer making a mistake by craving ice cream or a hamburger or chocolate? Are cravings due to lack of will-power or discipline? I’d like to suggest that cravings are not a problem. They are critical pieces of information that tell you what your body needs.

The important thing is to understand why you crave what you crave. Perhaps your diet is too restrictive or devoid of essential nutrients. Perhaps you are living a lifestyle that is too boring or stressful. Your body tries to correct the imbalance by sending you a message: a craving. A craving for something sweet could mean you need more protein, more exercise, more water, or more love in your life. The key to stopping the sugar craving is to understand and deliver what your body really needs.

Your body knows best and is always trying to create balance. However, products like refined foods, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and drugs (which have little or no nutritional value) are confusing to the body. They throw the body off-balance and can create serious cravings as your body tries to get what it needs to restore internal harmony. The more your food is whole and healthy, the easier it is for your body to stay in balance and provide you with a happier, healthier life.

No book or theory can tell you what to eat. Only awareness of your body and its needs can tell you. Of all the relationships in our life, the one with our body is the most essential. It takes communication, love, and time to cultivate a relationship with your body. As you learn to decipher and respond to your body’s cravings, you will create a deep and lasting level of health and balance.

The next time you have a craving, treat it as a loving message from your body instead of a weakness. Try these tips to respond to your body:

· Have a glass of water and wait ten minutes.

· Eat a healthier version of what you crave. For example, if you crave sweets, try eating more fruit and sweet or root vegetables.

· What is out of balance in your life? Is there something you need to express, or is something being repressed? What happened in your life just before you had this craving?

· When you eat the food you are craving, enjoy it, taste it, savor it; notice its effect. Then you will become more aware and free to decide if you really want it next time.