I have Peter Pan syndrome

Last month my 2 high school friends went to their junior prom.

They were beautiful;
they looked all grown up;
I realized how grown up they really are;
I cried.

I met Brittany and Ashley six years ago. They were 11 years old. They weren't even in youth group yet when I joined the Antioch gang. I knew them a little bit though. They were just little girls when I met them.

Finally they were old enough to join the youth group. I remember the first year they went to camp with us. Ashley had never been away from her parents before and I was their chaperon in Georgia. I can't go into the details, but we really bonded on that trip in our own special ways.

I watched them grow, go through middle school, enter high school, turn 16, get their driver's license, start driving and going on dates. Finally their prom day was upon us and they invited me to come see them off. It was official. They were grown up.

They were running a little behind so they were off before I could even get my picture made with them. I knew I would regret letting this moment pass by without getting a picture with my girls on the most important night of their life thus far. When Ashley's parents dropped me back off at my car, I took off to the restaurant to meet up with the girls. I got to talk with them a little more and get some pictures until I knew I had to leave. It was their night. I couldn't go to prom with them, and besides, I had to go to work. It was official--I was an old lady.



It seemed like just yesterday that I was going to prom until I realized that was 6 and 7 years ago. I was their age when I met them. How did they grow up yet I hadn't aged a day??? I texted my prom date who also knows the girls. I said to Justin, "Our little girls are going to prom tonight." He replied, "...I feel old." For the record, he's older than I am ;) But, I, too, felt old. I fought back tears the entire drive to work. I knew things would never be the same again. C'est la vie.

Of course, I realize if it was this hard for me to send my friends to prom, I can't imagine how I will deal when it's my own children going to prom someday. I guess I have two decades or so to prepare myself for that moment. Hopefully they'll still be prescribing xanax then.

Anyway, I hate dealing with the fact that I'm growing up and the world around me is constantly growing and changing. Lord, meet me where I am and help me deal with the changes going on all around me. As I continue to grow and move forward, guide my steps, dear Jesus.

Bald can be sexy, men

My coworker has been giving me a hard time the last couple of weeks because I revealed to him that I'm attracted to bald men. His response was, "No guy wants to hear that!" Men should be relieved to hear a woman say that, in my opinion.

I think maybe my realization of this attraction started with Howie Mandell. He rocks the bald top! Plus, his soul patch is amazing! I've never dated a bald guy but I do find them attractive. Perhaps it's because bald denotes that a man is slightly older, mature, experienced.

The truth is the comb over is awful. Men, baldness happens. How you deal with it is most important. We all know men who won't shave their heads because they want to keep whatever hair they have. They may have an awkward bald spot in the middle of the back, a major receding hairline or--the worst--the horseshoe hair (hair only on the sides and back with total baldness on top). None of these hairstyles look good at all. But, if you'll just shave off what little you have, you could look really good. Plus, hanging on to that little bit really just shows your insecurity about it. Embrace who you are, accept the hair loss and just let it go!

Perhaps my attraction is an odd one and maybe it reveals that I have some serious issues, but I invite all men everywhere to find solace and encouragement by my attraction. Trust me, I'm not the only woman who is into baldness. Although no one else is willing to admit it, total baldness definitely looks better than working the comb over. And I think we can all agree that bald is much better than trying to sport a toupee!

Release your insecurities, fellas! Bald can be beautiful!

Thoughts on the Octo-Mom

It seems that everyone has an opinion about the octo-mom, and most of those opinions are negative. One opinion I have yet to hear anyone mention is the fact that regardless of what you think of the mother, those eight babies were created by God and He has placed special purposes within each of them. Whether or not it is ethical that a doctor would implant so many embryos, regardless of the low statistics that all of those embryos would survive, the point is that those eight babies are human beings. Their lives are worth something. God allowed the process to work out, and those eight babies, along with their brothers and sisters at home, are all gifts from God and He has planned for their life to make this start from the beginning of time and their futures are in His hands.

I'm still overthinking

Holy smokes! I haven't blogged since October! I'm still overthinking though even though I'm not posting it on here! So much has been going on in my life. Since my last blog:

-I finished a semester of school;
-Enjoyed a month off for Christmas break;
-Started my last semester of grad school;
-Learned to speak, read and comprehend Middle English;
-Began an educational research project about the effectiveness of technology in the classroom;
-Worked, worked, worked at the newspaper to complete my typical work week as well as one magazine and four special sessions;
-Learned to single space between sentences;
-Visited the beach;
-Visited Greenville, SC;
-Took my Papa to (hopefully his last) 4 chemo treatments, as well as to the hospital for several bags of blood and platelets
-Had a stalker-filled Valentine's Day;
-Spent some quality time with family & friends;
-Realized that some people from my past choose not to be a part of my present and therefore probably won't be a part of my future;
-Went to a Southern Writers' Symposium which was very academic;
-Got the rest of my debt to Campbell paid off forever!!!

These are the highlights I could remember at this late hour. I anticipate the next few months being very full but hopefully I will blog more frequently than I have been over the past three months!