Take a Plunge

Good Plunger

Bad Plunger

A couple weeks ago upon waking up, I groggily stumbled into the bathroom only to discover our toilet was clogged and had subsequently overflowed. Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, indeed. After getting over the initial annoyance at the discovery, I told myself to man-up and get to work. I, after all, am a fairly independent, resourceful 22 year old woman! So I grabbed the plunger and did what you are suppose to do with a plunger- I began plunging.

That morning I learned for the first time that not all plungers are created equal. After about sixty seconds of laborious plunging, I noticed that the water level had not decreased in even an infinitesimal amount. I repositioned the plunger thinking maybe I just hadn't placed it where it would get the optimal suction and began again. Another sixty seconds. Nothing. At this point I was exasperated. You are suppose to be a plunger! Why aren't you plunging?! You dare to have the audacity not to do your job?! I demanded, elevating the plunger from the toilet (yes, I occasionally talk to inanimate objects).

Luckily, I knew my old roommate has a plunger that actually cares enough to do its job, thank you very much. So I ran over and grabbed it. Five minutes and a generous amount of spent energy later, all systems were a go.

I've thought about this incident in a metaphorical sense ever since. At the time that this inopportune mishap happened, I felt like my life was clogged. Everything was building up and nothing was flowing as it should have been. Like I did that morning, I tried to fix it with a poor excuse of a plunger. I made up excuses, blamed others, ate more junk food.

Thank goodness I realized my mistake and recently began applying the real-deal plunger techniques. To put it simply: I went to work. No more excuses, no more blaming, no more (or significantly less) junk food. Much more prayer, reading, serving, and smiling. Ironically, it seems that the best way to plunge my life isn't to just remove obstacles, it means filling life with more of what counts.

I'm Back

Summer happened. Life changed. Now I'm back. Did ya miss me?!

Don't

I try really hard to word things in the positive. For example, instead of saying, "Don't!" When a student looks like he/she is about use his neighbor as target practice for flinging pencils, I try to say, "Use the pencil the way it's suppose to be used, please!" I try to do this not only at work, but throughout the day. But some days my positive phrasing just doesn't happen. Maybe it's because I'm tired, irritable, or just too lazy to think of how to phrase it in the positive. Regardless, on those days I feel like all I say is don't/do not. Do not run in the hall. Do not touch your neighbor. Do not jump out of the swing. Do not go near the mud. Do not mock her. Do not take that. Do not leave that. Do not say that. Do not move. Do not stay. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200... just don't.

If My Life Was Made Into a Movie

After watching a movie with some friends, we started talking about if our life was made into a movie who we would want to have the starring role. It's actually a pretty interesting question, in my opinion. Of course you could just rattle off the name of the hottest celebrity at the moment, but is that really who you think could capture your life? Would you want someone known for their dramatic roles? How about someone with perfect comedic timing? An actor/actress type-cast as a villan? My friend said she'd pick Rachel McAdams. Good choice, I'd say. She can do comedy (Mean Girls), she can do drama (The Notebook), she can do suspense (Red Eye)- all key components to life, well my friend's life anyway (and a great movie).

So who would I cast in the starring role of my life? Well after some consideration, I think my choice is Kate Hudson. I choose her because my movie would undoubtedly be found in the romantic comedy section (although right now I'm waiting around for the romantic part of the romantic comedy to begin, but that's beside the point). And Kate Hudson has got the romantic comedy thing down to an art. Let's take a look at some of her movies: Sure dramatic events occur (loses sister in Raising Helen, gets into a big fight with her best friend in Bride Wars), but those moments are usually set ups for some of the funniest moments later on, just like in my own life. I think Kate Hudson gets that. Yes, Kate Hudson could play me. And she could probably play me better than I could play myself. Other contenders include: Reece Witherspoon and Meg Ryan (when she was a bit younger... sorry, Meg) Who would you cast to play you? (I really want to know)