LIFE ~ LAUGHTER

     Back in 2011 while I attended Olympic College, I took several English classes with Dr. Sonia Begert. We were asked to pick one of our favorite genres and tell the class about "why did you pick that specific genre?" Little did I know that I would be writing three major papers on SNL and how it related to my life. I haven't been able to find these reports I had written. I even messaged my friend that proofed them in college and she had deleted them, and my college account is long deactivated. While cleaning last night and packing up some boxes, I stumbled across a majority of my reports / essays. I am so happy I found them, so I thought I would share (bits and pieces) of one of my favorites with you.

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     It has been said that LAUGHTER is that best medicine, one which will cleanse your soul. LAUGHTER is defined as a reaction to certain stimuli, fundamentally stress, which serves as a emotional balancing mechanism. Traditionally, it is considered a visual expression of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy (Referenced from www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter). There is much escapism for LAUGHTER such as jokes, names, and pictures, but comedy is at the top of the list. For instance, my escapism for LAUGHTER is watching television and I love watching the award-winning television show, Saturday Night Live (SNL). The case and weekly special guests have the talented ability to take the calamity and unhappy events that happen in the fact paced world, pull out the humor to make us LAUGH.

          It is amazing how things happen in your life; some would say it was a coincidence, while others would say it is a God thing. It was a quiet Saturday evening in and the night breeze was blowing in my bedroom window. All you could hear were the crickets and frogs outside. It was my junior year of high school and this particular evening I contemplated the thought of never attending college. There would be no way I could make it through college with my low self-esteem. How would I tell my family? So, I gave my brain a day to process things through. As the night quickly ended, I was bored out of my mind, so I decided to watch Saturday Night Live. It was the episode where Chris Farley was motivational speaker, Matt Foley, and he talked with two teens about life's decisions. He said, if they didn't make the right one, they would be"...35 years old, twice divorced, and living in a van down by the river!" I guess you could say it was very ironic that this episode was on. That was the same night I changed my mind and chose to major in Intensive Business Education for my Junior and Senior high school years. Every night since, I escape with some LAUGHTER by watching SNL.

     I have watched a lot of skits performed on Saturday Night Live. Some remind me of past events and others speak to my life today. It is like going to church on Sunday and having the sermon relate to your life. As we grow older, our lives get so much more complex and sometimes we forget how to live and LAUGH. For instance, growing up in the country of Ohio as a child there is little to do on the weekends. My siblings and I spend much of our time with Grandma and Grandpa, whom would escape with us for hikes in the woods, play ball games on the hill top, play board games or cards. It was a great was to escape the boredom of country life. Some of my fondest memories with my grandparents were times spent watching television together. I can remember Friday night as we would watch half-hour sitcoms. Grandma & I especially loved watching Turner Movie Classics. I have watched Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and many others dance and sing their way through movies. I used to always get a kick out of my grandma when she would say, "Remember this movie when it first come out?" and I would always say, "No grandma, because it was before that time." Just this last week.Saturday Night Live, did a skit for TMC hosted by Jason Sudekisis, who played the host of TMC, Thomas More College. The skit played was "The Essentials" based on the Vaudeville's stars, Lulu Diamond, known for her blatant sexuality. The character was played by Saturday Night Lives weekly guest Melissa McCarthy. She said Lulu Diamond's catchphrase perfectly, "Why don't you come upstairs and see me up there sometime?" After the show, it was a priceless moment to be able to reminisce about my grandma for awhile.

     My all time favorite and most hilarious skit starred Jim Carrey and Will Farrell in "LIFEGUARD". Jim Carrey played an over protective lifeguard, which reminds me of motherhood - sometimes a little over protective and spastic, but with good intentions. When you're a parent, you want nothing best for your children. You're like a lioness protecting your young to keep them out of harms way. However, accidents happen. It was a hot summer day and our four year old daughter wanted to go to the pool. I was nine months pregnant with our second child, but decided to waddle
over to the pool. As luck would have it, she fell in the water. I didn't have time to put on my pool floats; I was pregnant, hot mess. I jumped into the pool to save her. Afterward, I told my husband that I felt my performance deserved a Lifeguard whistle...but seriously, if only we could wrap our children in bubble wrap, and send them on their way.
    

     "And now; Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey", I can hear the peaceful music playing now. Jack Handey would read the "Deep Thought"  in a very calm, relaxing tone as a the words scrolled across a screen and a peaceful, serene picture appeared. Some of my favorite quotes Jack Handey read were, "If when you die and you get a choice between pie heaven and regular heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick but if not,  mmmmm, boy".  There are just so many to count, just Jack Handey also said, "If you rob a bank, and your pants fall down, it's okay to LAUGH. And let your hostages LAUGH too, because come on, life is funny." Handey agrees...Life is all about LAUGHTER. While learning to drive, my grandpa would be sitting in the passenger seat, in the corner of my eye I would always see him clinging on for dear life, as his hand clinched the dashboard. When Jack Handey said, "When I die, I would like to go peacefully, in my sleep, like my grandfather did. Not screaming and yelling like the passenger in his car." it was hard for me to contain my LAUGHTER. Just recently, I shared my "Deep Thought" with our 12-year old daughter that keeps reminding me that she will be driving in a few years, "When you learn to drive, it will be okay. I am taking you to a cemetery...that way you won't kill anyone".                                      

(It's 2016 and My girl is ready to drive now @_@)

     Then "How con-VEEEN-ient!" on Saturday Nights we can always repent having a "holier-than-thou" moment with the "Church Lady", played by Dana Garvey. Growing up in church, the one thing I despised more than anything was the "cliques". The one that thought that they were better than all the rest, and "Enid Strict", a self-righteous and spiritual talk show host, reminds me so much of "clique" people. One her talk show "Church Chat" interviews celebrity guests and she makes them feel "SPE-CIAL!" By the time you get done busting a gut, if  she felt she has demonstrated superiority, she will perform her "Superior Dance" where she struts to organ music in front of her alleged inferiors while dressed in her purple dress and sweater, visible knee-high stockings, and a pair of cat's eye horn-trimmed glasses. 

     On Saturday, I stir up some LAUGHTER, forget about everyday life and the stress that comes along with it, while watching SNL. My weekly schedule is much of the "Deep Thought" Jack Handey once said, "If you lose your job, your marriage and your mind all in one week, try to lose your mind first, because then the other stuff won't matter that much". Once everyone is done pulling me in a million different directions, by the end of the week - come Saturday I feel like I have completed a week long marathon. I was once a housewife/stay-at-home mom and I felt like I was in a happily ever fairytale, until live happened with my husband. From full-time stay-at-home mom to full-time bread winner for our family. We must remember, LIFE is not a television show...it cannot be censored, edited, replaced, or altered from whirl wind of events that happen in our lives. However, you must remember this forever - DO NOT forget your LAUGHTER is the greatest anti-depressant and stress reliever of all times. If you don't have a sense of humor, you are doomed!

Confessions Of A Stress Eater ~ Meatloaf, Smeatloaf, Double Beatloaf - I Hate Meatloaf

    I’ve been overweight most of my life. I look back at my childhood pictures and it wasn’t until I reached puberty, that I started to gain weight. I was born with asthma and was allergic to everything. In my early years, I was a tiny. I grew up in doctors offices, and croup tents in the hospitals - I was held back in fifth grade because I missed too much school due to my health. By seventh grade I was wearing a size 12/13 and was given the worse nickname for being overweight, “Meatloaf”. The nickname stuck with me throughout Junior High and High School. I just wanted to fit in with the my other peers but all they did was recognize me for my weight, poked fun at me, and made me feel worthless. By high school, I was wearing a size 18/20. I had NO self esteem and embarrassed to attend school. I was not part of the crowd, nor did I fall for peer pressure. I only had a handful of true friends throughout my teenage years - that I am friends with today. Shortly after graduation I lost one of my best friends, April. It wasn’t until then that my weight started coming off. By the time I met Kenny, my husband of now 17 years, I was at an ideal and realistic weight for my age and height, and proud to be back in a size 12/13. How did I accomplish this...I misunderstood the doctor and only ate 20-grams of fat a day, became a “rabbit” eating my veggies, stayed active after work, and lived life on the weekends.

    Growing up, our family rarely had salad. We always had a home cooked meal that consisted of meat (typically beef), mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetables that were dripping with butter, bread with butter, and always dessert. I did not even know what an artichoke was until I relocated out West with my husband two years after we were married. Learning to cook like my mom and grandma, I have to admit I cook the same exact way. And I have also carried on the traditions of making homemade donuts, breads, pies, and let us not forget cookies. Till this very day, bread and other carbohydrates are my downfall when it comes to dieting.

    Fast forwarding to March 1999, my husband and I found out we were having our first child - due to arrive in October. The honeymoon baby!! I began to show early on in my pregnancy, so big in fact, my doctor thought I was going to have twins. I outgrew most of my regular clothes pretty quickly and was off shopping for maternity clothes before I knew it. By this time, I was a housewife, living above a beauty salon. I loved taking frequent walks throughout the day, but I always seemed to walk in the wrong direction - two blocks to many and right into the front doors of the chinese restaurant, where I became the VIP and I don’t mean “VERY IMPORTANT PERSON”...I was the “Very Important and Pregnant” lady that had no self control with pregnancy cravings and gave them 5-stars on their veggie fried rice and crab rangoon.  Pretty soon, the weight started to come on and to no fault of anyone but myself. I felt like my belly and rear end formed a giant fortune cookie, and it was about to crack open at anytime. As my pregnancy weight started to pile on, my back started acting up. It didn’t help that my little bundle of joy was pushing on my nerves. By this point I found myself having to be very careful because I feared falling when my sciatica caused my leg to give out. From that point, I was put on bed rest, and by the end of my pregnancy I was 60-pounds heavier.

    After our gorgeous daughter was born, my back was on the mend and it allowed me to keep up with her throughout the day. I was able to lose my pregnancy weight, granted it didn’t melt off like butter - it was a struggle - but I felt I wasn’t going to allow myself to become “Meatloaf” again.

    That didn’t last very long.

    During my first pregnancy, things were happening behind the scenes with our parents. By the time our daughter arrived, my parents were already six months divorced and my dad had remarried.. little did we know that my husband’s parents would follow in my parents footsteps the following year. I lived in a constant state of stress and unhappiness. I was allowing how I felt about my parents divorce to affect me and I became a STRESS EATER over those next two years. However, when you add the “MARRIAGE WEIGHT GAIN” with BIRTH CONTROL pills and you mix it with STRESS, it becomes a weight gain cocktail from hell. Not only did I weigh more than I did in high school, but I was now in a size 22/24.

    Time past and it was soon January 2003. By this time I was still a housewife and now living in Washington State. We had to move away from the stress and drama in Ohio. We soon found out that we were expecting baby #2, after a very LONG struggle getting pregnant. By this time, I was in still in a size 22/24.  I was very concerned about my baby. So I started to become aware of my eating habits. I had to figure a way to not be the STRESS EATER. I craved veggies and spicy food all the time. I would go to the doctors - afraid to be weighed in, but this pregnancy was total opposite from my last. I was losing weight during pregnancy and I became fearful I was was doing something wrong...was my baby unhealthy? (NO, I was not dieting during my pregnancy.) To reassure my husband and I, as well as the doctor, she did frequent ultrasounds and each time they came back perfect! June 17, 2003 arrived and our handsome son was born at 9lbs 15oz. He was a big baby and I was 50-pounds lighter. I can still remember buying new clothes shortly after giving birth. It felt amazing to be in a size 16/18...I felt like one hot momma.

    Two years after our son was born, our life changed forever. Little did I know that my husband would be permanently disabled and receiving cancer treatments on a weekly basis. When I thought that I was under constant stress before, then I am not sure how to describe what we are living now. Over these past ten years, the weight slowly started to creep back on. Here I am today at age 40, in a size 26/28, I am scared to death! It didn’t happen overnight. Shame on me!!!

    TODAY, I want to make HUGE, POSITIVE CHANGES. Not only do I want these changes for myself, but also for our two beautiful and healthy children that need me. I am the only one that can make this change, that can help myself, that can find me again. There are 196 layers that need to be peeled back. It is not going to be easy, but with faith, exercise, journaling and determination - I hope not only to be an inspiration to myself, but to others during this journey.

    So instead of eating, I have decided that I am going to start blogging every time I get hungry or have a craving...my blog is going to be HUGE ;)