And the gold medal for Olympic bitching goes to....

Getting frustrated and bitching about stuff is not new to me. When somebody doesn’t use proper English, either spoken or written, it makes my head explode. When some douchebag drives down I-5 going 65 in the fast lane I could easily punch them in the face. However these are rather minor things in life and the frustration soon fades away at least until I encounter the next dumbass in my journey through life. What I can’t understand are the people who take frustration and bitching to the level of Olympic sport. These are the people whether by happenstance or choice are ALWAYS pissed off and complaining. The line at McDonald’s moved to slow, the plumber screwed them over, their new phone is defective, their neighbor’s dog barks constantly, it’s raining, it’s too cold, it’s too hot and the granddaddy of them all….the Navy is specifically targeting them to make their life a living hell. What exactly does that constant complaining solve? All I can tell is that it makes the people around them want to duct tape them to a tree and shoot them with a paintball gun. Repeatedly.



No person is perfect and no life is perfect. The constant challenge in this journey is to take the adversity we come across and deal with it in a way that doesn’t cause up to grab a rifle and start mowing people down at the local grocery store. There are three basic rules in life. 1. Life is not fair. Never was and never will be. 2. Knowing and accepting rule #1 can go a long way in having a wonderful and fulfilling life. 3. A sense of humor and whimsy go one hell of a long way in making life fabulous. I pretty much let rule #3 run my life. I believe there is little in life that you can’t make entertaining in some fashion. That way might be kind of bizarre to some people but hey, you have to do what you have to do. Did you know that some people think I am clinically insane because I carry Edward everywhere? Let me tell you right now, that is NOT the reason I am clinically insane. I am just having fun with the life I have right now since this life can be filled with uncertainty at times.


One of the greatest lessons I ever learned was in 1995 when I took the Basic Ombudsman Class. I was told that the best way to live in the Navy was to live by the Semper Gumby rule. Always be flexible. Life in the Navy isn’t always fair or even reasonably sane but if you can be flexible it can be extremely rewarding. It took some years to really understand that but now; as I’ve gotten older I truly live by that motto. Shit just happens. No need to be paranoid about it or go batshit insane. Better to just go with the flow and save yourself a lot of pain and aggravation in situations that are completely out of your control. What you can always control is your reaction to the various shitty things life throws you. I wasn’t overjoyed that the job Eric took was in Virginia but instead of bitching about it I accepted reality. Reality was that he needed to get there in a short amount of time and the rest of us just weren’t going to be able to go. In addition, this is the man that I love more than life itself and he happens to love his job. What I needed to do was to deal with it in a way that was good for him, me, and the kids. I have dealt with it pretty well but now I realize that I’m not particularly enamored of the fact that my husband will probably spend the rest of his career on the East Coast while I am here on the West Coast. I could whine about the fact that the Navy doesn’t have a job for him here. I could ask him to give up a job he loves to make my life easier. I could moan and wail about how horrible my life is to anybody that will listen or look at my status on Facebook. What I am going to do is look into what options I have to get to the East Coast. I know I won’t like all of them and I know this is not going to be fun or remotely easy but what in life is? (Unless you are talking about drinking with your girlfriends, that’s always fun and easy.) I may bitch about it in passing or feel frustrated that the housing market sucks to sell a house right now but I refuse to let it consume me. I just can’t understand the people who expend so much energy complaining. If they could just put half of that energy into changing the way they are looking at life then they would be so much better off. Life is finite and I’m not going to waste any of it. I figured out a long time ago that the only way to get the life you want it to grab it for yourself. To focus on what makes us happy and fulfilled instead of always being Debbie Downer. I saw a shirt recently that said “If life gives you lemons, demand salt and tequila”. That pretty much sums up my philosophy.

What to do when your friend's friends think you are a bad example

I really like Facebook. Being a military family, it has really helped me keep in touch with friends that have transferred or retired. It also helps me keep in touch with family that I don't particularly want to live by but don't mind hearing from on a computer with 1500 miles between us. Since I tend to be a little, oh what's the word, opinionated, maybe even non-politically correct (although I like the old-fashioned forthright), I don't have a ton of friends. I don't think it is really a test to see how many people will accept a friend request when they probably just clicked the wrong button and now can't undo it. I pretty much keep my friend list to people that will understand my crazy posts or need to use the word fuck occasionally. The only person I have on my list that has a hard time with this is my Mom and she calls me to yell at me every time I swear. Thank god for caller ID.

My problem is that I forget that some of my friends have LOTS of other friends. LOTS and LOTS of friends who don't necessarily share my views, opinions, logic or beliefs. When I comment on something they write I forget that I am not having a conversation with just them; I am having a conversation with all 2,491 of their friends. And guess what? Some of them don't like me. Shocking isn't it? They don't understand my humor or sarcasm or need to vent on a particular issue.

I recently got in "trouble" for this. I posted a comment that was really quite snarky on a post by a good friend. I didn't even think twice about it. Little did I know that I had contributed to a war of who is the best Navy wife ever. I certainly didn't mean for my friend to be sucked into the middle of this. She is a good, kind, decent woman. Unfortunately some of her friends can't take a joke and it escalated to the point that I wanted to smack the living shit out of a bunch of self-righteous bitches who really need to STFU. Sorry, that is just my opinion. I'm still trying to balance out that whole role model, good example thing with the very essence of my soul.

My question is really this: Is Facebook really worth it? If I can't be myself should I even bother with it? Why can't people have differences of opinion without somebody whining and crying that people are being mean? I don't have the answers for this yet. People have told me I just need to be more careful and think before I comment on something. Yes, I could do that, but am I being true to myself then? Why don't I just post all hearts and flowers and blow sunshine up people's asses. That is just not me. I am snarky and sarcastic and funny and a tad bitchy. So for now I guess I'll be a little cautious and see how it goes. The worst that can happen is that somebody messages Eric and tattles on me I guess.