Fun

Support day.

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This year has turned into quite a roller-coaster for quite a few people, myself included. I , I feel as if we have had nine months of news stories in the span of only 60 days. I know I have had to look for the positive stories more than anything to remain hopeful. I have also worked hard to bring the fight for others like me who are suffering in the opioid crisis. During this time I have been dealing with a long run of fibromyalgia flare ups.

I am hurting, tired, and worn out.

This is a unique time of year. The darker, colder months of the year for the US and this leads to more depression. The break from holidays and the excitement of the new year has worn off for most people. It becomes harder to stay focused and to be able to focus on the positives.

It also happens to be my birthday time.

My birthday is in the beginning of March (actual date redacted). Birthdays were always an old day for me. I have been very blessed with a wife who goes and plans a wonderful day for me. She is quite a amazing at it. I quite grateful for all that she does. There can be one thing that holds me back.

My condition.

I have to take time every month and access my pain levels, what I can and cannot do physically, and more. It is difficult to look over the past month or two and see where I have declined, what I have done better, and general self care. In doing so, I have found myself in a rougher spot this time of year than most birthdays.

It is difficult to be in a happy time and be brought down by your illness. You struggle and fight to be happy and appreciative. Inside, you are trying your hardest, and want to shout out that it is all amazing. What can escape your lips is far less than what you want to say.

But still I fight. I know many who fight with me. I know many who fight for us.

I want to give a shout out to those who fight to be happy in the bad times. I am proud of you and I believe the world is a better place with you still in it. I want to give a huge shout out to those who help take care of us. You all go above and beyond with trying to show us how much we are loved and do amazing things. You make life worth living for so many of us. You are amazing and strong.

As always, a big shout out to all those who read and support me. I am humbled and honored that you choose to read what I write. You guys rock and make me feel like a rock star.

I ask all of you to give some love and gratitude to those who support you. Sometimes the best way to help yourself out of a hole is to help others. Showing love and compassion will return it back to you.

Thank you and I love you all.

#hugapony everyone.

Nightmare nights 2017

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Once again I find myself at Nightmare Nights here in Addison Texas. Absolutely love this convention and it is some of the most fun I have. I’ll be posting updates as I can and just a reminder I have my panel at noon tomorrow.

If any of you are out there come by and see me, say hi. I would love to meet any of you.

#hugapony my friend

Midweek quickie

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I had a interesting weekend with a small social experiment. My sister posted the following picture and had some fun writing. I joined as well and post this picture.

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I soon sat down to enjoy having a bit of fun and work on my creative writing skills. I realized my mistake after 30 min.

Everyone was posting on it.

10, 15, 20, 25. They came in twos and threes. Everyone enjoying the short blurbs about themselves. I felt my phone going off every 10 min with another one. I cursed my sister (who promptly reminded me that I shared the picture voluntarily). I couldn’t sleep as I had more stories to write…..

In all honesty, it was a wonderful time and a big stretch of my writing and creative muscles. Thank you all who posted.

Just a reminder that this Saturday, Oct 28 @ 12pm, I will be have the My Stuffed Little Therapy panel at Nightmare Nights in Addison, Tx. I would love to see each and every one of you there.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

#hugapony my friends.

Self care day 18:Loving yourself

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I wrote a blog earlier this month on writing letters to people you love. Sending letters out to your friends and family, possibly even getting one back. I left out a very important person in the list of people to write.

You.

I have been personally fascinated at seeing people change over the years. People watching is a favorite past time of my family. We used to go to a place called Downtown Disney in Orlando, FL and sit at one of the outdoor restaurants and just watch people. Seeing tourists, locals, adults, children, all walking around, living life. Sometimes we would seeing the same person twice and notice a change. We would make up stories of what happened.

I never thought about myself changing all that much or my story.

I stumbled on an old journal I wrote in many years ago (almost 20 now) in this most recent move. I came across an entry that made me stop and think. It was to my future self, asking how I was doing, did I have any advice from the future (INVEST IN A COMPANY CALLED GOOGLE OR YAHOO!!), and if I had accomplished any goals that I had. It was a humbling and brutally honest experience. It made me think more on the day to day activities I do and how much I should appreciate what I have.

I challenge you to write to yourself. No, it does not have to be 20 years from now but how about 6 months. A year. Write a letter. Talk about yourself. No one knows you better than you. Open it in a year. Its still near Valentine’s day, write a love letter to yourself. Talk about how awesome something in your life is doing. Say something you love. Will it still be there in a year? Have you accomplished your goals?

Have you taken care of yourself?

#hugapony my friends.

It is always a pleasure bring you more day to day posts. I will continue to do so until the end of February. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

Self care day 16:Peace of body

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It is an amazing thing, the body. It is what we use to get around. It provides nourishment for the brain. It houses the soul. Doesn’t it deserve some love?

I have had a few massages over the years and it has been an amazing experience time and again. They put you in a quiet room. They keep you warm. They rub away aching muscles and sore places, all while keeping your mind at peace as well.

Full body release and relaxation.

I remember the first time some one gave me one. I was 14 on a missions’s trip to Haiti. I was helping build a medical facility about a mile up a mountain several hours outside Port-au-Prince. I was helping dig sewer lines and a place for the septic tank. The air was so thin, you could barely swing a pickax more than a few times before you were out of breath.

Tired and sore does not even begin to describe it.

We were settling in after dinner and wiping down with baby wipes as there was no running water or shower to speak of. I was with a bunch of college students and 2 of them were in nursing and also massage therapists. They set about to getting everyone’s back to feeling better and I helped get people around as they melted into bliss. One had finished working on someone, looked at me and asked if I needed one. Being a young teenager, and a very quiet one at that, I politely declined and said I would be alright. She said nonsense, it made no difference and had me sit down and she worked on my shoulders and upper back.

Oh my goodness.

Feeling muscles release and your body let go was amazing.

One of the more interesting things about it was being told to drink a lot of water. Breaking down the muscle made it release toxins and water would help flush it out. I could think of no better way to finish “spring cleaning” the body.

I will never forget it.

I encourage all of you to go and get one by a massage therapist. Find a good one in the area, use Groupon, however you can do it. Treat yourself.

Better yet, heal yourself.

Take care of yourself.

#hugapony my friends

It is always a pleasure bring you more day to day posts. I will continue to do so until the end of February. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

Self care day 15:Something New

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It is always a pleasure bring you more day to day posts. I will continue to do so until the end of February. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

Raising kids has been a fun adventure. Teaching them to walk, talk, poop, and many other glorious things has been most interesting. I have been more tired and more proud than I have ever been in my life. I have also had something else happen that I did not expect. I tried new things. New foods, new places to visit, new encounters that would have never happened because I would not have thought to do them.

Quite the experience in all.

Now, I would not have gone to a pumpkin patch or to the local indoor bounce house unless it was a birthday party or a special occasion but in my case, I was an addition to a child who was wide eyed and ready to have fun.

They were not the only one to have fun.

I remember going to an indoor inflatable bounce house emporium that had inflatable boxing rings, volleyball, and even a 2 man maze you could race through. A friend and I jumped into the boxing ring together and went a few rounds before the kids got in to knock each other senseless. The adults all joined in on the maze and raced to the end. I remember going against the other most “fit”adult there as we raced all the way to the end. The last section had a turn were an inflatable wall, that had separated us for most for the maze, opened up and there was a hill climb and a dash to the end. I heard my friend come around the turn about the same time I was. I played dirty and threw myself at the divider wall, felt something bounce off of it along with a yell, and raced up the rope to the finish. It turns out I had timed it all so well, and he hadn’t expected it, that I bounced him like a pinball around that part of the course he was turned around, about to head in the wrong direction. He came over the hill climb, dizzy and laughing, vowing to get me back in the next event.

Now, I would never have gone to such a place unless I had kids (or someone had pushed very hard for me to be there). I look back on the times when I said no to going out. I question how many good times I missed because I was scared or afraid or even just thought I wouldn’t like it.

So many new foods and experiences that are out there that might be waiting for you. I can honestly say, even with the events or food that I didn’t like, I was still glad I tried.

I found more about myself. I explored more of who I was as a person.

I found out more likes.

I found out more dislikes (it is OK to dislike something but at least try it).

I helped myself grow.

#hugapony my friends.

Self care day 11:Appetizing Friends

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Again, thank you for joining me on the grand undertaking. There is going to be a lot of work for me and  I hope to be able to keep up. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

It can be physically and emotionally exhausting socializing with social anxiety. You tend to make a lot of acquaintances and just a few close friends. I feel that generally society does not realize the time and effort it takes to go out. If I had my way, I feel as if I would never leave the house.

But I need to do it.

A dear friend of mine puts together a dinner every so often. He has a place in mind that has some amazing food and a bar to knock your socks off. He invites people he knows well and some he doesn’t. He tells them to come, hang out, talk, and be together. These groups can be as large as 20+ at times.

And you meet people.

It is amazing seeing people from all walks of life and backgrounds come together and talk. I find it fascinating to engage people from around the country or the world at these dinners. Seeing them all come together at one table is an incredible thing.

And all my friend does is order appetizers.

He orders almost all of them on the menu.

People sit around and eat fantastic food and they order a drink or two (some just stick to water) and they socialize. They pass around plates of appetizers and ask “Have you tried this?” and “Oh my god. These are amazing.” It is truly incredible seeing people open up about food.

It can be extremely fulfilling for the soul as well.

So I say plan an outing, with friends and others, and just order appetizers. You all just pay for one (which makes it cheaper) and you share. Pass the food around and enjoy each others company. Tip your waitress well while you are at it (make her smile at the fun you all are having).

It takes some planning but it is well worth it.

#hugapony my friend.

Self care day 7:Netflix and you

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Thank you for joining me on the grand undertaking. There is going to be a lot of work for me and  I hope to be able to keep up. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

I believe we live in a fantastic day and age of technology. I have a device in my pocket that allows me to contact anyone in the world. It also lets me fact check (or spell check in my case) when I need help. I can find the latest famous “Cat picture” on the web. I can also play games, do my taxes or my personal favorite, watch just about anything I want.

It makes it easy to end up watching an entire show in one sitting even if that sitting is 22 hours long….

I personally feel like that we all have that guilt that comes after watching an entire season of Stranger Things that makes us feel like we are horribly lazy people. We only meant to sit down while folding laundry or taking a quick break after work and see an episode. Instead, it turned into a “Holy crap its 3 am and I binged watched the entire season!” Why do we do this? What drives us to not move from our spot?

We want the escape.

We want the ability to just let go for a bit and relax doing something we enjoy.

So why do we feel guilty about doing something we enjoy?

We look at ourselves and say that we should be cooking or cleaning. We have bills to pay or someone we should be helping. We feel this guilt that society has put on us to go and do and act and be busy.

This is us. Humans doing. Do do do.

Is this how we are supposed to be?

Human doing instead of human being?

I say nay to all those who look down on taking time to do something you enjoy. Watching your favorite show is not a terrible thing. Some days we need to have the break. Some days we need the release of not having to do do do.

So plan a day. Pick one. Either after work or on a day off. Get some snacks, order a pizza, make a cup of hot tea or coffee. Plan nothing but to binge watch that season of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events start to finish. Kick your feet up, relax. Take a day and give your mind and body a rest. Take care of yourself. Tell everyone that you are busy and have plans. Taking care of yourself is your plan for the day.

Recommended dosage is to be taken as needed for self care.

#hugapony my friends

Self care day 5:Cookie monster

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Thank you for joining me on the grand undertaking. There is going to be a lot of work for me and  I hope to be able to keep up. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

I am not a big sweets eater. I have been known to only eat a small amount of desserts most of the time. I cannot stand Oreo cookies (egad the horror!). But I cannot deny the small of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as one of the best smells in the whole world.

Whether its memories of being at grandma’s house or a certain time of year like around Thanksgiving, the smell of cookies baking is amazing. Researchers have said smell is one of the most powerful memory triggers. The Fifth Sense tells us:

The sense of smell is closely linked with memory, probably more so than any of our other senses.  Those with full olfactory function may be able to think of smells that evoke particular memories; the scent of an orchard in blossom conjuring up recollections of a childhood picnic, for example.  This can often happen spontaneously, with a smell acting as a trigger in recalling a long-forgotten event or experience.  Marcel Proust, in his ‘Remembrance of all Things Past’, wrote that a bite of a madeleine vividly recalled childhood memories of his aunt giving him the very same cake before going to mass on a Sunday.

Now, while we know the smell of cookies very well, we also know the time, effort, and skill it requires to make that delicious cookie. I myself, while a small talented baker, sigh at the thought of making such a mess in the kitchen. So instead, find a place that delivers cookies.

My daughter watches more cooking shows than I knew existed and one of the coolest shows I saw was when they showed people who started a bakery and they delivered soft warm cookies to the doorstep. They showed how they slow bake them so when they arrive at your doorstep, the cookies are “fresh from the oven”.

I did a quick search of my local area (Dallas, Tx) and found MANY places that deliveries cookies. Think of being at work and having cookies delivered to you. I dare say that most of your coworkers will be jealous (order enough to share!).

The best thing I saw was a spot on Insomnia Cookies. They are a baking company that ships cookies around the US and the local bakeries were shown to deliver cookies until 3 AM!! The thought just made my mouth water.

Cookies can be fantastic. Valentines day is coming up. Why not “treat yourself”, aka Parks and Rec style, and get yourself some cookies. Put a smile on your own face.

And hey send me some cookies while you are at it. Regular chocolate chip. I’ll wait.

#hugapony my friends.

Self care day 3: Self mail

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Thank you for joining me on the grand undertaking. There is going to be a lot of work for me and  I hope to be able to keep up. Please make sure to comment, share and follow along as I share some simple things to better your life!

There is a lost art of letter writing in this day and age. With the rise of electronics and digital equipment, I feel that we have lost a part of ourselves that showed some of the most emotion. Writing is a personal passion of mine, as you might be able to tell with my blog and all, and I feel that we all could use some words of encouragement.

I say, why not write to yourself.

I know that I personally have several handwritten letters from close friends and family. People who meant or mean a great deal to me. These mementos of love and expression of care are kept in safe places were I can go and read them when I need a boost to my spirit. I am willing to bet most of you reading this have at least one physical letter that we have locked away somewhere.

And who knows how to encourage you better than you?

I find it hard to write positive things about myself. The part above about writing being a passion of mine is hard to type out because of my own personal self worth issues. However, I have forced myself to acknowledge that I do have talents and skills that make me, me. While it can be difficult, you can find ways to be positive about yourself. If needed, call a close friend or relative and talk about it. What are positives about you?

Write them down. Physically. Make it tangible. Make it real. Fill up a page about yourself and things you want to see, do, or accomplish. Take your thoughts and make them real on paper. Put it in an envelope. Put it away for a month or year until you need it. Set a calendar reminder that you have it. Put it in the mail and have it mailed back to you (it would be nice to get something other than bills!).

When the time comes to read it, make some time to consider what you wrote. Hang it by your mirror in your bathroom so you see the words you wrote about yourself every day. Put it in your car so when you get to work you can have a quick pick me up to start the day.

Make yourself talk to yourself positively.

Make it real.

Self care. Simple stuff.

#hugapony my friends.