Good things are worth waiting for

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe that there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is. A year's worth of tiny words of wisdom for all the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. You may not agree with all of them and they may not work for everybody, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 46 Patience is a virtue

I know we have all heard this one before. I think for me it started in the womb and hearing my mother repeat it to herself because I was two weeks late. My dad would say it to all of us after he sat in a deer stand for hours in the freezing cold and still didn't bring home the big one... or any one at all. Somewhere along the genetic cycle however, I think I missed the patience gene. I try, but it is very difficult to be patient sometimes.
I moved to New York City a few years ago to become famous. I thought then, that it would just happen. That I would be walking through the park and run into some famous director and accidentally spill his coffee and he would just know that I was worth millions. Well.... obviously that didn't happen.
I got a job as a waitress... excuse me, server. We don't call them waitresses any more. I wait tables in Times Square. I spent a really long time "getting adjusted". I rarely auditioned because secretly I still thought it would happen. I would get discovered.
I finally took matters into my own hands. I began, after a really long time, auditioning. I went for years without really getting anything. Then I did. I booked a job. A non paying, but perfectly acceptable acting job as a park ranger at Mount Rushmore. Then I booked a small paying job as a vampire witch in The Horseman's Hollow. Then I booked another job in a Noel Coward play.
Right now, I am happier than I have been in a really long time. I am working as an actor and building my resume. I am perfecting my craft and it feels great. If I had given up at the first sign of a struggle, I probably would have moved back home and spent the rest of my life wondering "what if."
The good things in life are worth waiting for. I know when we hear these things as children and even into our mid twenties, we roll our eyes and brush it off to a different time and place. Its true though. Be patient. Wait around for something.. or someone GREAT! It will absolutely be worth it.
Horseman's Hollow (check out photo number nine...) http://hudsonvalley.metromix.com/events/essay_photo_gallery/flashed-behind-the-scenes/2239256/content

Take in strays

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe that there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is. A year's worth of tiny words of wisdom for all of the nieces out there, or really anyone who will listen. They may not work for everybody and you may not agree with all of them, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 34 Take in strays... pets and people

When I was three years old, our neighbors across the street had an old animal cage that they put out for the garbage men. We had some other neighbors who had fifteen dogs. In the middle of the night, I remember the entire neighborhood waking up to horrible sounds of dogs whining and screeching. Those horrible people had put all of their dogs into this tiny cage and left town. My entire household met in the hallway and my mom put on her housecoat and went outside. I watched from the front porch as people walked with beautiful dogs. Some of them were purebred, and some of them were soft and cuddly. I watched as my mom just stood back and let everyone leave.
"Daddy, why doesn't she take one?," I asked.
"She's waiting for the right one," he told me.
I didn't understand and I sat there waiting not so patiently. Finally my mom was the only one left standing in front of that animal cage. She opened it and gently pulled out the ugliest puppy that any of us had ever seen.
My mom waited because she knew that there would be one dog, possibly two, that no one would take home with them. She brought him home and my brother decided that since he was so pathetic, he needed a tough name.
Killer was one of the best dogs that ever walked the earth. He lived to be almost 18. He loved the snow and he LOVED a good good sick day. He loved chocolate covered cherries and would only drink water out of a cup. He was a stray and my mom gave him a chance.
She gave a lot of people a chance too.
When my sister and I were both in the tenth grade, (not at the same time), there was a boy in each of our classes who never brought a lunch, and never had money to buy one. My mom made both of those boys lunch for an entire school year, complete with the same happy face on the sandwich Ziploc, and the encouraging note on the napkin.
In college, it was always understood that if one of my friends or acquaintances couldn't get home for the weekend or a holiday then they would spend it with me and my family. My dad has come home from work many times when there was a stranger sleeping on our couch. He never questioned, he just waved or went about his way.
Sometimes you just have to give people, and animals the time of day. They might not have anyone in the world who is nice to them until you come along.
My parents now have a new dog, Saffron. Saffron is purebred Weimaraner who my cousin found eating out of a dumpster. He knew that as soon as my parent met her, she would have a home. It also didn't hurt that I happened to be home that day.
Take in strays, you never know how much joy they can bring to your life until you give it a shot.
Recommended reading: A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
(A DOG'S LIFE) THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A STRAY BY Martin, Ann M.(Author)Paperback{A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray}

"You are evil and must be destroyed..."

As a grown up, I realize that in the course of life, I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them I learned from my aunts. Now I am an aunt and my oldest neice recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I believe that there are some things one cannot learn in a classroom. These are things that can only be learned from living. So for the next 362 days, I plan to to give some tiny words of wisdom to all of the neices and nephews in the world, or really to anyone who will listen. They might not work for everybody, and you might not agree with all of them, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 4 Credit cards are EVIL.

First I would like to say.... DON'T GET A CREDIT CARD. However, I am smart enough to remember turning 18 and receiving my first credit card application in the mail. I told my parents that I was an adult and that I could have a credit card, and oh look how much I have been preapproved for. They smiled and said, "ok. Go ahead and fill it out, but be careful." I thought that I was the coolest person in the world. If I was at the mall with my friends and they were all shopping, I would just put 40 or 50 bucks on my credit card, no problem. I'll pay it off every month.

Let me just tell you that the end of every month very quickly turns into paying the minimum payment each month, and that very quickly turns into a minimum payment of more than a hundred dollars every month. Then before you know it, you are getting another credit card with a lower interest rate and using it to try and pay off the other one. Then an emergency comes up and there you are with extreme balances on both cards. Trust me,the price of convenience is certainly not cheaper.

Please, hear me. If you have a credit card, CUT IT UP, and call and cancel your account. If you don't, please listen to me, or your parents when they tell you it is a bad idea and that they are still paying off their first one. At the very least, if you insist on having one, never be late with a payment, because what you don't know is that one late payment can up your interest rate 5-7%. Also, call every six months and ask them to lower your interest rate. Sometime they will and some times they won't, but it certainly never hurts to ask.