Just Another Day in the Neighborhood

I should have stayed home today. Seriously. It all started when I decided to go on a walk with the dog that I watch. We left the house to go on our regular walk. Depending on the route we take, it's about a 4-5 mile walk. Today I had a little more time so we were going to go the longer route. First, we forgot to get a baggie for his #2. Once we made sure to grab one from the house, we were ready for the trek. At this point the cat decided he was going to join us on our walk. He tends to do this but usually only when we circle the block. This time he began to follow us to the busy intersections. Knowing it would be dangerous for him, I began trying to dissuade him. After many failed attempts, he finally turned around and headed back towards the house. The dog and I were finally on our way. I decided to take a slightly different route in order to add to our mileage, which it did because it took us in a weirdly shaped circle that brought us back to the starting point. We then resumed our normal route. Now, the dog had done his business. I knew we were about to approach a park that had trash cans for these types of situations. In the park in order to reach the trash can, you had to step on dirt. Due to the recent rain and snow, the ground was muddy and therefore wet and slippery. The dog was excited to see..."Squirrel!"* He pulled on the leash, which pulled me. My feet began to slip out from under me. I was going down. I had a decision to make. Fall down on my buttocks, or try to keep from going down on it. I first used my hands. When I realized I was still going down, I decided to sacrifice my knee instead. I made the landing, but I'd give the performance a 6 out of 10. No more. I had a predicament. Do I go home or continue my walk while I'm caked in mud? I decided to continue to my walk. Soon after, I found some snow and decided to clean my hands with it. As I reached down to pick up the snow, the dog walked over to me and decided to use this moment to go to the bathroom (#1) on the snow I was picking up. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. That means the dog peed on my hands. I wasn't angry. The situation was too hilarious not to laugh, but it was time to head home. Once I washed the dirt and pee off my hands, I found out that I had cut my hand in two places when I fell. The other issue is that the stain from the mud won't come out of my favorite pants. Anyone know how to get a mud stain out of Rayon? I tried detergent and baking soda with salt. I still have a faint orange tint to my white and black pants.
Until my next crazy incident,
Peace out.

"Squirrel!" - Doug the dog from the movie Up

Let's Get Serious

My Current Top 5 Addictions:
1. Netflix
2. Chai Tea Latte
3. Need for Speed & Lego
4. Sushi Rolls
5. Subway Surfers

Occasionally, I try to cleanse myself of these by cutting them out completely, but they wouldn't be addictions if I actually succeeded. Addictions are like that. Sometimes you can't even admit it's an addiction. You think that it's just something you like to do or something you like to eat/drink. The problem is when you begin to crave it. When you don't have it, it overwhelms your senses, your thoughts. Addiction. It's a powerful thing that can hold us back from reaching our full potential in life. It hinders us. It becomes a limitation. An addiction is an addiction. Whether it be as serious as an addiction to alcohol or something less scary like Netflix, either one stands in the way. As you can see based on my addictions listed above, my limitations have to do with time and health. In order to overcome these barriers, I must focus on managing my time wisely and making better health choices. It's hard, but if you don't learn to limit it or do away with it entirely, you will only be hurting yourself. In order to move forward, we must learn to have control over the addiction(s) that stand in our way. Warning: Many times we substitute one addiction for another. This is not a solution. The pattern is just repeating. The point is to get to the root of the problem. What is feeding the addiction? Hurt? Pain? Fear? I'll be honest. For me it's fear. Fear of failure. What do I do? I do whatever helps me to avoid failing. Not doing it in the beginning. How do I battle this? I find things to motivate me, to inspire me. I pray. I read the Bible. I look up quotes.

Scripture:
- For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)
- When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)
- He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)
- Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)

Quotes:
- The greatest failure is the failure to try.
- The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.
- Let your fear of failure be your motivation to succeed.
- Your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
- There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: The fear of failure.
- Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
- What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn't fail?

These are ways that help me overcome. I am an Overcomer!
If you ever need to talk and need someone to listen to your story, you can e-mail me at lisavikprik@gmail.com

Selfish vs. Selfless

Everyday before I get on the road for my long commute into work I pray. Why you ask? Aside from the usual, asking God to protect me on the road from all the crazies out there who don't know how to drive, I pray that God protects everyone on the road from getting into accidents. At this point you might be thinking "How thoughtful," but I haven't told you my motive behind the prayer. Yes, I don't want people dying, but my main concern is traffic. More accidents = more traffic = longer commute. Now, let's hear the arguments. On the one hand, I could be praying for no traffic which would make me Selfish. On the other hand, I choose to pray for the well being of others instead. This would mean that I'm Selfless. The question is whether the motive or the action wins out. So...Selfish or Selfless? I think that you the audience should decide.
(You can let me know in the comments section.)

Billy

Story time! This happened not too long ago. 5 or 6 years* ago. I have this friend. Let's call her Belle. Yes, I'm still friends with Belle. No pointing fingers please. Once upon a time...we were hanging out. Belle began to tell me a story about a guy (my definition of guy: not a boy, not yet a man**) named Billy. The second she mentioned his name my brain pulled out a quote from a movie right away. Belle is just beginning her second sentence when I interrupt her and state, "And did you say, 'Billy, I love you.'" Of course I said this with a Hugh Grant accent and all. Or so my brain thinks I did. I hate to admit it, but I suck at accents. Anyway, back to the story. As I finished my quote and was waiting for Belle to erupt with laughter, she just gave me an awkward stare like I must have lost my mind. I stared back for what felt like forever, but then I gave in. Another thing I suck at is staring contests. I always give in. (Shaking my head.)
Me: "It's a quote."
Belle: "Oh..." (trying to remember)
Me: "Two Weeks Notice."
Belle: "Oh..." (acts like she remembers)
Me: "When they were in the car following tennis practice." (hoping she remembers)
Belle: "Oh, yeah..." (fake)
Such a liar. She never saw the film! WHAT?!?! She's a girl and never watched Two Weeks Notice. Oh. Ok. Just because you're a girl doesn't necessarily mean you watch all chick flicks, but come on. Even guys watched this movie, whether they admit it or not, because SANDRA BULLOCK starred in it. Seriously. This was a great romantic comedy. At this point, I'm the one giving her the awkward stare. This one (and only) time I won the staring contest. She conceded and continued to tell me about Billy. I only half listened because I was still wondering why in the world she hadn't seen this movie yet. 7 or 8 years had passed since it's release. She had plenty of time.

Were you paying attention? Did you notice the asterisks I squeezed into the story? I did tell you that I would do my best to let you know when I quote something. I also did state that it would usually be things that most others don't really notice because they aren't the parts the movie is known for. What I didn't tell you is sometimes I also make my own interpretation of a quote. That's when you'll see 2 asterisks side by side.
5 or 6 years - Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Brad Pitt says this when they are in counseling.
not a boy, not yet a man - Crossroads: Britney Spears (original: I'm not a girl, not yet a woman.)

Stay tuned for more craziness.

And so it begins.

Before I go into all the ins and outs of what's going to go down in this blog, I thought I should inform you of some things that are bound to happen in my writing. First of all, I absolutely love to quote movies. No, not the tag line that everyone knows. I love to quote the parts that most people would never know I was quoting unless I told them I was quoting it. Over the years, I have encountered many blank stares when I tried to make a joke by referencing a movie. I'm positive that people thought I was loca. That's okay. I can live with it. I have some interesting stories to share about those experiences, but I'll get to them later. From this point on I will do my best to reference the quotes in my writing, but there are no guarantees it will happen. Secondly, I love NEED FOR SPEED. Hence the title of my blog. No, I won't be sharing only stories of my trips on the road. Don't get me wrong there will be plenty to share. Over 150,000 miles in 6 years + 4 major accidents + lots of crazy drivers = lots of crazy stories. Period.
This brings me to explain what I will be writing about. Aside from actual road rage, I will be doing some venting on here about my life experiences. Hopefully, I can provide you, the reader, with some insight to living life. From not always making the right choices to living under pressure and stress to enjoying life to the fullest. A little bit of everything. At first I thought to make this blog anonymous because I might cover some things that even I won't like to admit to sometimes, but what's the fun in that. Also, I would like to get this out of the way right away. Anything written in this blog cannot be used against me in a court of law without any proof/evidence of said action. To the law, this is a work of fiction. To my readers, this is the truth. Whether you choose to believe it or not is up to you. Got it. Good.
There's another thing to look out for in my writing. If you get confused while reading, don't worry. By the time you finish reading the full post your questions should be answered. I think. I write like I take notes in class. I catch one sentence, I skip one, and then I write the next one. When I look back at my notes, I have no idea what the teacher was talking about. Let me give you an example in case you don't understand. I think the following: "It's snowing today. I love snow. Remember that snow storm back in Ukraine when I was 5 and being home schooled. That was fun. Oh, I miss Ukraine. I wonder how the children at the orphanage are doing. Need to think of new fundraising ideas." I write the following: "It's snowing today. I miss Ukraine. Fundraising ideas." Basically, I might lose you for a while because my mind skips from thought to thought faster than I type, but hopefully I'll clarify sooner or later. Fingers-crossed.
Now, I will reveal a little bit of news in this post if only to keep myself accountable. I am in the process of writing a novel. My goal is to have the 1st draft completed before the end of this year. I will not be giving out any details about it at this time. All I can say is that it's going to be amazing and not because I'm biased. One of my best friends has known about this for a while now and has been encouraging me along in the process. I think she will be mad to find out that I have found time to start a blog but have yet to get past page one in the novel. Side note to said friend: I am sorry. This blog will help me to clear my mind and pick up a few new ideas along the way. Hopefully.
Now that the initial introductions have been made, I shall bid you adieu.
Tomorrow is another day. (Scarlett O'Hara - Gone With the Wind)