Paper Girl

All righty then! :) Are you guys ready for yet another embarrassing moment in the live of Heather?! LOL! I don't know about you all, but these stories NEVER get old for me! I laugh every time I think about them! I figure (or at least hope) that they make someone else laugh as well (especially if you have had a bad day)! It always helps to laugh: a frown is a smile upside down - so why not turn it over?! I know - kinda corny, but it's all I got! LOL! Okay - here goes: in this story I am about 14 years old and I have been a paper girl for over a year. I delivered on two streets that covered about 172 homes. Now.......you gotta get a mental picture of this.......I was little back then. I matured late so I was probably the size of a 10 year old. Can you picture a ten year old with a huge sack over them that held newspapers in the front and back?!!!!!! Not a pretty picture - I tell ya!!! I was certainly weighted down with all those papers, especially since I was so small! I did get GREAT tips, though, b/c my customers all thought I was only about 12 years old and doing a paper route! They seemed impressed. I, of course, HATED looking that young! I was 14 yrs. old after all! Imagine!!! Anyway, if you are picturing me all bogged down with over 100 and some newspapers not only in the front, but in the back as well - then - picture this as well - imagine how I looked in the winter in the snow? In the winter I got to wear a big winter coat PLUS the huge sack that carried papers in the front and back!!! Attractive, I know! If I had a picture I would post it - I swear! Anyway, there I am doing my route and I am about half way done. Thank God! At least half the papers were gone so I looked a little less dweeby! :) So.......I walk up to a house and lay the paper down and turn around and there is Brian Newsome WAVING AT ME!!!!!! I know you guys have no idea who Brian Newsome is so - let me explain it like this - he was basically the first boy I EVER liked!!!! I was in the ninth grade and this was probably around Nov. or Dec. when this story happened. Brian rode my bus and that is where I saw him for the first time ever!!! I just thought he was to die for good-looking!!!!! He never did like me back that way (as a girlfriend). I think he thought of me as a little sister - pretty much all the guys did - I only looked ten or twelve after all!!!! Funny now, but not then at all! Anyway, back to main story. So I have just turned around and see gorgeous Brian waving at me!!!! At me!!!!! And I must have been in shock b/c what do I do?! I turn around and look over my shoulder to see if he was waving to someone else!!!!!! That is what I do!!!!! I mean - come on - why would gorgeous Brian be waving to me?! Well, I look back and no one is there and I finally realize that he was waving to me after all! I just wanted to die!!! I don't really remember for sure, but I think I waved back and kept on doing my route. I just kept thinking - stupid, stupid, stupid! :) Oh, I must also mention two VERY important parts to this story! 1) Brian didn't live on my route - he was visiting his friend who lived on my route and 2)this is good and very funny - of all the times he had to see me - this is what I look like! Winter coat that is huge with huge knap sack over my shoulders with papers in front and back AND..............this is the best part.................I had on GIGANTIC PINK SNOW BOOTS!!!!!!! You know - the nerdy kind!!!!! I only wore them to do my paper route in! And this is the day I run into Brian Newsome!!!!! The boy I am madly in love with!!!!!!! What a big friggin' dork!!!!! LOL! :) This story has been so fun to tell b/c I think it could be in a sitcom!!!! A Jerry Seinfeld moment!!! It is everyone's biggest fear (well, for us girls at least) to run into someone we like at a time when we look bad!!! The one time we wear our pajamas to the grocery store - BAM - there is someone important who we wanted to impress!!! :) It is soooooo true!!!! For me - at least - there isn't much since the Brian incident that could top it! It was a crucial time in my life - just starting high school, liking my first boy, adjusting to teenage life, etc. - I feel as though I got my most embarrassing moments out of the way early - it has been down hill since then! LOL! Maybe this is why few things tend to REALLY embarrass me. I mean - I say that I am embarrassed and maybe I am - but not ever to the degree I have been in the early years of my life. Maybe I should thank Brian. He was a real nice guy from a good family. He was so sweet to wave to a new freshman and be nice to me! I moved the next year (Brain had a girlfriend, anyway, but I did get to sit beside him in French class). OOOOOOO LAAAAAAA LAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! French class! :) I was still embarrassed when I walked into French class (at the beginning of tenth grade), but I told myself to walk with my head up high and sit down right by him!!!! I wasn't going to let him know I was mortified!!! Keep your cool - pretend you are confident! It worked for me! Oh, I must backtrack a little. I was even more embarrassed by the beginning of tenth grade b/c he knew I liked him by then! And the feeling wasn't mutual. Looking back - I was so young looking and probably acting, too. And, even though, he was only a year older - he simply thought of me as a little sister! But I must admit - he never said anything to me - ever (about me liking him). He just continued on as did I as friends. Which was good! I learned valuable lessons from this experience: 1)to always notice new people the way he noticed and waved to me!
2)sometimes things should NOT be discussed - just continue on like nothing ever happened (sometimes you should acknowledge - the key is knowing when and when not too).
3)People aren't always going to like you the way you like them. Don't take it personal. God has a plan for all of us!
4)Find the good that may be hidden somewhere between the bad! Good stuff is usually there - it may take time to see!
5)I have said this a lot, but: LAUGH AT YOURSELF!!!!!!! This is the only way to live and learn from each experience. If you take things too seriously - like this story - then you will really have trouble down the road with the BIG stuff! I am talking about REAL problems that will come with life! Learn to laugh at the funny things - the little things - the small stuff in the grand scheme of life!!!!! I don't want to look back some day and see how much of the fun stuff I missed out on from being too uptight or too embarrassed! I learned these lessons young and they have stayed with me and helped me throughout my life! I hope my stories help someone else as well.
My final point for today: Enjoy every part of your life!!!! Especially the embarrassing or funny parts! They happen for a reason. Don't let fear stop you from trying something you really want to do! And I will say it one hundred times - learn to laugh at yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When you laugh - others laugh with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think about it: maybe the embarrassing moment happened for a reason in order to help somebody else! We don't always know the answers, but please, learn to laugh and be happy!!!!!!!! Life is so much better this way!!!!!!
Love you guys!!!!!