Goodbye Crappy People!

If you've been among the elite who have talked with me for any length of time in the past few days, you know that I am all about getting crappy people out of my life. This article changed my way of thinking and I'm very thankful for it. There's no doubt that I've come across some crappy people in my life. This summer, I can think of one in particular. Maybe two. I just reread the article I linked to, after reading it earlier in the week. James Altucher tells us what we know already, but who on this planet of distraction has any time to think about what we should be doing. However, at VV, I've had a tremendous amount of time to think this summer. Just to think. There's no cable and for a while, there was no Internet. And no refrigerator. I'm extremely thankful to have both of those things now, but still, we don't have nearly all the distractions that most people in today's society have. And we don't have the level of clutter, visual and auditory, that we have at our beloved Gingerbread House. And so, I've been thinking a lot. Maybe overthinking, if C. can be believed. But then again, maybe not enough.

I did take C's advice, btw, and on the suggestion of Eight, we all went to Widow Creek Falls at Stone Mountain on Wednesday. Nobody was at the falls and hardly anyone was around the park. We did see a ranger when we left, who helped us go out of the park a different way than we'd gone in, which I had hoped to do. We saw a lot of stuff that was new to us, which was very very cool.
And we got into some water that was cold. Pretty darn cold. It was awesome. Even though Ten was hesitant at first (perhaps he has just a bit of his mama's good sense), he eventually got in himself, as did I. Six and Eight acted as though it was 100 degrees outside and swam and slid from the getgo. Ten and I waited a bit longer, however. Nonetheless, we really had a blast. C was right. I really do need to play more.

This morning, we went to the library and Six went to a reading program. One of the things I remember most from Altucher's article is that "When you roll in the mud with a pig, you get dirty and the pig gets happy." That's almost the exact quote, but it is a killer quote indeed. I think I have been rolling in the mud with at least one pig. I got dirty. The pig was happy. Now, it's time for me to wash off. As if I needed the reinforcement, Six's reading program today was all about pigs. Pig stories were everywhere. Pigs. Pigs. Pigs. I heard at least four stories about pigs. And so, now I know: Pigs do indeed get happy in the mud and if I join them, I get dirty. There's hardly more clarification than that.

The thing is deciding who is a crappy person and who is not. Some people have made that decision a much easier one here lately. And for that, I am grateful. It is hard not being around pigs. I really dig them in lots of ways. Plus, when I was around 3 or 4, living in the very house from which I am now writing, Grandma and Grandpa Chambers had pigs. I was not allowed to get too close to them. Perhaps I was not allowed to get dirty or something. I never got to slop those pigs, but I always wanted to. Perhaps that is why I am so very attracted to them now. Whatever the case, Six made a really cool pig face as a craft and it's now in the kitchen, above the clock, at VV. There used to be an really neat looking clock in that same place, but it did not work. Now, with my Big Lots clock, a heart that I painted underneath it, I always know exactly what time it is. And every time I check that out, I will also, at least for now, see the pig face. And I will be reminded that when I roll in the mud with pigs, I will get dirty and the pigs will get happy. I'm all for happy pigs, but they will have to start getting their happiness by rolling in the mud with somebody else.