Why are you so Mean?

By: Samantha S. Daviss

So, I took an alternate route to get home the other day, because the road was blocked by a train that was stopped. It was no big deal; it didn’t upset me; I just swung around and headed home in another direction.

So as I pull on to the highway, where there is a ton of construction going on, so the normal extended lane for merging onto the highway doesn’t exist, throws me into the traffic sooner than I am able to compensate for the short “runway” of merging into the already flowing traffic. I did notice another car was coming but I was courteous and tried to judge my distance, and my lack of room for accelerating, and joined in the traffic, at a higher rate of speed as to not cause any issues.

So, the car that was coming, ran right up on my tail, and pulled to the other lane, and then wasn’t 15 feet past me, and immediately pulled right back in front of me. Now mind you, I mentioned there was traffic, because of course it is a highway; but at the time it was just myself and this other vehicle. So, there was no need for him to stay in the slow lane, ride right up on my tail, whip around me, and cut back in. The entire fast lane was wide open.

As I sat there driving down one of the major interstates in the great state of Texas, with two of my three precious cargo items in the back of my car (that being my kiddos), I thought “Self…I wonder if these people realize what they are doing when they create road rage, or road anger?”.

But seriously, do they realize it’s not a game? Do they realize they are travelling at speeds up to 80 miles per hours, in a vehicle that can weigh anywhere between 3,100 pounds (or 1.55 tons) up to 6,000 pounds (2.5 to 3 tons)? And they are just machines. They cannot correct their errors; in fact, if they are typically overcompensated, they rock and roll and could easily flip. Their brakes only react and work so quickly. They need time for your brain to think, react, apply, and the machine to actually stop.

All for what? Because someone took up a little of your space on the highway? Because your overall plan and picture driving on the highways was interrupted? The anger and impatience overwhelms me sometimes. There are small children, babies, families, and teenagers driving on the road with you. Just take a deep breath, relax and accept the fact that there will be other drivers on the road with you. 

Stop being so angry all the time.

It is one thing to be frustrated when someone blatantly cuts you off, and nearly causes a true accident, but if someone is just trying to politely merge on to the highway, and runs out of room; cut them some slack, apply your brakes, and don’t cut them off. Because, just because you are trying to get back at the person you “think” cut you off; you never know what the person in front of you will do.

What if there was an accident ahead you didn’t see, or something in the road that you needed to dodge, but instead you slam on your brakes without warning, causing the poor innocent mommy with her two babies, that you just cut off, to rear end you at the high speed of around 75 miles per hour.

All because your little “knickers” got all twisted up, your feelings were hurt, or whatever the case may be.

To you people with no patience or understanding on the roads or highways, to you I say…grow up. This is a massive machine you are driving and handling, not a bicycle; and you are not only endangering your life but those around you. Have a little compassion and understanding, please.

Take 5

By: Samantha S. Daviss

As we all know in the state of Texas, there are five seasons…Spring, summer, Autumn, Winter, and of course hunting season. And thus, began the season of deer hunting this weekend, with opening day this past Saturday.

I have missed very few opening weekends of deer season, spending 90% of them with my daddy. Yes, even at 40, he is still my daddy. But like I told him last night, the faces have changed, and I have added several players to our game (my three boys), but the memories and time together is still just as great as it was when I was a little girl, falling asleep with him in the deer blind.

And as the time passed, I would hunt alone in my own blind, and sit around the campfire laughing, telling stories, and drinking my first beer. And now I am old enough to buy my own beer, and sit and cut up with all the guys around the camp fire, while I watch as my boys come of age on the deer lease, riding 4-wheelers, and shooting their Red Rider BB Guns.

I got to spend some great time with all my boys this weekend. And my oldest hit a milestone; I have always helped him field dress his deer; but this weekend, he did it on his own (with a little refreshing from myself and a buddy of mine), but nonetheless, he did a great job. And I was able to sit in the blind with my middle one, and play on the 4-wheeler with my youngest. Overall, it was a much-needed getaway and time with my boys and my dad, while my husband had to work, sadly.

Sunday came too quickly, as usual, when we are at the deer lease. But we quickly packed up the car, due to an unexpected rain cloud that unloaded on us that morning. And we shut the cabin down, I started my car. Wait, let me rephrase that, I attempted to start my car. For whatever reason, my car battery was dead. So, with two huge trailers on our cars my dad had to manipulate his car around the campfire to jump my car off…and off we went.

Take 2 -- About some 10 miles down the road, one of the tires on the trailer I was pulling, started losing tread. It started shaking and rumbling, and vibrating my car. So, I called my dad to wait on us, and I limped in to the nearest town, because it was pouring down rain, and of course the lug nuts were too small for the lug wrench that goes to my car.

Luckily, we find a guy with the proper lug wrench, get it off, replaced and off we go again.

Take 3 – Now mind you, we started driving at 9 A.M., and it is usually only about a four-and-a-half-hour drive home. So, I am hoping third time is a charm. And off we went…but wait, about 10 miles down the road, my oldest says “Ummm, hey mom, rubber is flying off again.” I laughed and kept going, thinking he was just trying to wear me down. But no, here we go again with the rumbling and vibrations.

I jump out, and of course, the tread has ripped off that tire too. Oh, did I forget to mention, that this is my dad’s trailer, and I am pretty sure the tires are as old as I am? They were so old, the rust to the lug nuts on the spares had welded themselves to the wheel. This time, luckily, my dad was behind us. But yet again, the lug nuts were too small, so off he went to the next town to by the correct size lug wrench.

I stayed behind to work on it. After a few cuts and cuss words, I managed to get one lug nut off. But the next one, there was no way. Finally, after about 20 minutes a nice gentleman stopped to help us out, with the correct lug wrench.

And yep, you guessed it…off we went.

Take 4 – So just in case you have lost count…I have now gone through two tires, I am now on my third, and I have run out of spares. But the funny part was, when I got back in my car and headed down the road, I looked at a text on my phone from a guy friend of mine, saying man I just saw a girl that looked just like you on the side of Highway 190; and I said well hey, she didn’t look like me, she was me.

Nonetheless, we were “On the Road Again…”. Not even joking, and I wish I were, my third tire tread started flying off, about 20 miles down the road. I had about 20 more miles to go to the next town, where my dad was; so, the boys and I slowly limped in. We found a place, bought two new tires and off we went.

This time we made it all the way home. But we had to stop by our friend’s barn, where we are keeping our pig for the Youth Expo, come March. Everything was well, things were great. But the four of us were definitely ready to be home. However, the driveway was blocked, so I backed up, turned the wheel, and tried to cut through a small corner of yard/farm land. Well, after a few hours of rain, Mother Nature had other plans for me, my car and my trailer.

You guessed it, I had to flag down some guys that were living on the property to come pull me out of the mud.

Hence, Take Five! We were finally on our way home, and it was about 7:45 at night. When we should have been home, being lazy, and doing laundry around 2PM; six hours later, we finally made it home.

And End Scene. Another chapter closed on the exciting day-in-the-life of my family adventures.

Plate is too Full

By: Samantha S. Daviss

Sometimes people walk around complaining that their plate is too full. And sometimes it is. But then there are those times that I stand back and look at those complaining and want to scream from a mountain top, “You have no idea what full is!”

And currently, I am not talking about my life right now. However, this is probably the busiest I have ever been in my life; but, in my eyes, my plate is not too full. For a brief synopsis, here is a peek into my life, currently (and I am not listing this to get sympathy, I am listing these things, to prove my point):

·        

•        Working mother
• ·         Mother of 3 (all boys, mind you)
• ·         Husband travels for a living as an airline pilot
• ·         Full-time job as a real estate appraiser
• ·         Full-time job running my own marketing company
• ·         Summer job managing a country club pool
• ·         One child is in FFA, skeet shooting tournaments, and high school
• ·         Middle child is in sports, piano, and daily homework
• ·         Smallest child is in sports, piano, and daily homework
• ·         Cooking, laundry, cleaning, baths every night, and ow our yard weekly
• ·         PTO Executive board member
• ·         Just started an education foundation for our school district

So my point to this is, yes, that is an insane amount of stuff for one human to have on their plate; but, I do this by choice. I don’t have to be on PTO but I want to be, I want to be around the schools to see my kids and help all the students get what they deserve. I don’t have to be in the Rotary Club, but I am to see and meet people. I didn’t have to start an education foundation, but I did to better the lives and study environment of our students. However, you may hear me say, “I have lost my mind” or “There isn’t enough vodka in the world…” (all jokes, mind you). But you will never hear me say my plate is too full.

My plate has been too full at one point in my life. I looked above daily and asked Him, how he expects me to move on and to survive, and to put my big girl pants on, and to put a smile on my face for my little boy. That is when you know your plate is too full.

Your plate is too full when you are sitting at the end of a hospital bed holding your 8-year-old’s hand, after her third round of chemotherapy; a full plate is trying to explain to your 16-year-old soccer star son, who managed to live after his friend flipped his truck Friday night, that he will never walk again; a full plate is waking up one morning and your spouse is gone, either by their choice or because their flight from LA to Washington D.C. didn’t make it.

Those are full plates. I understand we all have a lot going on, we all get pulled in 900 directions, but that to me, is what a calendar and a To-Do list is for. At the end of the day, if that PTO email wasn’t sent out, the world won’t stop spinning. But at the end of the day, if the blood type doesn’t match your child’s who has been on the transplant list for eight months, that means that the world could possibly stop spinning.

So next time you feel overwhelmed, or overloaded by everything on your plate; please remember that mom who had to pick out her baby’s headstone yesterday, or that dad who has to carry his little girl down the aisle rather than walk next to her, or that brother that didn’t get to see his kid brother’s first goal because he lost his eyesight in a car accident.

To me, your calendar and your life is as full as you make; but your plate, that is something entirely different, your plate is out of your control.