I was driving home at 4:30 a.m. today when I got to the entrance of my neighborhood.  It was pitch dark, but I noticed some movement.  When I looked closer, I noticed three girls who looked no older than 14 walking alone.  It baffled me to see this because they were heading out of the neighborhood into the rest of the city.  On my way to Bikram Yoga, which was around 5:15 a.m. and still dark, I noticed a woman running alone. 

We’ve all seen it on the news.  The woman who went running alone in the dark who gets mugged and/or raped.  Or the girls who didn’t tell anyone where they were heading and were never seen again.  I have seen these stories repeat since I was a little girl.  They say you should know your history so you don’t keep repeating the same mistakes, but it seems some women just don’t learn.  Why are you running alone in the dark? Why are you walking in the dark at such a crazy hour?  I can’t even see, other than my car light, but you insist on being out there.  On top of that, woman who is running, you have an iPod on, so you are not even super aware of your surroundings.  Come on woman, get it together.  I don’t want to turn the news on, and see something bad happened to you for committing such an irresponsible act.  Little girls, you are wearing sandals, tank tops, and shorts.  You wouldn’t even be able to run if some crazy person were to go after you. 

I am not saying that we should live in a state of fear.  However, we should also not make it easy for something awful to happen to us.  If you are going to be out by yourself, then make sure it’s still at least semi-light outside and that you are not walking where no one can see you.  I don’t even know what to say about those girls because I am not sure why they would be out there at that time.  I was going to stop the car and ask, but then I would have probably scared them to death, and I didn’t want to do that.  At that age, you think nothing can happen to you.  I have something to say to you.  Something bad CAN happen to you.  You are not invincible. 

Women, just be careful and don’t put yourself in dangerous situations.

I really loathe how people idolize celebrities. It’s been a constant battle in my own family to have them stop this obsession with people (exceptions are celebrities like Robert De Niro) who haven’t done anything to deserve it. These celebrities are usually doing something that do not make them good and healthy role models. I hoped that my children wouldn’t fall victims to this mode of thought, but I have seen tidbits of it.

There is hope. Younger generations are starting to see people, like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, as heroes and people who they should aspire to be, which my generation has failed to see. It’s one of the reasons that I love that Intel commercial where the celebrities are the people who have created something to revolutionize our way of life and technology.

Even though I am not 100% sold on Obama, I will have to say that I am glad that he is being seen as someone to idolize in this celebrity-obsessed culture. Last night, while the kids and I were watching “Recess,” Cebastian turns to me.

“Mommy! I forgot to show you what I got!”

He runs into the other room and appears with a picture.

“It’s Obama. He is the President of the United States.”

The way he said it was with such admiration that it made me smile.

“He’s awesome!”

This morning when we were leaving the house, I looked at the side table where my Cebastian’s picture is. On the frame, was the picture of Obama that Cebastian had shown me.

I know others might say that it’s because Obama has become somewhat of a celebrity due to the media’s influence. I will have to say that this is the first time that I like what the media has done.

I was having a debate with someone on Twitter if there are people who are just born evil. He says it’s all environment; I say it’s also genetics. Here is the conversation so far:

What are your thoughts? Are we all inherently good, but our upbringing and life experiences the reason that some of us commit heinous acts? Or are some people just born bad to the bone?

I remember a very wise guy friend once told me that women attempt to be friends with their exes right away when they were the ones to do the breaking because they feel a type of guilt.  On the other hand, men try to stay as far away as possible when they were the initiators.  From this past experience, I am done trying to befriend my exes way too early.  There is still tons of resentment, hurt, and pain.  How can you let go of these feelings if you are still talking every day?

After L.’s constant insults, guilt trips, and attempts to make my life look pale in comparison, I can’t do it anymore.  Now I get a text from L saying that someone has been calling with death threats.  Guess who was the first person to be accused?  Me? L. was super psychotic throughout our entire relationship, but I am the one that would do something like that?  It isn’t her crazy, lunatic ex who kept calling her last week.  No, it’s me has to be forced to speak. 

I texted back, “F* you for thinking I would do something like that,” and have ignored the rest of the texts.

Drama that ensues when L. is in my life is gone, and I don’t intend to bring it back.

This morning after dropping Cebastian at school, Isabelle and I headed to her school.  She was very talkative this morning.

“Mom, there’s a boy in the preschool class named Kenny,” she said.

“Oh really?  What does he look like?

“Well…he has light hair and pretty eyes.  He is adorable,” she giggled.

“Adorable? Really?” I smiled back in the rearview mirror.

“Yes, and he has amazing clothes.”

I began laughing.  Amazing clothes?  Come on, what five-year old thinks that way.

“I think I know Kenny.  He is short right?” I replied.

“Yes, he’s a little fella.”

We both started giggling together.  

“A little fella?”

“Yeah, he likes me but I don’t know.  He’s too little,” she stared out the window.

“Oh, you like taller boys?”

“There’s Connor and Sam.  They are my friends.”

“They should be only friends because you are too young to have a boyfriend.”  I couldn’t help but have the mother come out of me.

“Connor and Sam can’t play together, especially when I’m around.”

“Why? I know they fight a lot, but why when you are around?”  

“Because they are always fighting over me,” she replied haughtily.

I laughed all the way to her school.  The teacher calls her “Pippi Longstocking” because she’s kooky and comes up with the weirdest things to do or say.  She definitely gets that from her mother.