Morning Minute with the BROfessor

Weeks ago the cold front moved in.  It was "the moment we had all waited for."  The cooler temperatures are so welcomed in Arkansas after the long hot summer.  For several days, we were treated to a blissful, almost chilly mornings, coupled with warm mid-day temps and then a nice ending to the day.  It was a breath of fresh air, after a long sweltering summer where you could not even hardly breathe any air outside for months. Then Monday came.  Mondays always come back around.  It is an endless cycle of an unwanted day.  The day that is associated with work, stress and anxiety.  The day that nobody really wants in life but is stuck with despite the nuances.  Yet, here we are, the beginning of something, the start of a new week.  What will this week bring?  How will the work week begin.  This day will decide how the rest will be looked upon and dealt with. The regular stresses are there.  There can be no stopping this.  Regular, every day life, coupled with all of the mandates

Time is everything.  Time is what we are never promised any of, but take advantage most of.  We seldom think about our time being limited to the number of days before it runs out and our life is over, but we often think about how "time flies" or there is not enough time in the day to get what we need to get done. I often look at photos of my daughters and think about how quickly they have grown up.  It just seems like yesterday they were crawling up in my lap on Saturday morning with a sippy cup of chocolate milk wanting to watch cartoons.  Now one is in school to be a school teacher and the other is working as a nurse at a children's hospital.  It just doesn't seem real. How much longer will it be until they are taking care of me as I will not have much time left? As a person who enjoys living and enjoys time on this beautiful earth, I am constantly thinking about time.  Yes I think about the future and what I should be investing my money in, how I should be getting

  Wear   The clothes that my mom picked out for me each day, as a child, was kind of a big deal.   You never want anyone to make fun of you at any time.   Image is everything.   You want friends, you want people to hang out with, you want someone to show up for your birthday parties, you want someone (anyone really) to have over for sleepovers.   It all boils down to whatever you wear.   I remember when I was younger; we did not really have a lot of money.   My dad was a Baptist preacher and my mom stayed home at this time.   It came time for school to start and I was growing like a weed.   I needed some new tennis shoes as my other ones looked like they had been run through a tree shredder several times.   We could not afford the Nike's that I wanted and we ended up settling for some K-Swiss.   I had never heard of them and thought they were uglier than John Kennedy's toothless granny, but I really did not have a say in the matter.   It was them or nothing.   The first day

  This past couple of days could not have come at a better time.     Returning back to work on Monday I feel renewed and refreshed.   Last week was a hard week.   Extremely long hours (just turned in payroll for 160ish hours in 2 weeks), and long times on my feet made my body sore and weak.   A teenage suicide and an arrest of a ten year old then placing him in mental facility was took a toll on my emotions and spirit.   It was just all around a very tough last few weeks.     Waking up on Saturday morning, I was ready.   I was ready to get away.   I was ready to get to a place with no people, no stress, no schedule, no nothing.   I was more than ready to experience a time where I could just sit down and do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted without anyone or anything getting in the way.   I needed that.   I needed that time to breathe, to exhale all that I had taken in the week prior.   I had plans.   I knew where we were going and I was ready to go.   We packed up a few cloth

  I sit watching families sit outside the Emergency Room waiting to see loved ones. What is taking so long?  Why can't they move faster?  We came in six hours ago and we still haven't been seen.  "We have been in this waiting room for hours" they say between themselves, in disgust, just loud enough where Hospital staff can hear.  It is ironic, to me, that we don't like to wait in the very place that is named after waiting - the Waiting Room.  I think they named it that for a reason.  It teaches us patience. When my daughters were growing up, the only time they understood was RIGHT NOW.  They wanted Christmas to be right now and they never understood why they had to wait another year for the next one.  Children are always wishing their life away telling everyone what they want to be when they "grow up." Then they turn right around griping and whining that they are being treated like a child.   Songs have been sung about the "waiting" being the h

The Day We Have Waited For      Hot summers are brutal in Arkansas.  The heat and humidity make it hard for anyone to breathe even when stepping outside at night or at the first light of day.  It is miserable.  You do not want to go outside much less even camp or do any outside activities.  It is almost as bad as winter.  The intense heat compares to the frigid cold in how it just wants to bring the four walls closer and closer and closer to you where you just cannot stand it anymore.       The day comes and we just go.  The temperatures matter no more.  We have to get out.  We have to get away.  No television, no cell phones, no other people, and no distractions are wanted or needed during this time.  It is an oasis.  Our intentions are good, noble and heart-felt. Then it hits.  As soon as we get outside of that vehicle, as soon as we step one foot out into the sweltering conditions, our hearts fade and our desires change.  Most of the time those trips are day trips.  Once evening s