random curiosity

Blogging is a curious thing.
Anyone, anywhere can read what I write.
It's SO cool for those of us who have CRAZY big egos!

My little blog has been plugging away since Fall of 2009, I learned how to track my handful of readers (thanks mom, sisters and bestie for being early readers) and it was cute to see how a couple people read me a couple times...then one lovely day in February of 2011, Legendary Film Maker Kevin Smith (want to make sure he feels special)  tweeted about my blog and BAM-980 readers in one day!  Life at justmcgee.com has never been the same since.

What's really cool is that 2219 of you have made it to my site.
And you come from...are you ready for this...
52 countries and at least one reader in every one of the United States.

It's a trip!

So I'm just curious...
Who the heck ARE you?
Tell me where you're reading from and something random about yourself.

Don't be shy.
I know you're reading!
From Rancho Cucamonga, CA to Bangor, Maine.
And 51 other countries from Canada to New Zealand.
(No silly.  Go east all the way around.)
Introduce yourselves!!!

I'll start.
Random fact about me...
My dimple is really a scar, a scar that started a multi-million dollar company.  It's a hell of a story for another day!

Your turn!

-McGee

girl power. x10. and then some.

I'm the girl that would love to go to TED...

But hates watching the speeches later on youtube.

Sure.  You tell me about the great ones.

And in theory I should take time to watch.

But 20 minutes on a computer?

Uninterrupted?

Without checking Facebook?

no can do.

Except for this one.

If you only get through the first 3 minutes it's ok.

They're the most powerful!

Try it...

And in case you didn't get through the first little bit...

Here's the transcript of her written word.

Every girl I know needs this.

Every.

If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B, because that way she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I'm going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands, so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say, "Oh, I know that like the back of my hand." And she's going to learn that this life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt here that cannot be fixed by Band-Aids or poetry. So the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn't coming, I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I've tried. "And, baby," I'll tell her, don't keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick; I've done it a million times. You're just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house, so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place, to see if you can change him." But I know she will anyway, so instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby, because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix. Okay, there's a few heartbreaks that chocolate can't fix. But that's what the rain boots are for. Because rain will wash away everything, if you let it. I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind, because that's the way my mom taught me. That there'll be days like this. ♫ There'll be days like this, my momma said. ♫ When you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises; when you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape; when your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment. And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you. Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's swept away. You will put the wind in windsome, lose some. You will put the star in starting over, and over. And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life. And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting, I am pretty damn naive. But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it. "Baby," I'll tell her, "remember, your momma is a worrier, and your poppa is a warrior, and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more." Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things. And always apologize when you've done something wrong. But don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your voice is small, but don't ever stop singing. And when they finally hand you heartache, when they slip war and hatred under your door and offer you handouts on street-corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.

Sarah Kay?

You've got it girl.

Thanks for sharing it!

-McGee

having it all.

It’s funny.

Being the daughter of a baby boomer.
And old enough to remember the first Wonder Woman,
I was told, for as long as I can remember…
That I can have it all.

I fought that, struggled with it, embraced it…
And now reject it.
I no longer think I can have it all.

Before you get all “She’s Debby Downer” on me, follow me…

My generation of women watched our mom’s come out of the June Cleaver era, burn their bras and take on the Man’s World like their mothers couldn’t. They had the burden of paving the way for us to do whatever we wanted. They are an amazing generation of women!

By the time I was a mom, I respected them but also respectfully declined the “be all you can be” way of life and preferred to aspire to being “just a mom”. And then life happens, as it usually does. I found myself at an unfamiliar place, desperately wanting it all.

I went through college with two kids, graduated, started a business, bought a house, had a cool car, lost the house trying to save the business, downsized the car, lost the business and divorced. And throw in another baby somewhere over that space of time.

Fast forward to now.
Great job with ZocDoc.com where I’m working hard for my money.
(queue Donna Summers)
I am married to my favorite adult. Ever.
Kids are happy, healthy and productive.

But I don’t own a house, my house isn’t always perfect, my job keeps me too busy some days, the kids don’t have Suzie Homemaker 24/7 for a mom, I’m sometimes grumpy, I have a cool car but not my dream car, and occasionally (ok, often) you can find me lounging in sweats with my hair pulled back and not looking so hot and I live in LA but I have yet to attend a red carpet event.

But I’m happy.

It’s a balancing act.
It’s ok that I don’t have it all.
I could-I think-if I wanted to sacrifice all things important to me.

If I wanted to totally relinquish the raising of my kids to someone else I could probably have made more money last year. If I wanted to spend less time with my favorite adult I could work a little longer. If I wanted to drive a better car I could max out my credit limit and live outside my means.

Instead I choose to do my job as well as I can and enjoy what I’m doing.  And then I choose to hurry home for softball games and family dinners.

I want it all, I do.
But I’m ok that I don’t have it all.

Because what I do have is worth more.

I have a man I adore, kids who are amazing, family that will always have my back, friends who love and support us all, laughter and fun...when I let myself.

Hmmm…

Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate what having it all really means.

-McGee

miss me?

Cause I miss you!

SO much happening, SO little time but SO much to say!

For now...check out my new company http://www.zocdoc.com/
And by "my" I mean the company I love, adore and work for!

And for you newer folks...here are a couple of my favorite posts:

Letting go.
http://justmcgee.blogspot.com/2010/07/letting-go.html

Insides to Outsides.
http://justmcgee.blogspot.com/2010/03/insides-to-outsides.html

Which Part Is Mine?
http://justmcgee.blogspot.com/2010/11/which-part-is-mine.html

The rest of y'all...keep coming back, it works if you work it.
Wait.
Wrong place.

Keep coming back though...lots to say SOON!!!
-McGee

laughter is the best medicine. literally.

Some days a good laugh is just what the Doctor ordered.

Enjoy these giggles!