Give Credit where Credit is Due

While growing up, you never really realize what is going to make an impact on you and what your going to be thankful for later down the road (big or small).  Well, I wanted to share some of the small things I've learned and give credit to the people who taught me these lessons or skills.  Here are just six I came up with, but there will be more to come...
#1
Who: Mr. Massini
When: 1st Grade T-Ball
Why: For those who don't know, I have the INCREDIBLE ability (slight exaggeration) of catching most anything that's thrown at me.  I'm sure all my other coaches throughout life helped with this awesome skill, but I have to credit Mr. Massini because he was my first coach and made me feel like Mickey Mantle every time I caught a ball. It's too bad I didn't get that good at throwing, but 1 out of 2 ain't bad :)
#2
Who: The Super 8 Motel
When: Summer of my Freshman Year
Why: Anyone who has cleaned rooms at a Motel might be asking why in the world I'd be thankful for this experience.  The answer is that this job has given me perspective going into every other job I've had since then.  It taught me that no matter how bad things get, it can always be worse!! lol.
#3
Who: Mrs. Spragg
When: 6-8th Grade Vollyball
Why: To mine and everyone else' surprise, I'm actually decent at Beach Vollyball despite the fact that I was mediocre at best when I was playing middle school Vollyball with Mrs. Spragg.  I probably have to factor in the fact that my then string bean arms have become much more... uh... buxom?  Nevertheless, hats off to you Mrs. Spragg for making me somewhat athletic against all odds :)
#4
Who: Grandma Walker
When: Elementary School
Why: My grandmother was one heck of a cook, and her food will go down in history as some of the best I've ever had, but with that being said... she also had a habit of keeping food around just a tad too long.  My sister and I spent a lot of time at Grandmas growing up and she didn't always feel like making us dinner from scratch so this would result in a quick batch of Mac n Cheese, or something similar, which had been sitting in the cupboard since who knows how long!  It only took one time of eating weevil to realize we needed to investigate grandmas Mac n Cheese more closely before diving in.  Because of this, I believe I have my Grandma to thank for my Iron Stomach, which to this day can handle much more than most!
#5
Who: My Dad
When: Elementary School
Why: I have learned a million things from my Dad over the years! How to change my oil, how to install car speakers, how to re-shingle a house, the proper way to hang Christmas lights, gun safety... the list goes on and on, but today I want to focus on the fact that my Dad taught me how to be adventurous and how he practically forced me to loosen up and enjoy the scary things in life.  An example that really sticks out in my memory is when my Dad would take us for a nice 'leisurely' drive in the hills/mountains to enjoy nature and to get out of the house.  It would always start out fine, but usually after about an hour he would decide to climb some too steep hill, drive on the edge of a what I thought was a cliff, burn some rubber while trying to get un-stuck, or something of that nature.  I would get so scared that I would squeeze my face really hard until he would stop doing whatever it was that was scaring me (perhaps a bit dramatic).  I eventually came around though and was able to enjoy these kinds of activities. Thanks to my Dad's crazy shenanigans, I am a more adventurous person and probably a little too comfortable in a semi dangerous situation.
#6
Who: My Friend Nina
When: 8th Grade
Why: I think my friendship with Nina really shaped all my other relationships with girls since then in a very good way.  She was always the perfect balance of silly, kind, loyal, funny, strong, and trusting. Being as trusting as she was, she actually let me cut her hair when we were around 14 or 15 years old.  I don't know if you remember being that age, but image is HUGE and a bad hair cut had the potential of ruining someone's life!  I don't remember why I wanted to or why in hell she let me, but the end result was not good. Not good at all.  There may have been some tears involved and I think she ended up with a really short hair cut as a result of fixing what I had done to her once beautiful head.  She never held a grudge though, and inadvertently she taught me that cutting hair was not going to be a good career path for me.