Blog Posts by TheRussican

I recently ran into a dilemma which left me wondering how deep we should allow our friendships to go and it has left me doubting anyone´s loyalty to anyone else.

I was recently "dumped" by a girlfriend and, though I have broken up with friends before, this was slightly more hurtful because of the fact that she was my volleyball doubles partner as well. That might not seem like a big deal to most folks but competitive volleyball is my passion and finding a good partner you mesh with is more difficult than you think. Anyway, I was a jerk last year. I was an emotional mess and I let all the turmoil out when I played which didn´t make my friend and partner too happy. Towards the end of the season, she let me know that she would not play with me this year until I went to some sort of counseling to deal with my anger issues. The thing is that her ultimatum stemmed from a drunken venting session about my sister which really has nothing to do with what happened on the court during our

Have you ever woken up and realized that you no longer want to be the person people think you are? So many times I have heard others say that people don't change. Is that really true? Do we really have no chance of reinventing ourselves? What's the fun in that? I refuse to think that you are stuck being "who you are" because so many times I have seen people go from one extreme to another. Successful weight loss stories should always give us hope. They were that and now they are this and they have not and will not go back. Yes, maybe their friends still expect them to binge on burgers and fries but when they don't, doesn't that show everyone that there is room for change? That people are able to become someone no one ever thought they would be?

I'm struggling with this right now. I have settled with being who people expect me to be and the truth is that by doing so, I am a complete failure. People expect me to eat so I do and I get fat. People expect me to sleep around so I do and I

I´ve had a crush on one of my male friends for quite a while now. We became friends when I was his supervisor. During that time he was married but then went through a nasty divorce soon after he resigned. We have stayed close since then as far as being friends and sharing stories and advice. We both have little girls and I greatly admire his daddy skills...it´s quite sexy.

After his divorce, he had a wild period and there were a couple times that we randomly ended up making out. I tried chasing him for some time but he kept rejecting me and told me he didn´t find my aggressiveness too sexy so I backed off. That was about a year and a half back and I have gone through my own drama since then (it didn´t involve him) while he continued to date and even have a brief relationship with a girl about 10 years younger than him. I´ll admit that I felt a little insulted that he would date and go for these girls that I knew were not going to work out and, yet, he won´t give me a chance.

I

I´ve had lots of people die in my life. Most have died when I was younger and not a mom yet. Recently, my grandfather passed away and I can´t remember the last time I have cried like this. There are many reasons why this has been harder than the other deaths in my life. For one, I´m a mother now and I find it very important to make sure my daughter knows how special her family is. She did get to meet her great grandfather twice so when I told her he had died, she cried for hours. It was heartbreaking. Second, most of my family lives in Mexico and I was not able to be there for the funeral since people are buried immediately in Mexican culture. Third, my grandfather could have lived a much longer life if it wasn´t for negligence from my aunt and uncle who were supposed to be taking care of him.

There are many factors why this death has hit me so hard but, at the same time, I don´t feel like myself. The usual me would drown her sorrows in alcohol and eat like the world is ending

College...is it for everyone? No, I suppose not. Lots of successful people ditched the whole college idea. But when did we start thinking that we should be satisfied what we end up with? Let me clarify. I am 28 years old and entered banking when I was 22 and a newly single mom. Banking was a stable choice at the time. I am here, six years later, and finally have the opportunity to finish up my degree. I went for 2 1/2 years until my unexpected pregnancy and I've always wanted to go back but I just haven't made the move. I decided since I'm almost 30, it's probably about time I do something I want to do. Don't get me wrong, banking has paid the bills and I'm actually pretty good at it but I am MISERABLE.

So, I applied and got accepted and now I can't wait until August to get started on my new life. Only one problem...very few people are being supportive of this decision which I find baffling. I am being told that I am too old or that I'm not sure of what I want. The truth is that I've

I have a best friend who is a recovering alcoholic. He has been living out of state for the past 4 years in a town that has a lot of facilities to help addicts. He recently relapsed and decided he is going to move back home. His parents will not let him move back in due to their religious beliefs (he´s gay) and he really has no one else. I had offered to have him live with me in the past but it was one of those offers you never expect someone to take. He brought up the idea today and I agreed.

My main concern is that I´m a single mom to a little girl. Though I know my friend is harmless, I still have to put her first and maintain a stable living environment for my child. If I was by myself, I wouldn´t think twice but I have a life to live. I´m debating whether I can afford to let him enter my life like this. Obviously there would be ground rules and this would only be temporary until he can get back on his feet. So is it worth it? He has nowhere else to turn and he will probably end

I pride myself on my good customer service. I have been in banking for about seven years now and I have learned how to deal very well with most situations. Plus, I have a fantastic phone voice. Well, if you happen to run into a tough situation, at what point do you stop providing customer service and start defending yourself?

I'll be honest and say I have had my run ins with people. Though I try really hard to maintain my calm, I've had instances where I felt offended and got an "attitude". Recently I had a female non-customer attempting to cash a check made out to a business. This is not something most banks do, if any at all, and so when she gave my teller a hard time, this woman wanted to speak to me. I stayed calm for the most part and explained that this is not something most institutions do and that we would gladly give them a cashier's check in exchange but we were not able to give them cash. Suddenly her husband started being very rude towards me to the point where I

Recently I have felt more exhausted than usual. I've been trying to pinpoint the reason and, though it could be many things, I realized that I think it's coming from my six year old, dramatic daughter. Has anyone ever told you that your child's bad behavior is payback for how you behaved with your parents? Well, I think that is what is happening right now.

Honestly, for most of my motherhood, I have felt blessed with having such a fantastic child. I became a single mom at a young age. I got pregnant at 20 years old and was left by the father within the first month. I was left to deal with the consequences of my actions on my own. Despite my daughter waking up five times a night in the first few months, I've had an easier time than most. I straightened up, made a life for us and have been successful for the most part.

My daughter has always been pretty sensitive and since it's just the two of us, she does think the world revolves around her but I have worked really hard to not have a