Things I've learned ...

Just some stuff i've been contemplating lately, in no particular order.

If you try to please everyone, you will. Except yourself.

Sometimes, even if it is true love, it is just not meant to be.

The people who love you are priceless.

If someone doesn't like you, put it into perspective: they are ONE person. There are over 6 billion people on the planet. So somebody doesn't like you. Oh well.

Occasionally you may be surprised at who actually cares about your opinions. Don't let the fact that they care convince you that you are more important than before. You're not.

If the little voice in your brain tells you, "This might not be a good idea," it is not. Don't do it.

If you are human, you will get your heart broken.

If you are very, very lucky, you will get a second chance, a resolution, and a friendship after that broken heart.

You cannot protect your children from the world.

You cannot stop your children from making the same mistakes you did.

Your children are individuals and you can guide them, teach them, and encourage them. You cannot mold them. They are who they are.

If you try to teach your children a love of language, you cannot get mad when they find the humor and beauty in the discovery of 5 new ways to say, "fart."

Not all basements are leaky, but all houses get older -- and the older a house is, the more likely the basement will be leaky.

Friendship and love are powerful forces, but not as powerful as addiction.

Love makes a family. Not blood, not genes, not pieces of paper. Love.

Boys are aliens. (No offense to those readers who possess a Y chromosome, but I'm almost positive this is true.)