Hold It Against Me

In 3rd grade I told a classmate that he had a pig nose. Thanks to Facebook, my big fat Greek mouth is coming back to haunt me.

I was just checking my Facebook wall and I noticed I had a message. Innocent enough. When I clicked on the message button I did not recognize the name of the sender. Again, no alarm bells there. I have more than 9,000 "likes" and I can't possibly know everyone who sends me email. But when I started reading the email it suddenly took and entirely different tone than most of my fan mail. From the very first sentence it just sounded different.  It said:

Dear Ava, you probably don't remember me but we went to grade school together....

Ok, I just knew it was not going to be your average fan letter. That turns out to be an understatement for sure. The letter went on...

I thought you were the cutest girl in school. I had a crush on you. Did you know that?

Ummm, noooo I did not know that or if I did at the time it has fallen out of my Greek noggin since then. Besides, if I remember right in the 3rd grade I was more interested in My Little Pony than I was in boys. This is where my long lost Romeo's email takes a nose dive (no pun intended) ...

Well one day while we were playing on the monkey bars at recess and since my nose was kinda square in shape you asked me why did I have a "pig nose?" Although you were just a curious kid asking an innocent question, other kids overheard the question and soon it became a nickname that stuck with me all through school. I never forgot that comment Ava.

Oh great I thought. As an 8-year old little girl I ruined some 8-year old boy's life forever!!! My heart sank and I truly felt horrible. When I was in school we called it teasing. Now it is called bullying. And it is a crime. No matter what you call it as I sat there and read the rest of the email I couldn't help but think I was an 8-year-old who should have had a rap sheet. I was horrified. The email went on...

I was looking on Facebook with my wife and coincidentally I noticed that my wife had someone named Ava Aston on her friend's list. That gave my brain a memory jolt. I knew I had heard that name before.  Can you believe you and my wife are Facebook friends? Small world isn't it? I had not seen or heard your name in years. So I decided to look over the profile to make sure it was the same Ava Aston. Of course it was. I must say, I am impressed. You've done good Ava. Geez, a Rockstar? Who knew?

Ok, now I was starting to sweat more than Elmer Fudd at a back yard barbecue. I seriously was thinking this man must hate me for my comment.  He then added,

You don't know this but to this day that is still my nickname, although it has been shortened to just PN (short for Pig Nose) and many of my friends call me that instead of my real name. And yes Ava, it is a nickname I have grown to love because even my wife uses it as a pet name for me. So if you were ever wondering, No I don't hold it against you!!

Ok, wheeew...I feel so much better now. It's not that I have ever lost any sleep or really given much thought over the years to that pig nose question on the monkey bars. But whenever I would see a story on the news about a kid getting bullied at school, I did think about it. Not that I was the school yard bully or that I taunted him with the nickname or anything. It was just a simple nickname that all of the kids at school called him. We went to different middle schools, so I lost track of him. But thanks to Mark Zuckerberg...

I am actually very glad my old friend found me on Facebook. Even if he was mad and had held it against me, it would have give me the opportunity to apologize (which I still did.)  But since he was not mad at all, it was actually a real blessing to learn that the nickname was now a real part of his identity. Sometimes you just never know how a story is going to end up. I am glad this one had a happy ending.

Blessings,

Ava

xox

It Gets Butter

I hate to be a copy cat. But I feel I should also speak up about bullying around the dinner table.  I am proof to say it gets butter.

As you all know, I am very health conscience. But it wasn't always that way. When I was younger I was a little butterball. I did get bullied a bit in school for being a chunky kid. Fortunately for me, my arms and legs grew to match the rest of my body and so the teasing stopped. I'm telling you this because in no way do I want anyone to think that I am making fun of the issue of bullying! Hey, I've been there and  it's not fun.

But now I try to work out everyday and I am very careful about what I eat. I am on stage and in front of the public all the time, so I want to always look good and try to be in the best shape as possible. Bullying still exists with adults. It's not just limited to teens and children. I was glad to see blogger Perez Hilton publicly say he was going to try to not be such a bully to celebrities on his website anymore. The press can also be a bully at times. Although I am not a fan of Lady Gaga, I have seen the pictures of her floating around the internet and the press is saying unflattering things about her packing on the pounds! That is such an uncool thing to say about anyone.

I hope no one is circulating pictures of me saying I've put on a few extra pounds! I'll have to kick their butt, know what I'm sayin'? So having a healthy public image is part of my job description and one of the reasons I have adopted such a healthy lifestyle, but only a small reason.  The main reason I do it is to be healthy and to live as long as I can. Everyone's going to have to put up with this Greek Blonde for a very long time. And Greeks have a very long life expectancy.

That's another important message I would like to get out to everyone, especially young girls. Young girls should know that there are way more important things in life than trying to look like a supermodel. If you want to work out, then great do it to be healthy, not to compete and compare yourself with other girls' appearances. God made you the beautiful person that you are.

All I know is that I don't want to do a 90-minute Jillian Michaels' DVD work-out for nothing. I mean why come close to death 15 times during the work out and then immediately afterwards eat a bag of Nacho Flavored Doritos, washed down with a 2 litre Diet Coke?  Who do you think I am, Mr. Bricks?

Back to the blog....I love butter. I love butter almost as much as I love ketchup. But if I put as much real butter on everything that I would like to, you would see them tying ropes around my body and I would float like one of those huge balloons in The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I'm just sayin' this girl loves her butter. But as I said, I have gotten smart about what I eat.

So, for my butter fix, I have found a healthy alternative. It's called Smart Balance Light Original Buttery Spread with Flax.  Its delicious buttery taste with 50% fewer calories than butter or regular margarine. (I sound like a commercial don't I?) -- It's delicious buttery taste with 50% fewer calories than butter or regular margarine.

The manufacturer  of Smart Balance Light Original Buttery Spread with Flax has listed some other healthy key selling points on their website:

• Supports healthy cholesterol levels that are already within the normal range
• Made with a unique blend of natural oils that improves the ratio of “good” HDL to “bad” LDL
• 50% less fat and calories than butter or stick margarine
• Delicious, creamy buttery taste
• No hydrogenated oils
• No partially hydrogenated oils
• 0g trans fat
• No palm kernel oil
• Excellent source of Omega-3 ALA (320mg per serving, 20% of 1,600mg daily value)
• Good source of Vitamins A and E
• Gluten-Free
• Gelatin-Free
• Vegan

So if I want some butter on my baked potato I don't feel guilty. A baked potato, as I have said before, is a super food and I probably have 6 or 7  baked spuds a week. Imagine if I had them all smothered with real butter. I would be a real oompa-loompa.

So folks, now you know when it comes to the issue of butter how I roll. I don't do without it on my baked potato, it gets butter!

Blessings,

Ava

oxo