First I want to thank everyone with your kind comments about my smile. I have been getting many questions from Ask Michael about this topic.

Do I smile all the time?Yes I do. Everyone has something that they are known for. I have always been known for my smile. I think it is part of my personality. I enjoy being silly and having fun. I love to laugh and I love to smile.

I learned a great lesson about smiling. When you smile it puts other people at ease. So when I walk into a room, the first thing I do is smile. It shows people I am welcoming and I am approachable. I think this is why TONS of people randomly talk to me about everything every where I go. I can be in line to buy chapstick at Walgreens and the woman in front of me will tell me all about her new boyfriend she just met. I like it. You never know who your next conversation will be with.

Was I born with this smile?I wish I was. When I was around 15 I wore clear braces for about a year. It helped to straighten out my teeth. I always smiled before but it was time to fix my crowded smile. I had my wisdom teeth removed along with 2 others. Braces were not easy but it was well worth the struggles throughout the year. It was so nice having them taken off. My teeth felt so smooth and I finally wasn’t spitting on people or having rubber-bands fly off my teeth in to their laps.

I found a picture from my 16th birthday and you can kind of see my clear braces:

Yes I know. I use to go by Mike and yes, I was once was that young and innocent. If you look you can even see an earring I wore like the guys from 90210.

Thank you again for all your kind words about my smile. I promise to keep smiling and I hope you do the same. Keep the questions coming, just go to Ask Michael to post your question.

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Do you remember when you were a kid and you would play dodgeball with friends? It was so much fun but then we grow up and let it go…

Well it is time to bring it back! Next time there is some tense between you and a friend or maybe your group of friends. Do not decide to sit down and have a LONG conversation about your feelings. NO! You go outside, draw a line with chalk and start throwing this red rubber balls at each other.

Once you are laughing until it hurts, covered in sweat and maybe have a little limp, it is time to quit, hug and go nurse your wounds with a nice milkshake together.

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My friend Karen sent me this article the other day. It was showing that researches have found that the male homosexual’s brain patterns are similar to those of a straight female’s.

Well that explains why I am a straight girl’s best friend!! I think it is all about understanding each other and the fact we both date and fall in love with men. That would have us think and process information in the same ways.

Now, I am not saying we match. It is not like being in the school yard again and being called a “girl”. I am just saying that we do see some things alike and can relate to each other.

But I know a lot of my girl friend’s say they love the way I think like a guy. As we know, woman have had a hard time with their gender role in the workplace or life. Too aggressive like a masculine man and they get called a bitch.

It can be compared to a gay man’s struggle has in the masculine male world when they don’t watch the football games or play sports. We both, in different ways, understand what it is like to struggle to by part of the boy’s club.

Maybe it is time we gang up and destroy the old boy’s club and start our own.

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Making friends is not easy for everyone and lets be honest, sometimes people aren’t the kindest to make friends with.

Early in my life, I loved having so many friends around all the time. Everyone was my friend (even though they were really just an acquaintances) and I was so excited to have a cell phone FULL of numbers and my AIM screen full of names.

After awhile I learned that all those names just filled up my phone and made it hard for me to find the numbers I was really looking for, like the Chinese take out place. That is when I learned the difference between true friends and people you just know.

True friends are there for you through the thick and thin. To celebrate your successes and help you move on from the failures. They do not hold it againist you when you get a bad haircut even though, in a couple years, it will be a moment they will never let you forget.

When you are down, they are there to help you back up. They make you feel good about yourself and you in return do the same for them. It is not about who bought lunch last because you know there will be a lifetime of lunches still left to be had.

So how many good friends will you have in a lifetime? I do not know.  I promise you though, you will probably be able to count them on one hand. Don’t worry, if they are true friends, that is all you will need.

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Did I mention I was reading the book Happier? It is a great book filled with tons of great activities.  What I love best about the book is the whole idea of happiness. The book talks about how we spend our lives wanting to be happy. So we work and work on trying to be happy never realizes we are happy. We just want to be happier. When you learn to let go of this place called happy where you life will be perfect then you can truly seek what you are looking for and find it. Find the ways to make your life happier.The book gives you some great activities to work on to make yourself happier. One is an activity I really believe in practice myself for awhile. It is the idea of keeping a gratitude journal. A gratitude journal is where at the end of the day you write down 5 things you are grateful for. By doing this, you end each day thinking about the positive side of your day and it just sets you up to realize how much you truly have in life.I have not been the best at keeping up with it but I promised myself to do it every night for now on. I use a school calendar book to record them. It has space for each day to right your school assignments where I just write my 5 things I am grateful for. It is also lets me see if I skip a day very quickly.  Today I will share with you 5 things I am grateful for and hopefully, you will share 5 with me in the comments.I am grateful for:

• the great Florida sunshine
• the fact I laugh out loud at least once a day
• my great family and boyfriend who love me so much
• iphone so I have music to play the soundtrack of my life where every I go
• you taking the time to read this entry and I hope to see you around again

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This is week eleven in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able.

In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you were to have one famous person alive or from history stranded with you on a desert island forevermore, who would you want it to be?

We have had tons of questions. It is like the same one over and over again. I would pick one of those guys from a survivor show to save my ass. That is who I would pick.

If you could kill the pet of anybody you know, whose pet would it be?

Seriously? Who would ever do that? This question is just in bad taste.

If you were to be recognized by posterity for one thing, what would like to be known for?

I would love to be known as a great friend or for making a difference in people’s lives. Maybe for having the best smile?

If you could have said one sentence to Hitler while he was alive, what would you have said?

Would could I say? He speaks German so I doubt he would understand me or even listen to a gay guy.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

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Have you ever sat down and just thought about all the things that make you happy? I am sure you can quickly list all the things that make you mad or irritate you!

What are the things in life that make you smile? What are the things that make you laugh? What are the things that make you thankful you are alive?

Here are some of the things that make me happy:

• White iced sprinkled doughnuts

• Laughing until it hurts

• Seeing a rainbow after it rains

• Enjoying a great day at the beach

• Talking to my mom

• Getting a great hug

• Giving an even better hug

• Receiving funny emails with Becky

• Smelling fresh gardenias

• Watching Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion

• Taking a nap just because

• Playing silly board games

• Dressing up for Halloween

What are some things that make you happy?

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So I did it!! I know I have told many of you I would set this up but I finally did. I appreciate all the emails everyone sends me asking me questions and suggesting topics I write on. So to make it easier for everyone, I have create a link for an “Ask Michael” page.

You can simply fill out the form anonymously and ask me any question you may have about something going on in your life, a topic you would like to hear my view point on or just a question you have about me and would like me to share. I promise to at least once a week pick a few to post in one of the weekly entries.

So click the Ask Michael on the top of the page or click here to submit your questions and check back to see my response!

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Justin went away this weekend to visit his brother who was stationed in Florida for a few weeks. Justin came home Friday night, went to bed and left at 2am to head up to the Florida panhandle. He didn’t get back home until 11pm Sunday evening.

During this time alone I realized how much we do together. It was nice to have the downtime from him but at the same time I was missing him. He is not only my boyfriend but my best friend.

I have never met his brother and I did not go on the trip because his brother said he did not want to meet me, ever. Yes it was harsh but that is his reaction to knowing his brother is gay. Not everyone is open minded as they should be.

It is easy for me to say he is a jerk but I find it to be more than this. His brother is about 5′6″ and in the Navy. Being masculine is very important to the culture he is in right now. He works out all the time and insists on being bulked up. I wonder if he feels the way he does because he is picked on as being gay because of his height. I know that makes any sense but I never said closed minded straight guys were the smartest.

When Justin said good bye to his brother he leaned in for a hug but his brother said he doesn’t hug. Not even their dad and shook his hand instead.

His brother is quite lonely right now and I wonder if his brother is missing himself. Maybe he is struggling to keep of appearances because of where he works and deep down he would just like to be himself. Maybe he just needs a hug to break down those barriers. Regardless of what is underneath it all, I know his brother loves Justin a lot and there is more to the story than what he is saying.

Well Justin is back now and he brought me a Starbucks mug. (He always brings me a Starbucks mug from his travel or we get one on our trips. Easy souvenir that doesn’t take up a lot of space and is actually useable.) I told him he can’t leave again because I missed him. I also told him if he ever mentioned that I missed him to anyone else, I would have no choice but to kill him.

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